In many ways, there was never another album Carlebach could make, never another destiny she could follow. The daughter of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Neshama was surrounded by music from an early age, given her father’s role as a hugely prolific songwriter, in many ways the father to modern Jewish music. “I don’t think I remember my life without music,” Carlebach explains of her father’s rigorous travel schedule that took her around the world, both uprooting Carlebach and exposing her to cultures and outlooks she would never have experienced. “Between the concerts and the hangs and the singing around the house, I don’t think I ever had life without music.”
As soon as Carlebach was old enough to hold a microphone, she was urged into the spotlight by her doting father. After years of voice and acting lessons, Carlebach would join her father onstage, and for several months preceding his death in October of 1994, Carlebach toured with her father, with no other desire than to simply spend time with him. “I think he was grooming me the whole time,” Carlebach explains of the performances she did with her father. “I think he knew he would die, and I think that’s the worst thing to absorb. After he died I looked back at all these random conversations, and I think he knew.”
At the time of Shlomo Carlebach’s death, months of shows had been booked. Within three days of his death, Neshama had agreed to perform in place of her father, and thirty days later, she was singing her father’s music, and building her own legacy within the world of Jewish music. “I don’t even know why I said OK,” Carlebach laughs in retrospect. "I wasn’t in my right mind. I felt this sincere sense of pressure.” In those performances, Carlebach was able to mourn her father, and in a manner most appropriate: by communing with his fans. After the tour wrapped up, Carlebach continued working with her band, looking at the breadth of the catalog her father left behind, and today her show is comprised predominantly of his material. “His music is my music,” Carlebach explains. From that point, Carlebach took on the role of a working musician, playing shows and writing music, all while booking shows and promoting herself – labor that most musicians outsource to a support staff.
Higher & Higher is the intersection of faith and talent, an album written from the perspective of a particular faith that applies to all. Written by a rabbi, performed by his daughter and a Baptist choir, the songs preach in the least secular way, sharing a message of unity and hope. Other than faith, one of Carlebach’s greatest inspirations on the album was the devastation Hurricane Katrina visited upon New Orleans. Carlebach, who spent time in New Orleans both prior to and following Hurricane Katrina, is holding a benefit in conjunction with the release of the record there. “It’s become one of my personal missions, to help the victims of New Orleans,” Carlebach says. “Ata,” which literally translated from the Hebrew means “without words,” is a hope-infused blues vocalization that conveys the emotion and spirit Carlebach and the choir feel for the fallen city in a manner purer than words. “Higher and Higher,” the album’s namesake, is both mournful and moving, a message of appreciating life’s fleeting nature. What was born out of fear and sadness has become inspiration, from destruction came creation. Carlebach and the Green Pastures Baptist Choir have a salve for some of the suffering they see throughout the world. “People need one piece of hope, one shred of faith to cling to that makes us feel that all we’re doing and all the craziness is worthwhile, that we’re not alone,” says Carlebach. This album is ten pieces of that hope.
Neshama Carlebach and The Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir join forces to record this powerful album produced by Sojourn co-founder Mark Ambrosino. Singing the songs of her father, beloved Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Neshama and the Choir bring a new found depth and majesty to the songs that are clearly timeless works of art. Known as the Father of Modern Jewish Music, Shlomo Carlebach's melodies are unforgettable, uplifting and haunting. Neshama and The Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir bring a joy, pain and spirit to the songs that truly brings them to life. These songs are bound to sound like nothing you have heard before - neither just Jewish music, Gospel music or World music. In its truest form, this is "soul" music.
Neshamas sixth CD, One and One was released in 2008. This recording consists of all original music with English lyrics. The title track, One and One, showcases the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir. Neshama writes "My father said the greatest downfall of humankind is our inability to connect to all people in this world. We think One and One is Two, but One and One is One."
Neshama's fifth CD, Journey combines a sweet mix of the simplicity of her father's melodies, jazz and earthy folk sounds. Neshama's musical growth is evident. Of Journey's thirteen acoustic songs, eleven were composed by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and two original songs, "Ata Hu " and "Min Hametzar " were written by David Morgan and Neshama Carlebach. All songs on the album are in Hebrew besides Shlomo's English classic "Return Again" and "Niggun Neshama," a melody with no words, recorded on this CD for the first time. "Carlebach's dark hued spiritually evocative soprano drew comparisons to the likes of Sheryl Crow and Linda Ronstadt, while the haunting melodies, glistening pop sophistication of her band's arrangements, and religious nature of her material were reminiscent of Amy Grant". -Jim Bessman, Billboard Magazine
Neshama Carlebach's 3rd release released in 2001 and recorded in Hebrew, includes both pop and mystical Hebrew folk songs. A customer writes " This isn't a great "Jewish" CD it's a great CD period! Neshama could easily be recording pop songs and playing large venues. She is not because she chooses to stay in the Jewish market. But this girl is much more talented than most of today's crop of female pop singers. Watch for her to break out – if she wants to – next year." - Shmarya Rosenberg
Released in 2000. A mystical blend of classic Hebrew folksongs and new contemporary original music that will uplift your soul. A customer writes "I read the reviews and thought - can the album really be as wonderful as they claim. Is the music that good? The songs that uplifting? It is and they are. Thinking I needed to enhance my Jewish music collection I purchased a large number of recordings last month, Dancing With My Soul, being one. I listened to all of them. However, I have listened to Dancing With My Soul over and over. Every aspect of this album and Neshama's singing is moving, professional and enjoyable. Even though the album was released a few years ago, I just bought it, so it gets my vote for my "album of the year". -Samuel Ilan
Shlomo and Neshama singing together Released 1997
Released in 1996, this is Neshama's first record and features traditional Hebrew folk "soul" music sung in Hebrew. A remarkable debut.
Neshama Carlebach's new album, "Higher & Higher" recorded with The Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir, is available as of October 13th. Recorded and Produced by Sojourn Records co-founder, Mark Ambrosino, "Higher & Higher" is being distributed by Sony/RED and will be in stores nationwide and is available here as well to purchase. Neshama and the Choir will be touring in support of the release and will be up and down the Eastern seaboard over the next month and a half and will be out on the west coast in December. Neshama's record will be followed by a new release by Shlomo Carlebach (her father) performing live in two separate performances in 1973. His album, "Songs of Peace", will be released on Oct. 27th.