One Week Later: Avorcho by Yisroel Werdyger Plus New Singles Reviewed

Yisroel Werdyger is a very popular Chesidishe wedding singer with plenty of energy and charisma. He comes from the famous Werdyger family of singers. He’s the grandson of Chazzan Dovid Werdyger, the son of Mendy, the nephew of MBD and Yeedle’s cousin .He also previously has put out 3 albums, each loaded with hits.His first album was Bayis Ne’eman B’Yisroel, which had hits such as the title track and Lecha Dodi and came out in 2008.  His second album came out in 2010, titled Ashira V’zamra that had the hit song Simcha Shel Mitzvah. His most recent album, Odeh Lkeil, came out in 2012 with the famous Chabad Nigun. Yisroel has also been on all 4 Simchas Hachaim albums.

So now it’s 3 years later and it’s time to review Yisroel’s 4th studio album, Avorcho. This album was produced by Gershy Moskowitz and Yossi Tyberg and was arranged by Shua Freid. It has songs composed by Pinky Weber, Yaakov Yosef Buksbaum, Yitzy Waldner, Motti Ilowitz, Meir Adler, Yanky Daskal and Reb Shlomo Carlebach a’h.

Beruchim– The first song starts off slowly with a nice intro and breaks into a nice slower styled fast song, that takes its lyrics from Hallel. Its a nice song to start with and the choir does a nice background job. Composed by Pinky Weber, this song is a great start to the album.

Ekod– This is the hora song of the album, even though there are a few others on this album as well. I personally heard this song being played at countless weddings just days after the album came out. Yisroel is a great wedding singer with hundreds of views on youtube of his wedding videos for the exact same reason that this song is so good. He delivers in a huge way on this song and it pays off, its that incredible. A top five song on the album composed as well by Pinky Weber.

Meshoich– The lyrics come from the legendary shabbos zemer Kah Echsoif. This song is almost as beautiful as the words behind it, and Yisroel sings it wonderfully along with the child soloist Yossi Weiss and soloist Tzvi Meir Werdyger. Composed by Yaakov Yosef Buksbaum, an up and comer in jewish music composing, this song is a gem.

Nishmas– The first fast Nishmas that I think I’ve ever heard, this is another wedding song. I didn’t hear this one at a wedding, but I saw a video of Yisroel singing it at one. A beautiful, awesome song composed by Yaakov Yosef Buksbaum, who it seems can compose a fast song as well as he can compose a slow one.

Zakeinu– This song was composed by R’ Shlomo Carlebach and the words were put to the song by Reb/Chazzan Dovid Werdyger. This song was originally on Reb Dovid’s album named Zakeinu. It’s a classic Reb Shlomo song, very hartzige, very nice.

Avorcho– The title track is usually the best song on the album and I think that is true here as well. This is also another wedding song, but it’s strength is really the music and the way the high part blends so nicely with the low part. The child soloist is Avrumi Werdyger. This song was composed by Pinky Weber, who I have to say is 3 for 3 on this album.

Keil Erech– The lyrics to this one come from Tachanun. Its a nice slow song, composed by Yitzy Waldner. It gets higher towards the middle, which is probably the best part of the song, but overall a pretty good song.

Ki Hu Amar– This is not my favorite song. Its a slowish song, but its got a bit of a beat. It was  composed by Yanky Daskal.

Zchor– A slow song, composed by Pinky Weber. A very nice song asking the Abishter to remember us and return us to the Beis Hamikdash and Yerushalayim.

Tomid– Composed by Motty Illowitz, who recently put out his own debut album, this song is extremely good. It fits well with the whole Avorcho-Bless Hashem theme, as it is also about constantly blessing and giving thanks to Hashem for all He does for us.

Uvenucho– A nice slow song that gets fast at the end. It’s interesting how Yisroel put 4 slow(ish) songs in the last 5 songs of the album. This song, though, has a very nice high part and the choir here as well does an excellent job. The ending as well is beautiful and then it turns into a fast song. The child soloist is Shaya Ferentz and the song was composed by Meir Adler. A fantastic end to a great album.

Now for some new singles that were just released:

Yoni Z: Odeh– Yoni Z’s debut single, is bold, strong and superb. It’s got a mix of Hebrew and english lyrics, and they go smoothly together. His voice is beyond words, and he composed the track himself. The music video is extremely well done, so much so that it’s a bit scary. Well done, Yoni all around excellent job.

Avraham Fried: Hineni B’yodcha– Yes you read that right! Avremel put out another single in anticipation of his new album. This song is incredible, composed by Pinchos Brayer, and should make every fan of jewish music drool over the coming of his new album soon iy”h. Listen to it if you haven’t, you will love it. I know that I have it on repeat on my ipod and even that’s not enough for me.

Yoely Greenfeld: Rachmana Liba Boiyeh– A slow song that turns fast and awesome. Composed by Meir Adler, this is one of the songs off his upcoming album, Zeh, which will be released before Chanukah.

Mendy Worch: Bunim– A newcomer to Jewish music, Mendy Worch has hit a home run with his debut single, Bunim. Co-composed by Mendy and Boruch Sholom Blesofvsky, this song screams classic BSB! Mendy sings it beautifully and is as well releasing an album which I cant wait for.

Chaim Meir Erps (CME): A Tatte Blabt A Tatte– The newest song out there, CME has delivered a masterpiece. I already saw this song being played at a wedding on video. The Yiddish and Hebrew work perfectly together and the choir is terrific as well. Composed by CME himself and arranged by Avrumi Berko, this song should be CME’s big hit in Jewish music. It’s also being played often in my home, and its so catchy that I find myself singing it everywhere. Listen to it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijml4uRp9sU

So in conclusion, there’s plenty of good stuff out there in the Jewish music world. From Yisroel Werdyger’s excellent album (which you all should buy at mostlymusic.com or wherever jewish music is sold) to all these new exciting singles which lead to exciting albums, keep it here on jewishmuiscreport.com and follow me on twitter at @JMROneWeekLater for all your Jewish music news.