Harold Heft
By Harold Heft
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Culture For Jana Herzen, Jazzy Creativity Is in Jewish Bloodline
Jana Herzen, whose jazz record label Motéma Music celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2013, confides that the Forward played an important role in her family history. Her great-grandmother walked out on her family when Herzen’s grandmother, the eldest of six, was 11. One day she just disappeared from their home in the Bronx and was…
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Culture Keep Your Eye on Nikki Yanofsky in 2014
Nikki Yanofsky seems preternaturally destined for global stardom. At the age of 12, she was spotted singing with her father’s garage band at a charity event for a Jewish geriatric center and was immediately invited to perform at the opening concert of the 2006 Montreal International Jazz Festival before a crowd of 125,000. Since then,…
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Culture Honoring the Memory of Warren Zevon, Rock’s Raucous ‘Werewolf’ of Fresno
Just about every anecdote from Warren Zevon’s storied rock ’n’ roll career seems steeped in legend. Take the recording of his biggest hit, “Werewolves of London.” Zevon’s longtime collaborator Jorge Calderon recalled finding producer Waddy Wachtel in the back office of the Sound Factory recording studio, “sporting a sad and worried face” because they had…
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Culture The Top 10 Songs of Warren Zevon
From songs of youthful rebellion to late, introspective masterpieces, Warren Zevon’s music continued to evolve until his untimely death. Though he only had one legitimate hit, “Werewolves of London,” the following list also contains many of the most beloved, energetic, and enduring cult classics of his expansive oeuvre. Desperados Under the Eaves represents the moment…
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Culture The Second Coming of Jewish Baseball Star Jason Marquis
In October 2012, Gerald Eskenazi wrote an article in this newspaper on the evolving image of the Jewish athlete. The article quoted the mother of major league pitcher Jason Marquis, who had once called the editor of the Jewish Sports Review to ask: “My son’s Jewish. How come he’s not in your publication?” By last…
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Culture Meet David Nunes Carvalho, the Jewish Investigator Who Rivaled Sherlock Holmes
Long before the advent of DNA evidence, it was the trail of ink, not blood, which often provided detectives with a direct, chemical connection between criminals and their crimes. A century ago, David Nunes Carvalho, a renowned expert on ink, handwriting and print, became a central figure in some of the world’s most sensational investigations,…
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News ‘Strange’ Evolution of Legendary Song
January marked the 75th anniversary of the original publication of “Bitter Fruit.” The poem evolved into the song “Strange Fruit,” which was made famous by jazz legend Billie Holiday and was named best song of the century by Time magazine in 1999. But its author and composer, Abel Meeropol, is largely forgotten today. “Strange Fruit”…
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Culture A South Carolinian Among the Mormons
In 1853, Solomon Nunes Carvalho set out on the fifth and final expedition of explorer John Charles Frémont through the Rocky Mountains, in search of a westward railroad route to California along the 38th parallel. Carvalho, an observant Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, S.C., had never imagined himself an explorer. He was an artist —…
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