The Song Is not the Same: Jews and American Popular Music(The Jewish Role in American Life: an Annual Review)

There has been a long-standing relationship between Jewish Americans and the world of American popular music. The essays in this volume blend surveys of music making as a whole with profiles of single artists. This is volume 8 of the annual publication, The Jewish Role in American Life (ISSN 1934-7529), produced by the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at the University of Southern California. Contents: Foreword (Gayle Wald); Introduction (Josh Kun); Cohen Owes Me Ninety-Seven Dollars, and other Tales from the Jewish Sheet-Music Trade (Jody Rosen); 'Dances Partake of the Racial Characteristics of the People Who Dance Them': Nordicism, Antisemitism, and Henry Ford's Old Time Music and Dance Revival (Peter La Chapelle); Ovoutie Slanguage is Absolutely Kosher: Yiddish in Scat-Singing, Jazz Jargon, and Black Music (Jonathan Z. S. Pollack); 'If I Embarrass You, Tell Your Friends': Belle Barth, Pearl Williams, and the Space of the Risqué (Josh Kun); 'Here's a foreign song I learned in Utah': The Anxiety of Jewish Influence in the Music of Bob Dylan (David Kaufman); Jazz Liturgy, Yiddishe Blues, Cantorial Death Metal, and Free Klez: Musical Hybridity in Radical Jewish Culture (Jeff Janeczco).

About the Author :
Josh Kun is an associate professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His research focuses on the arts and politics of cultural connection, with an emphasis on popular music, the cultures of globalization, the US-Mexico border, and Jewish American musical history. Prior to joining the USC Annenberg School, Kun was associate professor of English at the University of California, Riverside. He holds a PhD in Ethnic Studies from University of California, Berkeley. Bruce Zuckerman is a professor of religion at the University of Southern California, teaching courses in the Hebrew Bible, the Bible in Western Literature, the Ancient Near East, and Archaeology. He received his Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern languages from Yale University. Lisa Ansell is associate director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at the University of Southern California. She received her BA in French and Near East studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and her MA in Middle East studies from Harvard University. She was the Chair of the World Language Department of New Community Jewish High School for five years before coming to USC in August, 2007.