Have you downloaded my newest single Sky Blue Sky yet? The song, recorded via satellite between Philadelphia and Rio de Janeiro, will only be available for free for a limited time! It has been getting some greatpress and has already been featured on radio stations from California to Delaware, from Italy to Brazil. Let me know what you think of the new song!
I’m finally getting back in the studio! Or, make that: Studios. Because i’ll be recording my song Sky Blue Skyvia satellite in Brazil! As you can see in the photo above, I’ve been teleconferencing with producer Bruno Migliari in Rio de Janeiro who will be assembling a band of renown Brazilian musicians to help me capture the perfect sound for my new single. I’ll be recording my part here in Philadelphia. You can follow this unique cross-continental collaboration step by step as we make music across the internet, and you can share how excited you are by tagging me and using the hashtag: #SkyBlueSky. Plenty more details to come. Stay tuned!!!
After the 70th Anniversary ceremony at the Auschwitz concentration camp, many of the survivors returned for dinner to the Dialogue Center – an old convent located very close to the camp that was housing many of us for the days leading up to the event. It seems these days had been intense for everyone. Reliving the memories of this place – in stories and in interviews and in conversation, over and over again – while the demolished gas chambers and barbed wire sit just across the street. There was a slight feeling of release as we had nowhere else to be, and all that was left to do for the day was eat.
My grandfather and I sat with Alina and her granddaughter Ewa, as we had for several meals at the Dialogue Center this week. Their English was much better than my Polish. Alina learned her English in Auschwitz, where she was sent as a Polish political prisoner, as a non-Jew, and she and my grandfather had compared their imprisonment. Tonight, there were smiles, and there was laughter – as there actually had been consistently for the past few days, too. My grandfather and Alina broke into song a few times around the table, singing Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen. Ewa and I talked about music and living in Warsaw and TV (though the fact the we watched two different incarnations of 90210 made me feel super old), and we talked about hearing stories from our grandparents and what it was like to come to Auschwitz with them.
Meeting children and grandchildren of survivors is an experience I’ve never really had before, and it has been so eye-opening. I would come down to the lobby each night expecting to quietly check my email, and I would routinely go to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning because of the new people I was meeting. I never could have expected that I would be walking away from my time here with these new friends and intimate connections. Hearing these other people retell their family history, and how their families have incorporated and dealt with this massive trauma. We all have survivors in our family. Their stories are our stories. When my grandfather is gone, his story will be my story. Even now, it is a part of my history. It always will be.
Today commemorates the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Death Camp, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
We started in Warsaw, where my grandfather grew up. We traveled through the Polish countryside to end up where my grandfather ended up, in Auschwitz. He often says he has two lives: one before the war, and one after the war. It was immensely intense to witness those two worlds overlapping here. We spent a couple days in Oświęcim looking over old documents, meeting with other survivors, hearing their stories, comparing notes, meeting with journalists, answering questions. To have it culminate in this solemn event in a giant tent with 3,000 people and heads of state, turning this place briefly into something else, was surreal. But it was also moving and powerful.
This is video I took of my grandfather singing “El Malei Rachamim” – a prayer for the souls of the departed, at the Auschwitz 70th Anniversary Event.
His voice reverberated inside every person in the room, the silence between phrases hung heavy. I am in awe of this man.
I know some of you were able to watch this event live (and even saw us on screen) – i had no idea that was even possible! Thank you to everyone that has forwarded me links and articles, here are a couple about the event…
Whatever holiday you celebrate, wherever you are in the world, you can now download the award-winning holiday single, Maoz Tsur. It’s a traditional Hannukah melody with a modern jazz spin. From now until January 1, you can get this single, the new songs above, plus the seasonally-appropriate New Year, just for being a subscriber to the AW Newsletter! You can also check out the Maoz Tsur music video, compiled by YOU and your favorite holiday memories.
Watch the Maoz Tsur music video HERE. Download Maoz Tsur and other songs HERE.