A Kumzitz in The Rain Vol.2 Review by Layala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the much acclaimed accapella album ‘Kumzitz in the rain 1′, Doni Gross is back with Kumzitz in the Rain 2. I must say he hasn’t disappointed; giving us a pleasurable listen once again. The song selection on the album varies between more popular tunes and some less so. There’s a Lev Tahor feel to the album which I love.

1) Torah Hakdoshah
The album commences with the classic MBD selection composed by R’ Hillel Palei. Yosef Schick ( Of MBC and Shalsheles Junior fame) sings the song beautifully. The harmony is very well done. I’ve always loved this song and its great to have it included on the album.

2) Ein Aroch
This Baruch Levine composition (Originally on Dovi Dovid and Baruch Levine 2) is sung by Shlomo Simcha. Shlomo has recently made a comeback and I’m happy to hear him here as well. He adds his own touch and flavor. The child soloist Asher Schick (related to Yosef I believe) adds his sweet vocals to this hartzig selection.

3) Meheira
So, out of all Meheira’s out there, which one do you think it is? Well, probably not what you were thinking :) It’s the Meheira off Benny Friedman’s Nagila V’nismacha, composed by Mendy Fisch. It’s sung by Ari Goldwag who nails it usual, and child soloist Meir Rikowsky. Great great selection.

4) Tov Lehodos
Personally, I wouldn’t have included this song as it’s way too typical. It’s a nice song nonetheless. Tzvi Silberstein, Moishey Ney and Binyomin Scharf sing on this one. (One of them reminds me of Abish Brodt.) Overall, well done.

5) Shalsheles Medley
Ah. Shalsheles. I love them. The medley is sung by Shloime Kaufman, Akiva Elbogen and Asher Schick. ‘Heyma’ kicks off the medley. I really enjoyed Shloime on the Shalsheles Jr. album where he guest stars on this song. He’s very refreshing. Great to get another listen of him singing the gorgeous song. Akiva Elbogen sings the second song ‘Shir Hamaalos’ (Shalsheles 4). This one was unfamiliar to me. There are some very nice duets and harmonies. The 3rd song is the classic Ekrah. Shloime sing it very well.

6) Chamol
This song is sung by Michoel Pruzansky. The song was originally on Shloime Dachs’s ‘One Day at a Time’ album as per the CD jacket. I’m pretty sure it was featured on one of Shloime Daskal’s collection albums. Michoel sings it very well. The second time around he climbs to a higher note as he does occasionally.

7) V’chol Mi
This beautiful selection is a composition by Doni Gross. This one is sung by Rivie and Avrumi Schwebel, and Yehuda Gross. It’s a very pretty song with gorgeous vocals. I absolutely love Rivie! His voice can make me cry. At 2:53 some beautiful harmonies and duets kick in. Love it.

8) Reach Out
As they’ve done on the previous one, an english song is included on this album too. Smart choice. This song was originally on JEP 2 which probably goes back to the 70’s. I didn’t know this song as I was born a few decades after the JEP era :). (My mom would probably know it though) It’s a nice song sung by the Gross clan: Michel, Yitzi, Doni and Yehuda, in addition to Binyomin Scharf.

9) Im Eshkachech
This gorgeous song, composed by R’ Mordechai Twersky, was originally featured on Lev Tahor. Shalsheles Junior has also released a rendition of this song. Yitzi Gross, Shumi Zalmenovitz and Moishey Ney do a splendid job.

10) Bardichever Niggun
The composer of this traditional niggun is none other than R’ Levi Yitzchak M’Bardichev. The vocalist is Yosef (Joey) Newcomb. I can picture a Rebbe at a tisch, surrounded by his Chassidim, singing this niggun with dveikus and then getting more into it with some table drumming and clapping. (The clapping actually kicks in at around 2:15) This track rounds up the album well.

Summary: Masterfully done.