'Celebrations: The Heritage Ensemble Interprets Festive Melodies from the Hebraic Songbook'

Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble’s Celebrations: The Heritage Ensemble Interprets Festive Melodies from the Hebraic Songbook is a CD filled with jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian styles of Hebraic folksong melodies. Founder, arranger, leader, and keyboardist Dr. Eugene Marlow has put together a nine-song collection of tracks that feature the unsurpassed talent of drummer and co-producer Bobby Sanabria, percussionist Christian Rivera, saxophonist Michael Hashim, and Frank Wagner playing the acoustic and electric bass.

The first track, “Chanukah, O Chanukah,” has catchy saxophone work from Hashim, cadenced drumming from Sanabria, smooth percussion play from Rivera, and colorful keyboarding from Marlow. All of these instruments strewn together make this the perfect track to ring in the miraculous eight days of Chanukah.

The Chanukah staple song, “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel,” the third track on the album, is made into an incredibly danceable song with its blend of suave saxophone play from Hashim, classy percussion beats from Rivera, and spicy keyboarding from Marlow. Listeners will be delighted to hear this jazzy take on this standard song to play while children spin the cherished dreidel for prizes.

The fourth track, “Halleluyah,” from the liturgy, is a somewhat somber solo piano arrangement performed by Marlow. Its subdued tone is the spot-on way to worship musically.

“Layehudim Haitah Orah Ve-Simehah Ve-Sasson Ve-Yakar,” the fifth track, is performed in honor of the Jewish holiday of Purim. It is a festival commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot by Haman the Agagite to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical book of Esther. The track opens with slow, measured saxophone play from Hashim accompanied by Rivera’s soft and refined percussion strokes and Marlow’s sprightly keyboarding in the background. Then, all of a sudden, Sanabria’s drumming becomes hurried, Rivera’s percussion beats are swifter, and Hashim’s saxophone work is faster thus picking up the pace of the song making it a tad more cheery.

The sixth track, “Yotvata,” is a concoction of classical and jazz reveling in the creation of the leading dairy kibbutz in Israel. A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel based on agriculture and farming. “Yotvata” begins with profound keyboarding from Marlow. Wagner’s electric bass combined with Rivera’s light percussion play and Sanabria’s restrained drum work in the background gives the song a smoldering quality. Yet, the entrance of Marlow’s more polished keyboarding later in the track lightens the mood as the song continues.

Finally, the ninth track, which is narrated by Marlow, describes The Heritage Ensemble’s history, musical catalog, and viewpoint. Musical clips from this album as well as an upcoming CD, to be released in the spring of 2011, accentuate Marlow’s remarks.

All in all, Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble’s Celebrations: The Heritage Ensemble Interprets Festive Melodies from the Hebraic Songbook is a superb collection of some traditional Jewish folk songs performed in a stylish new way and original compositions that are sure to become essential at Jewish festivals and holiday celebrations to come.