Sweet and Hot

• Folk Roots, August/September 1994

• Dirty Linen, August/September 1994

1. Yossel Yossel [4:25]
   Language: Yiddish
   Music: Samuel Steinberg
   Words: Nellie Casman
   A real hooked-on-love song, Yiddish style: "Oh, Yossel, I'm out of my mind over you"!
2. Hashem Yishmorcha (May the Lord Watch Over You) [5:15]
   Language: Hebrew
   Music: Moshe Denburg
   Words: Traditional (The Prayer for the Way)
   An original melody in a Hassidic 'dveykut' (devotional) style. 'May the Lord watch over your going out and coming in; Now and always'.
3. Morenica (The Dark Skinned Girl) [4:21]
   Language: Ladino
   Adapted and Arranged from the traditional Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) repertoire.
   A love song from the Ladino repertoire. 'Morenica, they call me; I was born white and the summer sun darkened my skin. Oh, lovely dark girl with graceful manner and black eyes...'
4. Laner Velivsamim (For the Candle and the Spices) [4:55]
   Language: Hebrew
   Music: Avihu Medina
   Words: Sa'adia
   An allusion to the Havdala ceremony at the close of the Sabbath; the poet expresses his yearning to be near the candle and the spices, i.e. - to live in the light and presence of God.
5. Adio Querida (Goodbye My Dear) [4:20]
   Language: Ladino
   Adapted and Arranged from the traditional Ladino repertoire.
   Another love song in Ladino; the unrequited lover speaks defiantly: "Goodbye my dear, I cannot live anymore with my bitterness; Go look for another love, knock on other doors,for me you are dead".
6. Vechitetu (Swords into Ploughshares) [4:44]
   Language: Hebrew
   Music: Moshe Denburg
   Words: Isaiah, II:4
   'And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore'.
7. Shein Vi Di Levone (Lovely Like the Moon) [3:15]
   Language: Yiddish
   Music: Joseph Rumshinsky
   Words: C. Tauber
   A famous Yiddish love song: 'Lovely as the moon, As bright as the stars; You were sent to me as a gift from heaven'.
8. Odessa Bulgarish [2:24]
   Adapted and Arranged from the traditional Klezmer repertoire.
   Tzimmes takes on the famous piece in that Bulgar rhythm from Odessa.
9. Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (Raisins and Almonds) [4:01]
   Language: Yiddish
   Music: Traditional, ascribed to Abraham Goldfaden
   This well known lullaby may be paraphrased as follows: 'Under little Yidele's cradle is a snow white billy goat; This billy goat has been to market; And so it shall be Yidele's calling too - To go to market and trade in raisins and almonds; But sleep now, my Yidele, sleep'.
10. Gib Mir a Heym (Give Me a Home) [3:15]
    Language: Yiddish
    Music: the tune of 'Home On the Range'
    Yiddish Translation: from 'Gut Yuntif Gut Yohr' by Marie Jaffe Used by permission of Carol Publishing.
    This spirited Tzimmes arrangement of the old workhorse has made some great shakes in 'Nosh'-ville. :-)
11. The Book of Life [3:44]
    Music and Words: Moshe Denburg
    A song about the spiritual questions of love, the title line is an allusion to the prayer we recite on Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), requesting God to inscribe us in the Book of Life.
12. Adon Olam (Ruler of the Universe) [4:41]
    Language: Hebrew
    Music: Myrna Rabinowitz
    Words: Traditional (Morning Prayers)
    Arrangement: Moshe Denburg
    The Ruler of the Universe is the one God without compare, Who has been, is, and shall be glorified. He is my God, my refuge, my true portion. So long as He is near, I shall continue unafraid.
13. Matai Tagia Eit Lashalom (When Will the Time of Peace Arrive) [5:53]
    Language: Hebrew
    Music and Words: Moshe Denburg and Ya'akov Mizrahi
    An original peace song: 'When will the time of peace arrive? Peace upon Israel! Peace upon Ishmael! A voice calls from within the dark - When will the time of peace arrive?'

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