This month's golden oldie is the classic "Tossi Aaron Sings Yiddish Folksongs for the Second Generation", recorded in the days when album titles were longer than librettos. This marvelous and important collection, so long out of print, will soon be available. Those lantzmen who recall the great Yiddish folksingers, Ruth Rubin, Martha Shlamme and Theo Bikel, have a treat to look forward to.
Tossi Aaron's voice and style placed her in the highest ranks and her knowledge of music and Jewish custom elevated her to individual prominence. There are those who say that I stole all my Yiddish material from Tossi but I maintain that, while that may be true, I have been careful to honor her unintentional contribution by stealing all her stories, too. On this Prestige release, Tossi is ably accompanied by her husband, mandolinist Leon Aaron, and master guitarist, Linda Labove.

Report from the trenches; my CD is, at long last, recorded and in the mixing phase. This is a time of retrospection, selection, reflection and sporadic dejection. The process is not unlike searching one's head for strands of gray. The average track has more flaws than a skyscraper and each flaw is as visible as beet juice on a tablecloth. Still, it marches on and the release date, early April, looms in an ever-decreasing distance. I know I will be pleased and proud, but right about now just seeing it through would please me most of all.
--- Michael Miller