Searching through song

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This article was published 06/01/2025 (593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sheena Rattai is slip slidin’ to the Rady Jewish Community Centre Tuesday for a Paul Simon tribute show.

Getting to Know Paul Simon kicks off the annual Music ’N’ Maven concert and lecture series. This year, the series features, among many other events, concerts from South Sudanese jazz saxophonist Joyce German and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra violinist Elation Pauls; as well as lectures by rock historian John Einarson and new CentreVenture chief executive officer/former Conservative MLA Rochelle Squires.

“Sheena’s fabulous. And I’ve worked with Sheena so many times and I just keep on throwing something new at her,” says Music ’N’ Maven’s founding producer Karla Berbrayer.

“And who doesn’t love Paul Simon?”

For Rattai, incidentally, that love came later in life.

“I didn’t ever dig in and explore it thoroughly,” she says about the oeuvre of the 83-year-old American singer-songwriter.

She was approached a few years ago about singing for a recurring Simon tribute concert by guitarist Aaron Shorr. A gentle crooner like Simon, a child of the 1960s folk revivalist scene, may not jump out as a likely inspiration for a jazz musician such as Shorr and belter like Rattai.

“It’s actually really complex music,” says Rattai, vocalist with the soulful roots band Red Moon Road, which has performed all over the world. “You find all kinds of other influences, like gospel, reggae, zydeco, jazz, all kinds of African influences.”

This is especially true of the musically mature Simon. His controversial collaborations in the 1980s with South African musicians, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, helped reignite his stagnating career and gave the world the Grammy-winning Graceland, his highest-charting album, added in 2006 to the U.S. National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically or esthetically important.”

Another more subtle influence in Simon’s work is his Jewish background, which Berbrayer asked Rattai to explore for this concert. Fans may remember the opening lines of Hearts and Bones, the titular track of his underselling 1983 album.

“One and one-half wandering Jews,” he sings, the one-half a reference to his then-wife Carrie Fisher, daughter of Debbie Reynolds and the Jewish Eddie Fisher. “Free to wander wherever they choose.”

It might seem hard to recall many other obvious references to Judaism in his work, but Rattai says, “Where his Jewish heritage enters into his artistry is through his exploration of universal themes around connection, belonging, searching for purpose, alienation.”

Rattai compares his work to that of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, Bible- and Torah-quoting Jewish singer-songwriters with an obvious appreciation for Judeo-Christianity’s cultural heritage. But she suggests Simon’s work is more lyrically approachable and harmonically complex than theirs are.

“His exploration of some of these (themes) feels kind of light,” says Rattai, adding the spiritual depth comes through in the sound.

“I actually think it is jazz-adjacent. I can tap into the very clear soul that he brings to everything that he writes.”

At this concert, Rattai is joined by bassist Karl Kohut, drummer Daniel Roy and guitarist Larry Roy (Shorr now lives in Calgary and couldn’t make this show).

Berbrayer predicts the show will be among the more popular events this year and highlights its mid-afternoon time as an added appeal.

“A lot of people who attend the Music ’N’ Mavens events are non-members of the Rady JCC, but then they come in and they go, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll tie in a workout in the morning or go for a swim after the concert,’” she says.

Tickets for Getting to Know Paul Simon are $12, as with the other 10 concerts taking place during this year’s series. All eight lectures are free.

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca