Craig Taubman is mostly known as a musician. But each year for the past six years, he’s been inviting leading Jewish bloggers, along with celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Barack Obama, and Eminem to share their thoughts about repentance, improvement, and the upcoming New Year on his blog, Jewels of Elul.
This year, Taubman extended his curatorial watch to include songs, as well. His new Jewels Music Sampler is a collection of world, folk, and pop music that connects to Rosh Hashanah, Judaism, and renewal. The songs are a mix of Hebrew and English, with a few notable folks cropping up–Michelle Citrin and Josh Nelson, co-composers of the new Sleepless in Seattle musical, and Academy Award-nominated actor/singer Mare Winningham, for instance. The Latin-tinged “Avraham” by Basya Schechter, and “Hayom” by Naomi Less are other highlights.
Right now, you can download the entire album for free. We can’t think of a better soundtrack to repent to…or to rock out to.
