How Good? Pretty Good...

I'm in a constant war with my 15-yr-old son about control of the car radio -- on my own, I either listen to NPR or to any number of my Jewish music CDs (I own hundreds). If I let him take over, we listen to a lot of songs with offensive lyrics that celebrate violence and painful relationships, and a few sappy love songs. Since this is the beginning of “Positive Music Month” according to my friends on the internet, it seems an auspicious time to write this review.

Luckily, I had a teaching opportunity that was two hours away –and with two hours to myself in the car, I had time to really listen to Craig Taubman's newest CD, "How Good", which offers new takes on some of the morning prayers. Craig invited a pretty good guest list to the recording party -- world-renowned Cantor Alberto Mizrahi, Debbie Friedman, Josh Nelson, "Matzah Girl" Michelle Citrin and Christian/Gospel musicians Rick Muchow and Darrell Hobbs

This CD is a companion piece to a new family prayerbook published by Behrman House, Siddur Mah Tov - A Family Shabbat Prayer Book (for more information visit www.behrmanhouse.com), and frankly, some of the songs seem forced to adapt a rather childlike text to a more adult contemporary sound. The most jarring of these is "Boker Tov", which, following a simple but engaging "Modeh Ani" is redundant.

Taubman re-used and reconfigured his "Friday Night Live" versions of the "Bar’chu" and "Adonai S'fatai Tif'tach" prayers -- bringing new energy to music that has been sung thousands of times sine the 1999 release of that CD. Those were actually really welcome surprises. It is always amazing to hear Cantor Mizrahi sing, and I thought the juxtaposition of his cantorial presentation of the Bar’chu as the intro to Taubman’s was a very creative presentation.

The other highlights are a very sing-able version of the Sh’ma, “Master of All Things” and an English-only song at the end that I think is sung by Josh Nelson (but the liner notes are beyond scanty!), entitled “Hello God”. So “How Good?” – I’d say “pretty good” – go listen for yourself. The CD is available now through craignco.com with discounts available for schools or shuls that choose to order in bulk.