28 Jun GETTING TO KNOW THE LEGENDARY ABIE ROTENBERG

Abie Rotenberg is arguably the greatest living composer of Jewish
music. He has been producing music since 1972 with a style which has
been described as “soft and sweet”.

Rotenberg recently published his first novel, The Season of Pepsi
Meyers (Audley Street Books). Set 25 years in the future, the novel’s
plot centers around a promising young Jewish baseball player who
discovers the beauty of Torah Judaism midway through his stellar
rookie season.

Rotenberg’s music oeuvre includes D’veykus (six volumes),Journeys
(four volumes), Aish (two volumes), The Marvelous Middos Machine (four
volumes), and The Golden Crown.

Ari Hirsch from The Vues recently interviewed Abie about his musical
career and his new book Pepsi Myers.

Name: Abie (Avraham) Rotenberg
Born:  Queens, NY
Resides in: Toronto
Children: 6
YESHIVA: Chofetz Chaim / Forest Hills
Favorite Gemara: Sanhedrin
Largest Venue Performed at: Madison Square Garden
Favorite Jewish Musician/Artist when growing up:  Shlomo Carlebach,
Simon & Garfunkel, Benzion Shenker & Rabbi Baruch Chait
Favorite Shlomo Carlebach song: I like them all.
Favorite Baseball Team: NY Yankees
Favorite Baseball Player all time: Mickey Mantle

Discography

D’veykus: Volumes 1-6
Journeys: Volumes 1-4
Lev VeNefesh: Volumes 1 & 2
The Golden Crown
The Lost Treasure
Aish: Volumes 1 & 2
A Time to Laugh
The Marvelous Middos Machine: Volumes 1-4
Kol Salonika
The Place Where I Belong
Shlomo Carlebach and the Children of Israel sing Ani Maamin (Vocal Arranger)

VUES: How many years have you been involved in the Jewish music industry?
AR: Since 1972

VUES: What inspired you to go into Jewish music?
AR: I love it and had a knack for it.

VUES: Who was your favorite musician growing up?
AR: Shlomo C.

VUES: Is there a Jewish musician today that you would pay to listen to?
AR:  Too many to list

VUES: Is music your full time parnasa?
AR:  No.

VUES: What does Abie Rotenberg do when he is not working on music?
AR:  I’m involved in a family business that imports fashion
accessories to Canada.

VUES: What do you prefer: concerts or simchas?
AR:  They don’t have a Shmorg at concerts!

VUES: How has the music industry changed over the last 30 plus years?
AR: Digital technology has transformed music into a commodity that
travels at the speed of light. Like most things in life, it has both
positive and negative implications.

VUES: How many concerts do you perform at per year?
AR: Just a few.

VUES: What’s your favorite venue to play at?
AR: My living room.

VUES: How many HASC concerts have you performed at?
AR: Yikes, a lot. Maybe fifteen or more.

VUES: Were you a fan of R’ Shlomo Carlebachs music? Did you ever
perform with R’ Shlomo?

AR:  I loved and still love his compositions. I did play for him and
with him, several times. Great memories.

VUES: How and when did your career in music begin?

AR: I was musical as a child. I sang in a choir, and my father, who
was from Europe, played piano and loved chassidic niggunim andzemiros,
so there was always a lot of singing in my home. Already in high
school I think I composed a couple of songs.

Then when I got into Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in Queens I was learning
b’chavrusa with Rabbi Label Sharfman. He was one of The Rabbis’ Sons
[a music group active primarily in the 1960s and ‘70s], so naturally
we talked about music. He got to hear my compositions and liked them,
so we decided to do something together – and that became D’veykus.

VUES: Do you consider yourself first a composer or a singer?
AR: Composer/Lyricist.

VUES: Do you play any instruments besides the piano?
AR: Guitar.

VUES: Who taught you how to play the piano?
AR: Many people showed me various techniques. But mostly self-taught.

(FIX)VUES: What’s your take on the current state of Jewish music?
AR: I don’t follow it that much. I really don’t. I’m not a wedding
performer, so I don’t have to know all the hit songs of today. But
music always changes, so whatever is well accepted and inspires people
is good. I have a song on Journeys 3 called “Yes, We’ve Got the
Music,” and the lyrics at the end of the song are “…but one thing we
must keep in mind/a Jewish song of any kind/is only precious if and
when/it brings us closer to Hashem.”

So that’s what Jewish music is. Jewish music is something that should
help us identify as Jews. And what’s being Jewish? It’s a connection
to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So if music gets us there, it doesn’t matter
what the rhythm is, it’s a beautiful thing.

VUES: Please tell everyone about your new book “Pepsi Meyers”
AR: It is a novel about a young phenom who plays for the Yankees in
the year 2040. He discovers Torah Judaism along the way. It is an
exciting BASEBALL story that teenagers and up will enjoy. The Torah
fundamentals it teaches, are seamlessly interwoven into the story and
anyone reading it…observant or not, will gain knowledge as well as be
entertained.

VUES: Have you always been a baseball fan?
AR: Yes. My father was as well.

VUES: Do you plan on writing any more books?
AR: Hmmm…

(FIX)VUES: What led you, a successful composer, to write a novel?
AR: Rotenberg: Well, I’ve always been writing. As a lyricist you
obviously write – even if the form is different. But the plot of the
novel came to me one morning on the way to shul three years ago. It
started at the end of my block, and by the time I got to shul – it’s
about a 15-minute walk – I had the outline of the book in my head.

VUES: What’s next for ABIE ROTENBERG? Is there something that you have
not done, that you would love to do?
AR: I’m still writing niggunim and hopefully some will appear on
various albums in the near future.

VUES: Any special plans for Pesach?
AR: Unlike in past  years, I hope NOT to gain 10 pounds.

VUES: Any special plans for the summer?
AR: Go Yankees!

VUES: Favorite Catskills concert/memory
AR: Camp HASC…last summer with Baruch Levine.

VUES: 3 Dinner Guests-Anyone from the history of the World-Who would
you invite? It could be from Tanach, music world, sports etc.
AR: Eliyahu HaNavi (Tanach), David HaMelech (Music World), Sandy
Koufax (Sport) and try to be mekarev him. He has no clue what a
Kiddush Hashem  he made in 1965)

VUES: Is there anything else you would like to say to VUES/COUNTRY VUES readers?
AR: Have a freilich and kosher Pesach. And pick up a Pepsi to share
with a fellow Jew.