“The cantor Jacob Mendelson is a documentary filmmaker’s dream. Jovial, rotund and prone to impromptu bursts of song (he carries a tuning fork at all times), Mr. Mendelson is a celebrated teacher and practitioner of Jewish liturgical music and has dedicated his life to preserving the form’s traditional vocal stylings. Judging by Erik Greenberg Anjou’s charming film “A Cantor’s Tale,” he’s succeeding.“--Jeanette Catsoulis, New York Times

"With its outlandish stories, obsession with masculine ego, and focus on an absurd, forgotten subculture, A Cantor's Tale is the stuff Ben Stiller movies are made of: All that's missing is the part for Owen Wilson. Cantor Jackie Mendelson weaves an outrageous tale of the "old neighborhood," where the most famous guy on the block wasn't Sandy Koufax; it was the neighborhood hazan, a local celebrity of legendary proportions… Cantor Mendelson establishes a tone that blends equal parts warmth and humor: piety one second, one-liners the next…The featured performers give soul-stirring renditions of prayers I'd heard hundreds of times in my childhood, but never quite like this. Maybe Jeremy Piven could play the Wilson role."--Matt Singer, The Village Voice

"A new documentary film, "A Cantor's Tale," warmly portrays a time when Broadway producers would try to lure big-name cantors out of the pulpit and into the footlights...Jack Mendelson, the subject of "A Cantor's Tale," grew up in the Brooklyn during that era, and in the movie he remembers the desire these superstars sparked in him: "They had a whole entourage following them and I wanted that." ...Mr. Mendelson teaches the Reform cantors of tomorrow at Hebrew Union College. The movie shows the joy he derives from teaching, but he clearly misses the vocal riches he heard as a child in Brooklyn every Friday and Saturday. "Hazzanus isn't in the air anymore," Mr. Mendelson said. "When I was a kid I heard the waiter, I heard the cars blaring, I heard everybody in the street. [Today] they hear nothing."--Nathaniel Popper, Wall Street Journal
 

"A gleeful profile of Jack Mendelson, both a connoisseur and purveyor of spirited chazanut. Cantor Mendelson is an ebullient, larger-than-life figure, a proselytizer for chazanut wherever — and I mean wherever — he goes. “A Cantor’s Tale” is a well-crafted documentary with a mix of wit and love matching Mendelson’s. “A Cantor’s Tale” is a real rarity, a very funny but very serious documentary that touches on issues of deep concern to the Jewish world." (more) --George Robinson, The Jewish Week (NY)

"Jack Mendelson didn't want to be a cantor. But neither did he want to work in his family's delicatessen in Brooklyn's Boro Park… He's a big man with big commitment and his zest spills beyond every frame of Erik Greenberg Anjou's "A Cantor's Tale."…A pungent piece of cultural anthropology to which many New Yorkers of a certain age will relate...But mostly it's about Mendelson keeping the cantorial tradition alive, and not just with his sonorous chanting…Although conservative, he also embraces change. He can't not link a big heart and spirit to the liturgical music called hazzanut, and that's what informs "A Cantor's Tale." --Jay Carr, AM New York 

”A Cantor’s Tale" is a love song to the art of chazzanut, the musical chanting of Jewish liturgy, with its ancient, moving melodies and bravura embelllishments. It is also a celebration of one cantor, Jack Mendelson, a kind of Johnny Appleseed of chazzanut, singing its praises — and just plain (and fancy) singing….Mendelson’s exuberance is catching, and he virtually compels — like a joyous Svengali — others to join him. Whether bakers in Borough Park or beachniks in Israel, whether nursery school students or cantorial students, all fall under his spell, and sing."--Rebecca Kaplan Boroson, The Jewish Standard

"Erik Greenberg Anjou's documentary about Brooklyn-born and -raised cantor Jack Mendelson is both a biographical portrait and an exploration of the tradition of Jewish liturgical music in America. Mendelsohn is a filmmaker's dream, the embodiment of the term "larger than life." It's Mendelson's love of chazzanut, and of music in general, that drives this engaging film; anyone familiar with the power of music to transcend language and cut straight to powerful, transformative emotions will find his passion irresistible."--Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide

"Delightful docu A CANTOR'S TALE casts a fond eye...Crowd-pleasing item from helmer Erik Anjou will be a must for Jewish and music-oriented festivals...Package juggles numerous thematic elements with editorial aplomb and first-rate technical contributions..."--Variety

"A Cantor’s Tale is a well-crafted documentary with a mix of wit and love matching Mendelson’s, filled with interviews with unlikely fans of his singing and teaching — who knew Alan Dershowitz could sing? — and some very serious discussions of issues facing the cantorate in the 21st century… The ongoing battle over the complex hybrid role of the cantor as prayer leader/representative of the congregation/entertainer/serious musician gets aired thoroughly but, to Anjou’s considerable credit, never feels anything less than an organic part of the film’s structure. A Cantor’s Tale is a real rarity, a very funny but very serious documentary that touches on issues of deep concern to the Jewish world."--Cine-Journal

"A movie that manages to be part biography of the amazing cantor, Jack Mendelson, part history lesson, and more than anything, a movie that undoes years of bad Hebrew School experiences and excruciating Saturday mornings spent listening to the Jewish prima donna onthe synagogue bima, waiting for the moment to mumble appropriately in response to some endless tortured solo—the guys (it was always guys back then) who turned the repetition of the amidah into a reprise of the descent into the underworld...Do yourself a favor. Find a festival where this movie is appearing and make sure you see it. When it comes out in DVD in a year or so, get a copy so you can get a refresher viewing when you need a "pick me up" (more).-Klezmershack.com

If the hills are alive with the sound of Julie Andrews' music, then Cantor Jacob "Jackie" Mendelson would have viewers believe that Brooklyn is once again to be alive with the sound of Chazzanut."-The Jewish Press (Brooklyn)

"A delightful documentary that looks back at the golden age of chazzanut (Jewish liturgical music) and its superstar performers... A revealing and highly likable look at the past."-The Virginia Pilot

" The composer’s score is by the unmatchable trumpeter Frank London. Director Erik Greenberg Anjou gives here a scenery to Jewish liturgical music. In this work Anjou makes his point of expressing a highly uneartly missive in a very successful way... This movie furnishes an all-panoramic view of Mendelson’s mega-genius musical persona. Influent and applauded, the artist cantor´s fiery life is cohesively portrayed here. Mendelson has been a cavalryman who never gave up hazzanut; his life and artistry conveys holyness, joy and the triumphal, melted into Mendelson’s complex and extraordinary music legacy.Faith often speaks the language of hope. Essentially, Erik Anjou’s structured work on A Cantor’s Tale sustains film-making knack and a singular spiritual message that gives to him his own mark of distinction." (more).-jazzreview.com