Jewlia Eisenberg (1970/1 – March 11, 2021) was an American singer, composer, bassist, educator, and cantor. As founder and bandleader of

Charming Hostess Charming Hostess is a band that grew out of the avant-rock scene of Oakland, California, in the mid-1990s. Current work The music of Charming Hostess primarily springs from three women with an emphasis in the body—voices and vocal percussion ...

she coined the term "Nerdy-Sexy-Commie-Girly" to describe her genre of music which spans an eclectic range of styles. Originally from New York City, Eisenberg became an integral member of the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York

Downtown music Downtown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related to experimental music, which developed in downtown Manhattan in the 1960s. History The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono, one of the early Fluxus artists, o ...

scenes in the 1990s. Her music was both physical, using voices, vocal percussion, handclaps, heartbeats, sex-breath, silence, and also intellectual, exploring such topics as Bosnian genocide in ''

Sarajevo Blues ''Sarajevo Blues'' is a book of poetry first published in 1992 during the siege of Sarajevo by Semezdin Mehmedinović. Mr. Mehmedinović's book was translated into English by Ammiel Alcalay in 1998. Mehmedinović's text was translated into musi ...

'' (2004) and the political/erotic nexus of

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...

and his Marxist muse in ''Trilectic'' (2002). Both of these works were released on

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

's Radical Jewish Series on

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

. She was commissioned from such sources as by the Sloan Foundation and the Goethe Institut SF and has received numerous awards, including: Trust for Mutual Understanding grant for collaboration with poets in ex-Yugoslavia, the Puffin Foundation grant for her Red Rosa project, a Katzenstein Fellow for collaboration with experimental architects and engineers as an Artist-In-Residence at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Multi-Arts Production Fund Grant for The Grim Arithmetic of Water'', with

aerial dance Aerial modern dance is a subgenre of modern dance first recognized in the United States in the 1970s. The choreography incorporates an apparatus that is often attached to the ceiling, allowing performers to explore space in three dimensions. ...

choreographer Jo Kreiter, a Goldman Fund Tikea Fellow for project-based radical film and music work with youth, and a Weisz Fellow for field research and recording among Jewish women in the

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...

region of Ethiopia. Eisenberg enjoyed a retreat as part of the Djerassibr>Resident Artists Program
in October–November 2006.

Early life

Eisenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Starrett City. Her parents were communists, and she stated that she lived with them in "a commune that was for black and Jewish people". Eisenberg's mother was a musician, who encouraged her musical development. Eisenberg studied music at UC Berkeley, and later travelled the world. She also studied at the

Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies () is a Jewish educational institution based in Jerusalem with programs worldwide. History Pardes was launched by Rabbi Michael Swirsky in the fall of 1972 with the support of the World Zionist Organization, ...

Early work

Eisenberg's music got a kick-start at University of California in Barrington Hall. It was there that she founded the first incarnation of Charming Hostess. At that time the

West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the Po ...

scene was also home to bands such as Fibulator and Eskimo. Half of the members of Charming Hostess were also in

Idiot Flesh Idiot Flesh was an American experimental rock band formed in Oakland, California, in 1985, initially working under the name Acid Rain. Their work was characterized by its "rock against rock" slogan, and defied classification with its incorpora ...

and

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often abbreviated to SGM) was an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fused classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music. They were known to perform elabo ...

. Eisenberg has described the genre of early Charming Hostess as "klezmer-punk/balkan-funk". Members included Jewlia Eisenberg (voice, direction),

Carla Kihlstedt Carla Kihlstedt (born 1971) is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and currently working from a home studio on Cape Cod. She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio (1997, ...

(voice, fiddle), Nina Rolle (voice, accordion), Wes Anderson (drums), Nils Frykdahl (guitar, flute, saxophone, percussion), and Dan Rathbun (bass).

Illness and death

Eisenberg died on March 11, 2021, of complications from a rare immune disorder known as

GATA2 deficiency GATA2 deficiency is a grouping of several disorders caused by common defect, viz., familial or sporadic inactivating mutations in one of the two parental ''GATA2'' genes. Being the gene haploinsufficient, mutations that cause a reduction in the ce ...

. News of the artist's death was announced on her social media page later that day.

Discography as leader

* ''Book of J'', self-titled. (3rd Generation Records, 2018) * ''The Bowls Project'', as Charming Hostess. (

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

, Radical Jewish Culture, 2010) * ''Punch'', as Charming Hostess. (Recommended Records, 2005) * ''

'', as Charming Hostess. (Tzadik Records, Radical Jewish Culture, 2004) * ''Thick'', with Red Pocket. (Tzadik Records, Oracle Women's Series, 2004) * '' Trilectic'', (Tzadik Records, Radical Jewish Culture, 2002) * ''Eat'', as Charming Hostess. (Vaccination Records, 1998)

Contributions

* ''John Zorn: Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 2: Voices in the Wilderness''. (

, Radical Jewish Culture, 2003) * ''Various Artists : Great Jewish Music:

Sasha Argov Alexander "Sasha" Argov ( he, סשה ארגוב, born Alexander Abramovich; Moscow, 26 October 1914 – Tel Aviv, 27 September 1995) was a prominent Israeli composer. Life and career Argov was born Alexander Abramovich in Moscow, Russia in 1914 ...

''. (

, Radical Jewish Culture, 2003)

References

External links

Official Charming Hostess web site
*

Listening

Jewlia Eisenberg/Jeremiah Lockwood Live performance and interview
NYC Radio Live Podcast, July 2018
Jewlia Eisenberg interview
BBC's The World - by Benjamin Temchine, Sept 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenberg, Jewlia 1970s births Year of birth uncertain 2021 deaths American women composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers Jewish American musicians Musicians from New York City