ALBUM LAUNCH

Leigh Nudelman dusts cobwebs off old Yiddish music to craft a debut solo album, “A Bisl Libe – A Bit of Love”, that she will launch on the 16^th of September at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

Yiddish songs do not scream musical popularity, but reaching levels of stardom was never Leigh’s main impetus for creating this album. As a performer who put her career aside to focus on rearing her two young children, getting back into a creative gear to produce this album was challenging. En route though, Leigh has found she can balance artistic life with her role of mother and wife. Secondly and perhaps more profoundly, she has learnt about her own Jewish heritage and uncovered a Jewish part of herself that was previously hidden.

Leigh believes the songs have the potential to enrich others; already proven with successful performances at Limmud conferences in Johannesburg and Cape Town. This affirmation of the album’s depth and authenticity gives Leigh impetus to spread “A Bis’l Libe” into the wider cultural landscape. Ultimately the album gives Jewish history another voice. Older Jewish listeners will cry as they sing along to songs sung to them by their mothers, like Rozhinkes mir Mandl’n and Oif’n Pripitchik, while younger listeners will be able to groove to Abi Gezunt and Hopkele. For Leigh, it is about sharing the love for Yiddish culture and heritage, as it is filled with the essence of life; of universal wisdom, humour, sadness, longing and resilience. 

Leigh will perform songs from the album with a five-piece band and will intersperse the songs with stories about her great-grandmothers. Musicians include Peter Jaspan, Avi Levy, Jonathan Mayer, Peter Sklair and Denzil Weale. The launch is on Saturday 16^th September at 7:30pm at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Forest Town. Tickets for the launch are R150. To book, email lnudels@gmail.com. The album will be available to purchase at the show for R200. VIP tickets are available for R300 and includes reserved seating, a glass of wine on entry and finger food and more wine after the show.