Jewish folk musician sues indy record label

Jewish folk music singer-songwriter Neshama Carlebach has sued her former record label for allegedly releasing an album without her permission.

Carlebach accused Sojourn Records Inc. of violating an expired licensing deal, in a Sept. 22 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.

“In 2020, Sojourn, acting in bad faith, released The Best of Neshama Carlebach,” the complaint states, “without consulting with, advising or seeking permission from Neshama.”

Carlebach performed alongside her father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, when she was a teenager. He died in 1994. Two years later she released her first album, Soul, according to her website.

She describes her music as a blend of Hebrew folk songs, contemporary pop, jazz and gospel.

Her complaint does not say where she lives in Westchester, but for a previous court case she listed an address at a UPS store in White Plains.

Sojourn Records, of Elmont, Nassau County, is an independent label founded by musicians Mark Ambrosino and Tom Laverack. They signed Carleback in 2008 and agreed to a new deal in 2010.

The 2010 licensing agreement was for ten years, according to the complaint, and required Sojourn to release six albums.

She says Sojourn released The Best of Neshama Carlebach after the licensing deal expired. She also claims that the record company failed to provide reliable royalty reports or pay everything she was owed when the licensing deal was active.

Ambrosino and Laverack did not reply to messages asking for their side of the story. But they formally answered similar accusations Carlebach made in a 2019 lawsuit.

As a performing artist in a niche genre, they stated, it was understood that the licensing deal hinged on Carlebach’s ability to promote her music through performances.

Sojourn accused her of shirking her performance obligations, severing communications, and making  collaboration impossible, “thereby hindering and ultimately derailing Sojourn’s efforts to monetize the albums into which it had invested thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Sojourn filed a counterclaim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and demanded $1.25 million in damages.

Both sides agreed to discontinue the lawsuit in 2021.

In the new case, Carlebach accuses Sojourn of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. She is demanding unspecified damages and a detailed accounting of financial records, including royalties owed to her under the 2010 license.

She wants the court to declare that the release of The Best of Neshama Carlebach violated the licensing deal. And she wants the court to order Sojourn to return all materials concerning her name, voice, and image and likeness.

Carlebach filed another lawsuit on the same day, alleging that Sojourn had failed to honor a 2010 licensing deal for the rights to her father’s music. She is demanding the return of all archival materials of Shlomo Carlebach’s music and an accounting of monies collected for his music.