Marty Levitt Orchestra featuring Harriet Kane

Artist: Marty Levitt Orchestra featuring Harriet Kane

LP: Bar Mitzvah Favorites
Song: "My Bar Mitzvah Boy"
[ listen ]

Here's another from the stash of Israeli-Jewish LPs I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. With lines like "with life dispensing tones she ripples through the blood streams of her listeners" and "the throbbing sigh, the carefree laugh, the lingering tear bobble like bubbles in her champagne of song," the notes on the back of this one are some of the strangest—and best—I've ever seen. Marty Levitt, who died in March of 2008, and his wife Harriet, who evidently died while still in her prime, were a popular entertainment duo on the Jewish-American circuit, playing for many weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, etc. You can read about Marty here, and I've included the aforementioned notes from the back of the LP below, along with a video clip of Marty and Harriet performing at an event in Brooklyn about 25 years ago.

Marty Levitt Orchestra featuring Harriet Kane on YouTube:
[ "Shmaravoznik" ]
October 21, 1984 at the H.E.S. in Brooklyn, NY

BAR MITZVAH FAVORITES is an album of emotions,
photographing in color and depth feelings of pride and
joy, hope and regret, nostalgia and frustration that
pervade Jewish-American living. These thirteen musical
pictures in photogenic words and rhythm depict the
stages of human development from infancy to golden age
with the aspirations, attitudes and pitfalls that crowd
each level. The whole family, three generations in all,
from bubeleh to babenuh, from zindele to zaydenuh, are
portrayed as moving, sensing and interacting beings.

This recording will grip your heart. This recording will
be your favorite as well as ours.

Harriet Kane has a voice full of heart. With life dispen-
sing tones she ripples through the blood streams of her
listeners. She injects pulsating life into her audiences.
The bright eyed dreams of youth, the hopes of mom
and dad, and the golden memories of grandparents are
saturated with her vocal warmth. The throbbing sigh, the
carefree laugh, the lingering tear bobble like bubbles in her
champagne of song. Her style is bewitching—intoxicating.
Her captivating vitality ignites us all. The dynamic quality
of Harriet's vocal renditions is augmented by the masterly
interplay of her husband's scintillating skill. Her voice is
wedded to his music; her feelings with the quiver of his
clarinet. Harriet and Marty, with his orchestra, form a
sensational combination. They are not just a pair of per-
formers. They are not just talented entertainers. They
have done what few have been able to duplicate. They
have fused together the sparkling essence of Yiddish-
American music with decor and artistry unsurpassed.

Listening to this record you will understand why they
are the most sought after entertainment package
of the Bar Mitzvah circuit.

* * * * * * *

MY BAR MITZVAH BOY

Murray Rumsey, the creator of this musical piece of
sheer beauty, is a highly sensitive, talented composer.
Out of the heart of his inner being the words were formed,
the notes were fashioned. For many years afer publication
he hesitated to share his musical joy with the listening
world. There was no one on the Yiddish-American scene
to interpret this song properly; no one who could reveal
the splendor and beauty of this work. When Harriet Kane
came upon the scene all reservations were removed. Her
vocal imagery and penetrating warmth convinced him
she was the one to do this song justice. The dreams
of every Jewish mom and dad glisten in the words
and spirit of this song.

My Bar Mitzvah boy
You're my pride and joy
Your baby days are over
Now you are a man
Be true to your religion
A staunch American

The feelings and hopes of first generation parents are
spelled out in heartful tunes, as the mother tells her
Bar Mitzvah boy the kind of man she wants him to be.

[ Marty Levitt and Harriet Kane—an entertainment package with no reservations. ]