By George Robinson

This spring and early summer has seen more major releases by heavy-hitting Jewish music names than any single season I can remember in over a decade of writing this column. And the comparative unknowns arc accounting for some impressive music as well.

It is one of the commonplaces of criticism that every filmmaker/novelist/composer spends her life writing/directing/composing the same piece over and over. Or, if you prefer, a series of chapters in a single, evolving work. One could accuse Basya Schech ter and Pharoah's Daughter of remak ing the same CD several times, but that would mean you had missed the subtle evolution that has been going on from one recording to the next as Schechter emerges as one of the most talented Jewish music makers of her generation. The latest album, "Haran" continues the group's exploration of Middle Eastern modes and liturgical texts with a series of sinuous, winding tunes that are frequently hypnotic and invariably compelling. The new set foregrounds the keyboards more than its predecessors, and the drumming takes on an insistent backbeat that This new release continues the subtle evolution of Basya Schechter and Pharoah 's Daughter of remaking the same CD several times, but that would mean you had missed the subtle evolution that has been going on from one recording to the next as Schechter emerges as one of the most talented Jewish music makers of her generation. The latest album, “Haran” continues the group’s exploration of Middle Eastern modes and liturgical texts with a series of sinuous, winding tunes that are frequently hypnotic and invariably compelling. The new set foregrounds the keyboards more than its predecessors, and the drumming takes on an insistent backbeat that gives some of the up-tempo numbers an odd R&B feel, but the end result is another progression along the same road that Schechter and Co. have been exploring so fruitfully for the past several years. To put it another way, what is wrong with repeating yourself if you say it right every time?