Review: Hear O Israel — A prayer ceremony in Jazz

Herbie Hancock

At the heart of one of the most unusual Jewish releases in years is a problem that will be familiar to every urban rabbi — how to get young people into shul on a Friday night when the big city is full of funkier temptations.

Back in 1965, Rabbi David Davis from Worcester, Massachusetts, came up with a novel solution. He commissioned a swinging, spiritual jazz version of the service from another rabbi’s son, 17-year-old composer Jonathan Klein. The result was so successful, and someone in the congregation so well connected, that soon afterwards a limited-edition, privately pressed recording of the concert was made, featuring the cream of the late-’60s US jazz scene.

This music might have remained a historical footnote but for the persistence of London jazz nut Jonny Trunk, whose Jonny Records has re-released the record for a wider audience.