Kesher Talk

New traditions in Jewish music: Joshua Nelson is known as the Jewish soul singer. And he brought a little of his soul music to Kansas City as part of this year's Jewish Arts Festival on September 14th.

Nelson is black and an observant Jew who teaches Hebrew at a Reform congregation in New Jersey. He is also the director of music for the Hopewell Baptist Church in Newark and a rising star in the traditionally Christian world of gospel music.

When Nelson comes to Kansas City later this month, he will perform Jewish music with a gospel sound - a musical form he has helped to pioneer.

Nelson, who refrains from doing songs that refer to Jesus as God, said that the response to his music has been overwhelmingly positive.

"When I first started singing at gospel concerts, I was nervous about letting people know I was Jewish," he said. "It was a big secret for a while. Then I had a publicist who said I should just tell people because they're going to find out anyway. So we let people know, and it was a very positive response. A lot of big-time ministers thought it was great."

Nelson's Jewish audiences have been just as accepting - young and old alike.

"I was down in Palm Beach (Fla.), and I was a little nervous," he said. "Some people who grew up with a certain sound of Jewish music are not always open to a different sound. If it sounds too bluesy, they'll say that's not Jewish. But they really enjoyed it. They were clapping, and they bought all of my CDs."

posted by William @ 9/23/2003 09:08:24 AM