Draft:Jewish soul

Jewish soul is a genre of soul music performed by Jewish artists for the purpose of worship and entertainment. The term was coined in 2022 to define a niche style of music performed by Conservative and Reform Jews in the Greater Los Angeles area beginning in the early 1990s.

History

The first notable Jewish soul artist was RebbeSoul, a session musician originally from Utica, New York who started his career in Jewish music in Los Angeles in 1992. After a Shabbat dinner at the home of a Chabad Rabbi, Bruce Burger was moved to create contemporary music inspired by traditional Jewish prayers and melodies. Burger adopted the moniker RebbeSoul for his project, making him the first Jewish worship artist to identify with the soul genre. RebbeSoul became well-known in Los Angeles's observant Jewish community for his diverse sound. He gradually expanded from a conventional Jewish rock sound to incorporate folk, soul, jazz, new-age, and worldbeat, as well as sounds from South American, Carribbean, West African, Middle Eastern, Yemenite, and Sephardic music.

Rabbi and Cantor Jason van Leeuwen, who hailed from the same hometown as Burger, is the second notable Jewish soul artist. Van Leeuwen launched his career in the early 2000s as a Jewish musician under the moniker Reb Jason. While working as a cantor at congregation Temple Ramat Zion in L.A. suburb Northridge, California, Reb Jason performed a monthly Shabbat evening service on Friday nights. Originally called Shabbat Unplugged (a reference to MTV's popular series), van Leeuwen's Shabbat Rocks service attracted a small but loyal following in Los Angeles's Conservative Jewish community. Reb Jason released his debut album, Shabbat Rocks, in 2004. Bruce Burger was one of several session musicians who played on Reb Jason's debut album, Shabbat Rocks. Reb Jason soon began writing music for his next album, which modernized the prayers in the standard Saturday morning Shabbat service.

Coining

The genre was coined by Reb Jason's daughter, Avital van Leeuwen, a music producer, songwriter, singer, musician and sound engineer. In 2022, the younger van Leeuwen was tasked with managing and marketing the release of her father's long-awaited sophomore record, Wake Up Shabbat, as well as re-releasing Shabbat Rocks on streaming services. She felt that soul was a better descriptor than rock, observing that most of the music and Reb Jason's vocal stylings had its roots in rhythm and blues and gospel. Jewish soul was intended to accurately describe the music made by Reb Jason, RebbeSoul, and other artists in this niche while alluding to the music's religious nature. It was also a reference to blue-eyed soul.