Neshama Carlebach turns in a soulful fifth album

Over the course of her five-CD career, Neshama Carlebach has emerged as one of the premiere female singers in the genre of jazz/pop Jewish soul music. If that sounds like a big fish in a small pond, it is. But the daughter of the late Jewish mystic and music legend Shlomo Carlebach certainly inherited both the DNA and the pipes to dominate the field.

The proof is her new album "Journey," a collection of 13 songs, most of them niggunim (traditional chants) composed by her father. But Neshama Carlebach does not try to approximate a Shabbat dinner sing-along. Instead she builds on her father's melodies, crafting radio-friendly arrangements in a variety of pop styles.

Carlebach certainly has the chops to pull it off, as does her band, which provides able support (pianist/producer David Morgan and acoustic bassist Brian Glassman are standouts). Musically, Carlebach lines up nicely with artists like Shawn Colvin and Bruce Hornsby. In fact, every track on "Journey" could be called derivative, but banking on her superb vocals, that's a risk Carlebach is willing to take.

The album kicks off with a setting of "Adon Olam" far different from the familiar Jewish day camp version. The performance evokes comparisons to the great British '60s jazz/folk band Pentangle, a vibe also heard in the fusion-flavored "Hinei Yamim Baim," on which Carlebach stacks up favorably with the Diana Kralls of the world.

Tunes like "Ata Hu," "V'shamru" and "HaTov" borrow much from adult contemporary, blurring the musical line between sacred and secular. But that may be Carlebach's intention. The Christian music scene has become a billion-dollar industry blurring the same line. If Christians can do it, Carlebach seems to ask, why can't we Jews?

The singer veers into more interesting musical directions on "Asher Bara" (a rollicking Afro-Cuban-influenced wedding tune), the wordless "Niggun Neshama" which borrows heavily from flamenco, and the calypso flavored "L'shana Haba'a." She pulls closer to a Jewish musical lineage with "Od Yishama," which boasts a Yemenite beat and Mizrachi spirit.

Otherwise, Carlebach sticks close to modern pop conventions, though she often transcends them.

The album's best track is "Min Hametzar," one of two songs she wrote herself (though the lyrics appear to be based on a psalm). Carlebach sings with such spirit and purity, one needs no Hebrew-language skills to intuit the meaning of the song.

Indeed, one need not even be Jewish to love the music of Neshama Carlebach, though after hearing her sing, one might want to be.

Given the ease with which she navigates the pop music idiom on "Journey," one wonders how far she could go should she ever decide to move into Norah Jones territory. But her name is Neshama for a reason (it means "soul" in Hebrew). Considering the straight-up soul she brings to her music, maybe Judaism needs her more.




"Journey" by Neshama Carlebach is available through Sameach Music and local Judaica shops. Information: neshamacarlebach.com.