I just returned from traveling through Poland with my grandfather. Together, we did several performances there, taking some time to visit places in Warsaw where my grandfather grew up, and in Auschwitz where my grandfather was held prisoner by the Nazis. It was an incredibly profound journey, and it inspired me to do a lot of writing. Read my blog posts from our time in Poland: HERE.
I am so fortunate to have these moments with my grandfather, experiencing and reliving his life story. His memoir, One Voice, Two Lives, has just been published and is now available online. My grandfather will be doing a book signing event in New Jersey this month (and we may even put a little music together). I am so proud that he is sharing his story with the world. Come and hear his story (and buy his book).
Sat, December 12: Princeton, NJ – Congregation Beth Chaim
More information at www.onevoicetwolives.com
Read the news article about my grandfather’s book and our trip to Poland: HERE.
See my grandfather sing at this year’s Auschwitz Commemoration Event: HERE.
Listen to music I discovered during my time in Poland: HERE.
Tis the Season! The holidays have rolled around again, which means that my song Maoz Tsur (Rock of Ages) is now available until January 1. Download this “traditional Hanukah melody with a modern jazz spin” for FREE when you subscribe to the AW Newsletter. Maoz Tsur will also be featured on the Screw The Holidays Compilation from KSCR Radio, a charity album filled with alternative tracks about the holiday season, available now wherever music is sold.
Is capitalism still a thing? From now until January 1, all items in the Avi Wisnia Store are on sale! Stock up on kazoos to keep you warm this winter. Or, get my poster to hang on your ceiling – I’m doing my best Spider Man pose, so it works really well on any surface.
Here’s what people are saying about the new single
“Sky Blue Sky“…
“Listen to Sky Blue Sky, the samba-inspired new track by Avi Wisnia. The song was inspired by his time in Philadelphia and Rio de Janeiro, and combines a Brazilian samba rhythm and flavor with folk-like strings that sound beautiful together.” – Dylan Otero, 88.5 WXPN The Key
“Sky Blue Sky seamlessly blends jazz, pop, and Brazilian rhythms in intricate layers. The instruments in the background, which include the Brazilian pandeiro and cavaquinho, provide the backbone of the song and support Wisnia’s very calming, jazzy voice. Close your eyes and listen to the waves and birds as the song comes to a close; it’s as if you are sunbathing on the Jersey shore, or better yet, Brazilian shores.” – Lauren Silvestri, Rock On Philly
“The talented Philly artist’s brand new track, “Sky Blue Sky,” will make you want to get in your car and head to the beach. Immediately.” – Geo, Jump Philly
“The new single is a gentle, meditative, and warm bossa nova inspired blend; a unique song that will surely invoke a memory of a mellow summer’s day. The easy vocals, along with great instrumental work, make for a rich and calming musical experience.” – Jeremy Price-Ballew, Loud & Proud
“Sky Blue Sky guides listeners down a jazzy path. Avi takes a strong step forward in musical expansion with this new song.” – Patricia Trutestcu, Music Historian
“Sky Blue Sky is the perfect soundtrack for the fleeting days of summer, an awesome summer-lover-cozy-chill track from one of our favorite artists Avi Wisnia. Sky Blue Sky is saturated with his silky voice and Brazilian jazz goodness. It’s a light one that floats around in the atmosphere before landing squarely in your heart. Reminiscent of music by Bebel Gilberto, Stan Getz and Antonio Carolos Jobim, the breezy bossanova of Sky Blue Sky transcends geographical borders and captures the promise of possibility as clear as a blue summer sky.” – Mut Asheru, KnowShi Magazine
To all the radio stations, from New York to California, Italy to Brazil, and blogs around the world that have played and promoted Sky Blue Sky, and to all of you for listening…
I think we look pretty good for traveling half way around the world, performing a few concerts, and spending days walking around Auschwitz. It is a credit to the amazing friends and strangers we encountered along the way who welcomed us and took care of us. It is also a credit to my grandfather’s sense of humor. During our dinners at the Auschwitz conference, my grandfather would joke, “You know, I never ate this good the first time i was here.”
My grandfather especially was glad to be back in the United States. I know he is grateful for everything this country has afforded him, how it gave him a second life. Throughout his entire time as a prisoner in Auschwitz, he always told himself he would make it to America. He would repeat over and over in his mind the addresses memorized from letters his mother had sent to her sisters, his Aunt Rose and his Aunt Helen in New York, the only family he knew he had left. Everything he knew in Poland had been taken away, destroyed, erased, so he had looked to the future. He gave himself a future.
We put our luggage in the shuttle van and got in alongside Charles, a business man who had also been traveling internationally. He was heading to his home not too far from my grandparents’ house in Levittown. Charles did not know what he was in for. Charles spotted my grandfather’s Screaming Eagles jacket. “Are you army?” Yes, my grandfather was a member of the 101st Airborne. After escaping from the death march, my grandfather wandered aimlessly for days on his own until he miraculously crossed paths with a platoon of American soldiers who were rolling through, on a tour of liberation through Germany. They adopted David, calling him Little Davey. He became their interpreter, their mascot, and their little brother. He became one of them, learning English and watching the war from the other side, watching this army barrel through town after town, seeing white flags of surrender from the German population. My grandfather would finally arrive in 1946 on a ship in Hoboken New Jersey, dressed head to toe in his soldier’s uniform, well-fed, his pockets full of money that he had earned employed by the army.
My grandfather spent the entire ride down the NJ Turnpike talking to Charles. They bonded over famous tenors. Charles was familiar with the cantor Moshe Koussevitsky who had coached my grandfather as a boy. They started singing together in the van. With my grandfather, there is always singing.
“This is incredible, I can’t wait to tell my wife about you. She’s gonna flip out. I take this shuttle all the time, and i’ve never had a van ride like this. I can’t wait to tell her.” He matched eyes with my grandfather, and he looked grateful. “You are the first Holocaust survivor I have ever met.”
My grandfather’s house was the first stop, and we took our time getting our luggage out from the back. There was almost no light left outside. We had barely finished saying goodbye to Charles as he took out his phone. I could hear his voice as he called his wife, the van doors still open as we rolled the luggage up to my grandparents’ house. I guess he really couldn’t wait to call his wife.
“Dorothy, let me tell you, you’re gonna flip out. I just met the most remarkable man…”
Yes, he did.
Thank you for sharing our journey. It has meant more than I can say. My grandfather’s memoir is now available at www.onevoicetwolives.com. Read a featured article about the trip and my grandfather’s book HERE.
