Jazz Fest Shabbat 2010

Holding his special top coat is Allen Toussaint, right, with Alan Smason, left.

It's not all that often that the star performer at the annual Touro Synagogue Jazz Fest Shabbat is someone that I know personally, but last night's 19th annual such event proved to be one such event. In one of the most impressive lineups ever, Allen Toussaint, the most well-known New Orleans arranger, producer and songwriter took to the bimah, the raised platform from which Torah scrolls are read and sermons are regularly delivered, and proceeded to blow away the full house in the main sanctuary there. It was a night to revel in the music that came out of New Orleans including jazz and funk, but there was also time for prayer in which the entire congregation came together to observe the Sabbath with traditional Friday evening ritual prayers, albeit with a fresh approach in terms of music accompaniment. In a 6:00 p.m. private concert for patrons prior to the show open to the public, Toussaint played many of his well-known hits like "A Certain Girl" and "Mother-in-Law." But in the later concert he chose to play several surprising choices for his repertoire: songs by Jewish composers that were especially poignant, given the unusual venue. These included Paul Simon's "American Tune" and the late Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans," to which audience members eagerly sung along. Joined by special guest "The Late Show with David Letterman" bandleader Paul Shaffer, Toussaint did a marvelous job juxtaposing the incredible George Gershwin's "Summertime" with Shaffer on a second piano. Shaffer, who wore a special black yarmulka for the occasion, more than rose to the task.

Paul Shaffer swinging in the synagogue.

Joining the two superstars were the Panorama Jazz Band and other ensemble members gathered together by musical director Terry Maddox. After the concert was over, Touro Synagogue made a special presentation of an elaborately designed white tails top coat decorated with symbols associated with Toussaint's historic career. It was a wonderful night for Cantor Billy Tiep, Rabbi Alexis Berk and other lay leaders, who served on the planning committee. The evening started with the Sophie B. Wright Marching Band coming into all sides of the sanctuary and ended with the Hebrew song "Adon Olom" played as an ecnore by Toussaint, Shaffer and others to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In." What a great night for prayer! What a great night for jazz! What a great night for New Orleans!

Jazz Fest Shabbat

Marcia Ball with her small fan at Jazz Fest Shabbat

Every year, typically the fourth Friday of April, Touro Synagogue has held a Jazz Fest Shabbat, an opportunity to put Jewish liturgical music and worship and counterpoise it with the music associated with the Jazz Fest, whether that be contemporary, New Orleans rhythm and blues, klezmer or more traditional jazz. Last year Kermit Ruffins held sway in the huge sanctuary and, because of the dates for Passover conflicting with the first weekend, it took place on the second weekend of the festival, closer to the first week in May. Ruffins did a fantastic job getting the entire audience to move up towards the front and dance up and down the aisles prior to the worship services portion of the program. I didn't think anyone else could do as great a job until last night. And I am thankful to reveal to you all that I was wrong! Marcia Ball, the best female pianist to play New Orleans style music took command of the bimah where her band joined her as she tickled the electric ivories. She made the audience feel so happy to be there and to really get into the spirit of the services in a meaningful way. Now for my observant Jewish friends, I am sure there is little I could do to convince them that playing music on Shabbat or using electricity to amplify it could be justified. But for those of us who are a bit more liberal in our approach to tefilah (prayer), it was a revelation. After all, it is Jazz Fest and things are just a bit different during these days. The Jazz Fest Shabbat is in its 16th year, having been formed originally by the late Cantor Stephen Dubov, an amazing man, singer and religious leader who left us way too early. Cantor Dubov was a personal friend of mine and consoled my son and I on the evening of my wife's passing, a mitzvah that I will never forget. After Dubov left New Orleans other cantors have come and gone, but it seems to me that none have taken on the post of coordinating Jazz Fest Shabbat any better than Touro's present cantor Billy Tiep. Billy gets it and he pours himself into each concert. I offer him my heartfelt thanks for a truly moving experience that most everyone agreed was the best we'd ever seen. I can't wait to see how he tops this one next year.