i think what cantoresq means to say is that he is qualified to finally settle the nussach debate that has been raging for longer than his grandparents have or had been alive. hes is being presumptuous. simple as that.
as for carlebach shabasos. they are beautiful…if and only if they ae done for teh right reasons. i had a taaneh on them a while ago and i still do because a lot of the attendees are there not because of tefillah, but because of carlebach. kind of like how unfortunately there were a couple of YU students at a shmulie boteach and christopher hitchins debate for christopher hitchens (but thats a complicated matter…and one of teh worst mistakes of my life…)
assuming everyone is there for the right reason i think its beautiful. barring dovid hamelech (who’s tunes i have never heard but i assume they were divine…) i think shlomo carlebach’s music did teh most for klal yisrael. (yes i know i just shafted 2 thousand years of jewish music.) his music isnt very complex, and his voice wasnt the greates, but boy if he didnt know how to fire up a crowd!
his niggunim bring out your emotions like no others. simple tunes…can make you feel liek you have never felt in your life. tehy can bring you together like nothing else can. pay attention at the next kumzits you go to…look at the crowd. are they all of one group, or every possible group imaginable? chassidish (yes, i know…blasphemy) litcish, yeshivish, lubavitch, chiloni, srugies, rebellious teenagers…everyone feels touched by the nuggunim. by shlomo carlebach’s niggunim.
i think that to dislike carlebach’s niggunim is to lack an understanding of ruchniyus and human emotion.