Hi
a new review for last fantastic MARK's CD on air on RADIOVINILEMANIA
in Italy:

http://www.vinilemania.net/vMARKWEINSTEIN.htm

Ciao ciao Pietro


COURTESY: Judaism and all that jazz By Joseph Leichman

If "O Nosso Amor," "To Our Love," were simply an album name, it
would mean nothing more than a wedding toast. But for the 66-year-
old Mark Weinstein, a jazz flutist who lives in Montclair, the name
of his most recent Brazilian-music record is proof that Weinstein
does not try to play his music. Instead, Weinstein plays His music.

Weinstein's jazz career effected a seismic facelift when he
rediscovered his Judaism as an adult. In all but one of the dozen or
so albums he has recorded since 1995, a selection from Psalms graces
the liner notes. The full professor at Montclair University's
Department of Education Foundations wraps tefillin every day before
class and says that reading the haftarah portion at Cong. Shomrei
Emunah is the only activity that holds his attention like a
recording session. Weinstein was raised non-observant in Brooklyn,
but has since become a fluent Hebrew reader and weekly synagogue
attendee.

Weinstein is a musical bigamist: his dual commitments to the flute,
which, he says, "is not really a jazz instrument," whistles
soulfully alongside his attention to traditional jazz constructs.
However, both musical identities serve to deepen his one cosmic
devotion — "our love," O Nosso Amor — and Weinstein's relationship
with the Almighty.

"I see my albums as performing a mitzvah. The psalms are an overt
sign that there is a positive commandment to sing. Almost every one
makes some allusion to singing, blessing, and praising through
song," says Weinstein, whose album, "Shifra Tantz," is a collection
of 13 shtetl and klezmer songs set to jazz arrangements. "This is
not cashing in on Coltrane religiosity. Music is an expression of a
connection to something deeper."

Raised in the Fort Green projects, Weinstein first took up the piano
when he was 6. He eventually switched to the trombone, and played
his first gig with it at 15. Meanwhile, a salsa bandleader named
Larry Harlow taught Weinstein how to play Latin music, which became
his primary musical devotion. In 1967, he recorded "Cuban Roots," an
Afro-Cuban jazz album, with former Miles Davis pianist Chick Corea
and a slew of hallmark Latin performers.

In the 1970s, Weinstein took a long leave of absence from music in
order to earn a doctorate in philosophy from City College. He began
teaching, and, having never had his own bar mitzvah, he reached out
to an observant former student when his own son turned 12. The
student directed him to a shul in upper Manhattan where, a year
later, Weinstein was bar mitzvahed alongside his son.

"I didn't expect them to call me up for an aliyah," the blessing
before and after a Torah portion, which consecrates a bar mitzvah
ceremony. "I couldn't even read Hebrew," said Weinstein.

By 1995, at 55, Weinstein had been playing the flute recreationally
for almost 20 years. Deciding he "had something to say" with the
instrument, he started recording one album every year. He re-
established ties with some of the Caribbean's best musicians, and
tried to emulate Herbie Mann (born Herbie Solomon), his mentor and a
world music/jazz-flute pioneer.

"The most available world music is Afro-Caribbean music," said
Weinstein. "I recorded sacred music from Santeria, which is as close
to idol worship as you can get without getting into trouble. In the
liner notes, I included a psalm that translates to `Sing the joy of
all creation.'

"I wanted to show that praising HaShem is something that can be done
through the widest variety of vehicles."

Weinstein talks quickly, sticks to the point, and means what says.
He builds his sentences in a certain direction, like jazz riffs that
point to a main musical theme. During his conversation with The
Jewish Standard, he never strayed far from his motif: that finding
religion has revitalized and revamped his music, and that his work
is a vehicle for praise first, and a cultural contribution second.

He said that the flute was the first klezmer wind instrument, since
stronger instruments, like the clarinet and trumpet, were illegal
for Jews to play when the art from was born. And, although klezmer
eventually moved to those more audible mediums, a large part of why
Weinstein loves playing flute is that it harks back to a formative
time in Jewish art history. Similarly, he loves playing all music,
since his melodies are fundamentally Jewish in content and/or intent.

"I have an unstoppable, overwhelming need to show gratitude to God,"
said Weinstein,. "Laying tefillin gave me the psychological and
spiritual freedom to search after the fantasy of being a musician
again, and I am so grateful for getting a second chance."

And, besides, for "O Nosso Amor," the philosophy professor could
think of one other reason to dedicate his work to God. Said
Weinstein, "My music has such a small audience that, if HaShem isn't
listening, it's pretty much a waste of time."