Orthodox band Blue Fringe
Rock band Blue Fringe's newly released third CD, "The Whole World Lit Up," has gone where few overtly Jewish recordings have gone before: into the rock/pop bins in selected stores of three national chains n Barnes & Noble, Borders and Virgin Records.
"It's very exciting for us," said lead singer Dov Rosenblatt. "It's the first time that the music has a chance to be heard by more people … We're the big guinea pig. They really feel we have crossover, mainstream appeal."
Blue Fringe's sound is part folk rock, part pop punk, with a mix of traditional Jewish melodies and harmonies. In keeping with Torah precepts, the love songs speak of adoration and commitment, not lust. Other lyrics yearn for god.
The new album is stylistically diverse and contemporary. "Eshet Chayil," a love song, and the reverential song "Listen to You" share a vibe with the chart-busting band Coldplay, though without the sonic effects. The romantic "Do You Realize" evokes John Lennon at his tenderest.
"We're just writing about issues we think about as being religious Jews in a modern society," Rosenblatt said.
Lead guitarist Avi Hoffman adds that Blue Fringe seeks to "reinterpret [traditional Jewish melodies] in a different harmonic context n to play an existing melody with very different chords. It changes the meaning, puts it in a different light."
The New York-based band also includes bassist Hayyim Danzig and drummer Danny Zwillenberg. All four members are mid-20s modern Orthodox men who "dream that we can make a living doing what we love, by playing music," Rosenblatt said. Still, Zwillenberg attends graduate school, Danzig is an engineer, Hoffman is considering law school and Rosenblatt studied psychology.
Blue Fringe formed six years ago while the guys were students at Yeshiva University in New York.
http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/news07.txt
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Posted By Chaptzem to Chaptzem Blog! at 5/16/2007 08:41:00 AM
