Teaneck—Rabbi David Schlusselberg, who loves teaching Torah to high school students at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, is probably one of the most unconventional musicians you will ever meet.
“I began my musical career by failing miserably,” he told JLBC. I began playing guitar when I was in first grade (at the Moriah School, in Englewood) and quit a few weeks later,” he said. He also began playing drums in fifth grade, but shortly thereafter quit that too. However humble, this was indeed the beginning of a lifelong love of music; Schlusselberg today plays four instruments—guitar, piano, violin and cello—and also sings.
Schlusselberg, who grew up in Teaneck, is busy. He is receiving smicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary next week and just released his first album of Jewish music, Mizmor L’Dovid, a blend of pop and alternative/acoustic. Schlusselberg recreates Jewish standards like “Ma Tovu,” “Yigdal” or “Adon Olam,” re-imagined with guitar, bass, and drums, sung in a slightly higher pitch than Dave Matthews.
What’s different about this album is that most of the music you hear is recorded by the same person. Schlusselberg played all the instruments separately, which were digitally mixed and optimized by Jake Antelis, producer for Omek HaDavar, a well-known Jewish music group with a modern sound. Antelis also plays the drums on the CD along with Mo Antelis on the bass.
Schlusselberg began writing songs when he was a sophomore at Frisch High School. “There was something about song writing that made a tremendous impression on me. I was amazed how although there are millions of songs, I have the ability to write something that has never been written before. I deliberately use more unconventional chords in my music to make it more unique and less like everything else,” he said. “I am just trying to give people a new flavor of Jewish music to help impact their lives in a small but positive way,” Schlusselberg added.
When he was studying in Israel after high school, he grew in his yiddishkeit but always preferred the sounds of modern music to familiar Jewish melodies. Then he discovered musicians he grew to love in the Jewish world, like Eitan Katz, Omek HaDavar, and Shlomo Katz. Over the course of the next few years, he wrote and completed enough songs to think about recording an album.
Because of his commitments to teaching and studying for his smicha program, Schlusselberg told few people about his songs or his album. “Out of fear of never completing this, I decided to keep this project a secret. I didn’t tell my family, and I didn’t tell my best friends until just last week when I had the finished product in my hand.”
Thanks to lots of snow days this season, Schlusselberg had time to finish the album. “With a bad weather forecast, I would camp out at my friend’s house in Hillside, New Jersey, just two blocks from the studio, so I could spend my snow days recording the album with Jake,” he said.
“In just over a month, I spent roughly 70 hours in the studio on this project, never taking off a minute from school to work on it. I recorded on Sundays, snow days, and sometimes after school. Josh Weinberg designed the graphics for the album and spent hours on the project in a selfless way,” Schlusselberg added.
Schlusselberg hasn’t yet played a formal concert, but has shared his music with people over the years. “Many people have encouraged me to do this project, and they are part of the reason I did it. I would love to play concerts and share my music with as many people as are willing to listen. I hope people enjoy my album and that it is a breath of fresh air to Jewish music lovers,” he said.
To watch a preview video of the album on YouTube, visit this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khUZrSc9Ew0, or hear a sample of the music at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUP5kjXAWtk&feature=youtu.be.
You can also follow Rabbi Schlusseberg on Facebook at facebook.com/davidschlusselbergmusic. The album, titled, Mizmor L’Dovid, is also available on iTunes, and will soon be available in local Jewish stores.
By Elizabeth Kratz
