He’s released several popular singles and is making his own way as a vocalist and composer

A son of singer, songwriter, music teacher, and play director Malky Giniger, YECHIEL GINIGER is a yeshivah bochur learning full-time in beis medrash, who grew up in the world of Jewish song and has been involved in music since he was a young child, first performing at the age of three alongside his mother. Today, he’s released several popular singles and is making his own way as a vocalist and composer.

MY FAVORITE TYPE OF GIG

I’m most in my element when singing at chuppahs. I think that’s because I sang at my first chuppah when I was six years old, for my first piano teacher when she got married. After that, I sang at multiple chuppahs with two of my brothers — Zevy and Yosef, who were eight and ten — as the Giniger Trio, and that’s where it all started. I love the atmosphere at chuppahs, and I appreciate that the playlist is always defined and prepared in advance.

I was the child soloist for “Aneini” on Baruch Levine’s Peduscha album. I also went along to a Yad Eliezer dinner to sing it there. That performance was especially powerful, as we sang it after a very moving film about almanos and yesomim.

ONE SPECIAL COLLABORATION

I was in yeshivah with a really talented musician, producer and good friend Shloimi Shinfeld. We’d always wanted to work together, and when I composed “Nachamu Ami,” I wanted him to produce it. It was released last summer, and now Shloimi has put together his own band and is doing some really big productions.

MY FAVORITE NIGGUN FOR LECHA DODI

There’s a classic niggun as sung by Baruch Levine (accompanied by a dramatic story in English about a young man who grew up in an Arab village until his mother disclosed his true lineage) on his 2009 Touched by a Niggun album.

MY FAVORITE FRIDAY NIGHT NIGGUN

We love to sing the Bobover Kah Ribon, with all its heartfelt repeats and progressions. In addition, as we’re Modzhitz eineklach, we always sing the seasonal Modzhitz niggunim.

SOME POWERFUL LYRICS THAT STICK IN MY MIND

From Avrum Mordche Schwartz’s evocative song “Vurka.” I don’t speak Yiddish that well, but there are very powerful lyrics there. A chassid comes to his rebbe begging him for a brachah to keep his child alive. The Rebbe can’t promise him a yeshuah, but he says, “Ich ken veinen tzuzamen mit dir. Ich ken feelen dein tzaar… Ich ken dich nisht lozen alein, ich vell mit halten dein gevein (What I can do is cry together with you, and not leave you alone in your suffering).” That’s something we can all do for someone else. The twist in the song is that in the zechus of the Rebbe’s nosei b’ol — crying and feeling the pain of another Yid —the yeshuah actually comes.

AN ALBUM I’D TAKE ALONG ON A ROAD TRIP

I’d take Lipa’s new album, Elozor Lipaleh. I can just keep listening to it over and over, since there's so much depth in it. Every time you listen, you hear another layer of meaning.

A SONG THAT TAKES ME BACK TO A SPECIFIC TIME AND PLACE

Baruch Levine’s “Vezakeini.” One of my earliest memories is when I first sang it onstage with my mother at a concert when I was three years old, and whenever I hear it, I can hear my child self again. Since I was brought up with the stage, it was never scary to me. It started off being a safe place, because my mother was right there with me.

AN ALBUM THAT BROKE NEW GROUND IN JEWISH MUSIC

Eli Schwebel’s 2014 Hearts Mind. I don’t think frum mainstream Jewish music ever got personal like that before. It was always about concepts outside of us, and Eli was one of the first to be so emotionally open in his music. This generation is definitely more emotionally open, seeking more raw expression, which you can see in today’s soul music — you can see it in Tai Gerszberg’s popularity, for example.

A SONG THAT WILL NEVER GET OLD

“Someday we will all be together….” It’s still going strong at the end of every wedding. Or the Yerushalayim songs sung at the end of the dancing. I don’t think those will get old until Mashiach comes. Let’s daven it will be soon, but until then, we’re all holding on to those hopes through our songs.

A SONG WITH AMAZING VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS

I would say that the a cappella releases have the best harmonies. AAVV by Ekev and Lev Tahor stand out.

A SONG FOR MY GRANDPARENTS

I have a great-grandmother who unfortunately suffers from Alzheimer’s. She cannot remember anything of her identity or her past, or even the present, but there’s one thing she can remember and connect to: the old song “Oifen Pripitchik.” If we sit with her and sing it with her, she sings along with the words. Somehow that has stayed.

A SONG I CAN’T STOP SINGING THESE DAYS

“Shakaditi” from Shmueli Ungar’s Sholom Aleichim Shmili album. That song is so different and special, I’m singing it absolutely everywhere.

A JEWISH MUSIC ARTIST I CONNECT TO

Shulem Lemmer, hands down. He has the talent, and a lot of depth in portraying the emotion and story of his songs — I just all around enjoy his material.

A FULL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, OR A ONE-GUITAR KUMZITZ?

I generally prefer a full symphony orchestra; the bigger the better.

MUSIC THAT HELPS ME UNWIND

The slow stuff, especially English or Yiddish songs. I listen to music constantly as preparation for gigs, so relaxation has to come from niggunim that are slow and relatable. Instrumentals and classical music also work.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1058)