Cantor Jacob Koussevitzky Live Shacharis and Musaf Shabbos

Jacob Kussevitsky
1903-1959

Of the four Kussevitsky brothers, it was said that Jacob was the best 'Baal Tephillah.' It's very difficult to explain exactly what this means, but the implication is that he made a greater impact with the way he interpreted the words, and his usage of the traditional melodic lines (Nusach) than he did with his voice.

This doesn't mean that he didn't have a fine voice - he certainly did, (he was actually a lyric tenor), but Jacob had a way of penetrating to the heart of a prayer that makes a far greater impression on the listener, than a voice does on its own.
Jacob was the second of the Kussevitsky boys and was born to Aita and Avigdor Kussevitsky in Smorgon, in Russian Poland.
From a very early age he took lessons in singing and Chazanut and studied with various tutors, including the famous Chazan Ravitch in Kharkov. As a youngster he was chorister in Vilna in the choirs of Chazanim Avraham Moshe Bernstein and Bernstein's successor Eliyahu Zaludkowsky, who were both famous cantors in their time.
When his brother Moshe was Chazan in the Vilna State Synagogue, shortly after the end of the first world war, Jacob was the tenor soloist in his choir, and it wasn't long after that he was appointed Chazan himself in Kremenetze, where his younger brother David served as his choirmaster. Some years later they went to Lemberg, where they continued to work together.
David went off to start his own career as a Cantor and in 1936 Jacob came to London , where he was appointed to one of the leading Synagogues in the capital at that time, the Daiston Synagogue in Poet's Road.
It's been reported that on his first appearance there he sang Kaddish to the tune of 'John Brown's Body!' This apparently took the formal Anglo-Jews of Daiston completely by surprise. But their reaction took Jacob by surprise too. It would seem that Jacob had never heard of 'John Brown's Body.' This was a melody that he had heard and used for Kaddish in Lemberg, and as far as he was concerned, this was where it came from?
From Poet's Road, Jacob went to the Western Synagogue and in 1951 he decided to go to the Americas. For two years he was Chazan of the Congregation Rosh Pinah in Winnipeg, Canada and in 1953 he became Chazan at the Jewish centre of Kew Gardens Hills in New York. Sadly he was only there for six years before he died.
That Jacob did not become as famous as Moshe and David, is probably due to the fact that, although he did give concerts, his true milieu was on the Birnah. He was more of a 'Davener' than he was a performer and this comes through very clearly in the lovely recordings he has left us.

[@morehn]

Great, I found the next one I'll be listening to a few hundred times

[@scootsng7]

I agree with you. I don't think he was interested in the "vocal acrobatics" but was more in the ba'al tefilah delivery. I sometimes enjoy listening to Jacob more than Moshe and David at times.

[@greatestcantor]

I actually worked on the audio it was very unclear Enjoy

[@greatestcantor]

I have to agree with you i couldn't have said it better

[@abrahamjakobovitz2487]

Beautiful davener

[@Winterrreise]

Do you know which shul he was davening at? Is it from his time at Kew Gardens Hills? Or England or Canada? Thank you for posting, it has been an inspiration.

[@bluechazzan]

While he doesn't give the same vocal performance his brothers did, he often has more intricate coloraturas. That said, he has a less impressive voice - but yes, he was the biggest "ba'al tefilla" of the bunch, and to me, the least boring for a davening, though I'd still take another one for a concert.

[@mbogatin]

How did they record him on Shabbos ?

[@randomizertm8156]

Maybe started up the phonograph on fraitik)

[@lsmart]

Unfortunately, in those days there was no shortage of people who enjoyed a nice davening on Shabbos morning, yet had no problem sticking a small tape recorder in their pocket. But in this particular case, let us be melamed zchus that it was set up by the shul itself with a Shabbos clock to save it for their recorded collection.

[@CantorialMedia]

You can't compare him with Moshe and David, he is not even close, no legendary star quality at all, just a simple good Bal T'filah with a nice Nusach and not bad coloratura, and last but not least he was a koussevitzky!

[@akivamittelman4279]

I respectfully disagree. If you would have all 4 brothers Davin the same shabbos in Brooklyn, I would definitely go to Yankel. He did not have the high notes, but Oy Hut Er Gedavint!!!! A real chazzan.

[@CantorialMedia]

+Akiva Mittelman oh pls yoy got a be kidding me, how can you say this, with jacob and Simcha you can say that and you can compare them, but with moshe and david sorry very far from them, its not just the high notes, its about the richness of the voice fire power and the feeling of the conection with every single pc of davening etc...

[@CantorialMedia]

+Akiva Mittelman oh pls yoy got a be kidding me, how can you say this, with jacob and Simcha you can say that and you can compare them, but with moshe and david sorry very far from them, its not just the high notes, its about the richness of the voice fire power and the feeling of the conection with every single pc of davening etc...

[@randomizertm8156]

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