The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

"There are No Characters like that Anymore": A Tenor's Spontaneous Train Song

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Cantor Jack Mendelson, New York cantor and recording artist, tells a hilarious story about a train ride to a gig when the group created a song to convince the conductor to pull over.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Cantor Jack "Jackie" Mendelson.

This excerpt is in English.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"That's How I Learned the Khazones": Cantor "Jackie" Remembers Singing Zmires With His Family

3 min 36 sec

"He sang to me, I sang back at him": Cantorial Lessons at 11-Years-Old on 48th Street

3 min 29 sec

"The New Generation Became Trapeze Artists": The Dying Art of Traditional Cantorial Singing

5 min 1 sec

"I Like What's Happening in the Klezmer World": Reflections on the State of Jewish Music and KlezKanada

2 min 5 sec

"What a Davener He Was!": Singing like the Great Cantors

3 min 33 sec

"Text Painting": The Art of the Cantor

4 min 19 sec

"Corn beef was flying": Life in the famous Sachs and Mendelson NYC Jewish Deli and Borough Park

2 min 24 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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