Beth Hamon's new album gets delayed debut

 

Local musician Beth Hamon released her CD “The Watchman’s Chair” in February 2020 intending to embark on a local and national tour. 
“My tours were all canceled and there was no way to know when things might open up again,” says Beth. “Normally in the music business, that usually means the momentum is gone because you can’t sustain the excitement for a new album if no one can come hear you perform.” 
“But friends in the contemporary Jewish music scene urged me to consider a sort of ‘re-release’ of the collection this summer as things opened up, and I was able to start playing for live audiences again,” says Beth.
That was going well until she had a case of breakthrough COVID and had to cancel some gigs. As with many cases of COVID in vaccinated individuals, her symptoms were mild, and her doctor said her antibodies were in high gear.
So, she is back on the road for some end-of-season concerts.
Upcoming performances include High Holy Days at Congregation Beth HaTikvah, Bremerton, Wash.; Sept 25-26 at the “ish Festival,” a biennial Jewish and Israeli arts and culture festival in Cincinnati; and Oct 1-4 in El Paso, Texas.
Beth says the album grew out of the title song, which she wrote after serving as a shomer (a watcher who sits with the body before burial) through the chevra kadisha (burial society). 
“The experience of serving in this way moved me profoundly and raised a lot of questions about life, death, eternity and everything else,” says Beth. “So, I ended up writing a song to help me process all of that.”
Many of the songs on the album reflect some piece of a journey through life. 
“I’d say it reflects my best work as a songwriter and is possibly the most personal of my four albums,” says Beth.
“The Watchman’s Chair” is available for digital download online through Bandcamp: https://bethhamon.bandcamp.com/album/the-watchmans-chair. Those who purchase the whole album on Bandcamp will receive a PDF of a commemorative booklet available only online. In the interest of sustainability, Beth is reserving sales of physical CDs for live shows only. 

 

 

Kept home by COVID pandemic, a writer writes

BY DEBORAH MOON

Portland Jewish writer, artist and traveler Jan Baross has spent much of the pandemic writing. 
Already this year, she has released her first poetry collection, In Living Color: Poems; reprinted a photography book, In Bed on Sunday Morning; and is working on updating another photography book, China 1966, to include the story of the photos. Hong Kong, 1966, will tell the story of an adventure she had when her father was teaching orthopedics in Hong Kong – a story previously told only in photos.
Travel has been a recurring theme in Jan’s life. Normally, she would have spent a few months last year and this one at an artists’ village in Mexico. Whenever she travels, she sketches and has printed several books of sketches and observations including Ms Baross goes to Mexico: San Miguel de Allende, Ms Baross goes to Cuba and Ms Baross goes to Paris.
When her mother, Estelle Meadoff, died recently at age 104, Jan decided it was time to finish the fictionalized memoir she has been working on for years. Bye-Bye Bakersfield is her “unauthorized biography of a young Jewish girl (me) growing up in Bakersfield – Redneck Central in the 1950s.”
“There is a kernel of truth in each story,” says Jan. “But I take the incident and blow it up and add dialogue.”
One chapter of the book has already been published in The Timberline Review: Time Capsule. The 10th issue of this Willamette Writers’ literary journal came out early this year featuring poetry and prose by Pacific Northwest writers. Jan’s “Prom Night 1961” recalls how she and her friends got bored at the hot, dull prom and “drove to LA to look for beatniks.” While the teens have an incredible time, they return to frantic, and not amused, parents the next day. 
When In Living Color: Poems was published in February, the back cover featured this quote from former Oregon poet laureate Kim Stafford: “This book of poems is dedicated to family – not a family expressing love by silent revery, but by wild truth. … Read these poems to wake up what you say to those you love – especially yourself.”
Jan’s debut novel, Jose Builds a Woman, from Ooligan Press, won first place for fiction from the Kay Snow Awards. That book, along with Jan’s other books and the Timberline Review, are available on Amazon. For information on all her books, plays, art and films, visit janbaross.com.

