There are many wedding-worthy Jewish songs that make for a memorable opening. Here are some band leaders’ favorite picks
Wherever the wedding is being held, the music that accompanies the new couple as they make their grand entrance generates a unique level of excitement. As the crowd gets the arches and confetti ready, feet are tapping to the accelerating tempo of the intro, the five-minute prelude to “Od Yishama” and the first dance (often a showcase for the prowess of the band as well). It’s often carefully selected by the young couple and will set the tone for the dance, and the night, ahead.
While sections of popular secular riffs with a big-band sound are often incorporated into these intros, there are many classic and contemporary wedding-worthy Jewish songs that make for a memorable opening. Here are some band leaders’ favorite picks.
MENACHEM HERMAN
The most popular Jewish intro request for the chassan and kallah that I still get is Shwekey’s “Shehecheyanu,” from his every-song-a-hit very first Shomati album — “Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu melech ha’olam shehechayaaaanu…” Another one that used to be very popular, although you don’t hear it much nowadays, is the intro to Yochi Briskman’s Project Relax, Volume III. When the couple don’t have any strong opinions, my own personal favorite is to bring in chassan and kallah into the hall with MBD’s “Ein Od Milvado.”
There was one which really took us by surprise, the oldie “Aibeshter,” a English ballad from Tzlil V’Zemer (“Aibeshter, oh Aibeshter, won’t You help us realize the miracles that You do…”). We used that intro a couple times and then it actually became popular. Some couples request that I play the intro to the Belz “Adir Hu,” a dynamic intro arranged by Mona Rosenblum, and it always comes out great.
MENDY HERSHKOWITZ
As far as using Jewish music for intros, a lot of the one-man-bands compose their own intros. There is also an intro called the “Belz Adir Hu” from the Belz album Adir Hu which gets used a lot.
One of the options I offer is the intro from the Kumtantz album arranged by Moishy Roth and played by the Menagnim orchestra. When I told Moishy Roth we were using it, he commented that it's not an easy intro to play live. I also get asked for the opening music that I composed for HASC 26 A Time for Music, which is the first track recorded on that show.
SHLOIMY DACHS
Unfortunately, over 90 percent of the wedding intros requested today are sourced in secular tunes. Sad but true. That being said, the intro to “The Band,” composed by Abie Rotenberg, is still popular. The credit for the intro and arrangement of that song goes to Leib Yaacov Rigler. “Chazak,” by Mendy Wald, and my own “Yerav,” from my One Day at a Time album — both composed and arranged by Yitzy Bald — also have great intros, full of energy. Looking back, there were two high-energy intros that were very popular in the late 1990‘s and the start of the next decade: MBD’s “Ein Od Milvado” and “Mashiach,” both arranged by Mona Rosenblum. Those were intros that were simply ahead of their time. We played them again and again, and people still ask for them.
My own favorite Jewish wedding intro is the famous HASC overture composed and arranged by Yisroel Lamm. Over the years, as Jewish music evolves and changes, it’s been reimagined and rearranged several times. The latest twist to the overture was performed two years ago by Israeli arranger and conductor Yoeli Dikman. It was truly a breath of fresh air and a real masterpiece.
YISROEL LAMM
It’s quite interesting what winds up becoming popular. I’ve found that often it’s a song musicians don’t like when they first hear it. That happened with the intro to Lev Tahor’s “Asher Bara.” It was hard to play, but people requested it, and to our surprise, it really caught on. One of my personal favorite intros is “Fanfare for the Common Man,” written by Aaron Copland in 1942, in response to the US entry into the Second World War. We don’t play it too often, but I wish we did. It is an amazing piece of music and it’s also special because it was written by a Jewish classical composer.
One chassan and kallah wanted to be introduced with the famous intro to “LeGabay,” written and arranged by Yitzy Bald. They wanted it played on bagpipes, as was played on Dovid Gabay's original recording. I couldn’t find a bagpipe player anywhere, and the young couple were quite disappointed. Then, about a week before the wedding, I was walking in uptown Manhattan, and happened to come upon a bagpipe player, with kilt and full Scottish dress, playing on a street corner. I hired him on the spot, and he showed up at the wedding as planned. It really worked out well, and the chassan and kallah were thrilled.
YO AISENSTARK
Intros are probably the part of wedding music most affected by changing trends. It’s a shame, but honestly, most of them come from non-Jewish songs and just get modified a bit to become Jewish wedding intros. Others are just techno drops that people put together and decide they sound cool. That’s not to say there are no Jewish options too. One which a lot of yeshivah guys liked was the intro to Abie Rotenberg’s song “The Band” on Journeys 4.
One chassan and kallah not long ago asked me to use the beginning of the theme song “Up, Up and Away” on Abie Rotenberg’s Marvelous Middos Machine as an intro. It was just the first part of the song, and we modulated it to the next key each time we played it. I was very skeptical that this would work, but I got such a positive response and had other chassanim requesting it. It was sent to Abie, and he loved the idea too.
AVRUMI BERKO
I often use the intro to “Melech Melech,” originally sung by MBD on Mona Rosenblum’s Mona 4. That can work for the first or second dance. The choir, or the solo singer, usually sings, “Melech melech melech, chassan domeh lemelech.” Lately chassanim and kallahs often like to have their own personalized intro. I sometimes think that these don’t really segue into “Od Yishama” that well, and would work better as a second dance/hora introduction, but if that’s what they prefer, then I follow their wishes.
(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 817)