To listen to Simu Lev’s Revive as background, or as a soothing way to hear Jewish music, would be missing the point. The second album from this duo of California-based Rabbi Arik Labowitz, who leads High Holiday services at Seattle’s Eitz Or Renewal congregation, and Seattleite Maxxine Smith is a collection of prayers in the style of the Renewal movement, all of them in one way or another a show of devotion to God. Inside Revive’s cover jacket are the words, from Psalm 23: “The Divine One leads me to healing waters and revives my soul.”
In a way, having it on CD lessens the experience, because shouldn’t something so sacred be shared with others? And, if the listener is alone, doesn’t the recording — the technical intermediary, really — of these prayers take something away from being at one with God? As Smith, who said the music “came from Hashem to me,” told me, recording this music was intended to make the liturgy more accessible to its listener.
But let’s not let that question get in the way of the quality of the music. Revive, based on its purpose as a recording of prayer, could be placed in the genre of recordings of the great cantors of old, and in that context its recording makes sense — though the two could not be more different. Where cantillation is focused on one thing — the voice —Labowitz uses his voice, and the words of each prayer, in conjunction with his guitar and percussion and Smith’s flute. The result is something much more flowing and smooth than a vocal performance alone, though at the same time much less stark.
From the opening flute solo on “Lev Tahor,” this music is smooth without being syrupy. I can see how it would open the door to inspiration. And some of the guitar-based music would be quite fitting around the campfire at a Jewish camp. Just don’t expect to break out dancing through the aisles — Matisyahu this ain’t.
Liner notes are sparse, though each song or prayer does include a short description — words of thanks, really. And it does end on a fitting note: Like the Shabbat service, it closes with a lilting version of “Adon Olam.” It’s a perfect cap to a lovely album.
Revive is available at cdbaby.com and Tree of Life Books & Judaica.