 

Musical Midrash meets milestone with song

One year ago, Mark Sherman launched his Musical Midrash Project. His goal? To create and perform 54 songs, one for each of the year’s parshiyot (Torah portions). 

“Musical Midrash Project is an innovative approach to Torah study that uses music as a way to connect thoughtfully and emotionally to our tradition’s foundational text,” says Mark, a guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. “The songs are like 54 gems from the Torah that have been polished so they can be seen in a new and compelling way.”

He met his goal and to celebrate, headlined a hybrid in-person and virtual concert on the Holzman Plaza of Congregation Neveh Shalom on Aug. 17. About 25 masked people attended in person and another 15 enjoyed the melodies online. Guest musicians – vocalist Alyssa Knudsen and violinist Andrew Ehrlich – accompanied Mark on a number of the songs from Deuteronomy that he performed at the mid-August event. 

“I felt so much beauty in the space he created for us to learn, listen and even sing together, not something we can do much of these days,” says Merrill Hendin, who attended on the plaza. Merrill is the principal of Portland Jewish Academy. “What a treat during such complex and tumultuous times to learn Torah together through Mark’s beautiful music.” 

Mark’s concert purposefully coincided with Elul, the month on the Hebrew calendar dedicated to introspection and reflection prior to the High Holy Days. While he has completed his initial 54 songs and has shared them in a weekly online concert as they emerged, the Musical Midrash Project will continue into the new Jewish year. 

“I am exploring through weekly Musical Midrash Torah study sessions how these songs can help people make surprising, personal connections to the Torah on a regular basis,” says Mark. “I am also looking forward to working with Jewish institutions as partners to make the songs available for all ages.” You can read more about the project in this December 2020 story: jewishportland.org/jewishreview/jr-stories/musical-midrash-strikes-a-chord.

To listen to Mark’s songs – lyrics in Hebrew and English included – visit his website, musicalmidrash.com.

BY DEBORAH MOON
Portland Jewish writer, artist and traveler Jan Baross has spent much of the pandemic writing. 
Already this year, she has released her first poetry collection, In Living Color: Poems; reprinted a photography book, In Bed on Sunday Morning; and is working on updating another photography book, China 1966, to include the story of the photos. Hong Kong, 1966, will tell the story of an adventure she had when her father was teaching orthopedics in Hong Kong – a story previously told only in photos.
Travel has been a recurring theme in Jan’s life. Normally, she would have spent a few months last year and this one at an artists’ village in Mexico. Whenever she travels, she sketches and has printed several books of sketches and observations including Ms Baross goes to Mexico: San Miguel de Allende, Ms Baross goes to Cuba and Ms Baross goes to Paris.
When her mother, Estelle Meadoff, died recently at age 104, Jan decided it was time to finish the fictionalized memoir she has been working on for years. Bye-Bye Bakersfield is her “unauthorized biography of a young Jewish girl (me) growing up in Bakersfield – Redneck Central in the 1950s.”
“There is a kernel of truth in each story,” says Jan. “But I take the incident and blow it up and add dialogue.”
One chapter of the book has already been published in The Timberline Review: Time Capsule. The 10th issue of this Willamette Writers’ literary journal came out early this year featuring poetry and prose by Pacific Northwest writers. Jan’s “Prom Night 1961” recalls how she and her friends got bored at the hot, dull prom and “drove to LA to look for beatniks.” While the teens have an incredible time, they return to frantic, and not amused, parents the next day. 
When In Living Color: Poems was published in February, the back cover featured this quote from former Oregon poet laureate Kim Stafford: “This book of poems is dedicated to family – not a family expressing love by silent revery, but by wild truth. … Read these poems to wake up what you say to those you love – especially yourself.”
Jan’s debut novel, Jose Builds a Woman, from Ooligan Press, won first place for fiction from the Kay Snow Awards. That book, along with Jan’s other books and the Timberline Review, are available on Amazon. For information on all her books, plays, art and films, visit janbaross.com.