One of the most incendiary violinists around, co-founder of the Klezmatics and now moving beyond, Alicia Svigals will be appearing in Boston this week. It's a free concert. It will be amazing. I'm not sure what will come up to prevent me from coming, but I expect to make a more-than-usually-extraordinary effort, because Svigals is simply amazing. She's also being accompanied by some of the best: Jim Guttman, bass; Miriam Rabson and Rohan Gregory, violins; Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl; and Larry Eagle, percussion. I'm not familiar with Gregory's playing, but if he's as good as Rabson* and Svigals, this should be incendiary times three.

Free and open to the public. For information call 617-353-8096. For more details, see the Klezmer Calendar

*Rabson played at my wedding. I may be biased.

Phil Brown writes:

I want to call people's attention to the klezmer ensemble class at the JCC in Newton. It starts Sept. 23 and is held every Tuesday 8-9:30. Led by accordionist Barry Shapiro, the group plays mainly klezmer, with some Chassidic and Jewish theater tunes. There are about 8 regular members who have been there for a while, plus others who stay a shorter while. We perform at several public venues over the year, including senior centers, hospitals, shuls, and Purimshpiels.

There are three terms a year from September to June. For people not members of JCC, it is $150 a term, or $300 for the year (3 terms). For members, it is a little cheaper.

Please email me if you have any other questions.

Phil Brown
Phil_Brown@brown.edu

Posted by RL Reid to the Jewish-music mailing list:

I'm still, myself, trying to get back on track after Klez Kanada.

I just now got to listen to the archive of Itzik Gottesman's report on Klex Kanada on the Foverts Hour from the end of August. It is wonderfully done with some superb music, , and the yiddish is not too hard to follow for a dumkop like me.

www.1050wevd.com/stored/storedprograms.php3 and click on August 30. The segment on Klez Kanada is between 25:00 and 38:00.

There is of course, much more winderful stuff in there as well. Itzik, you talented and lucky fellow (never mind me, I started out to be a radio producer and ended up with - um - a different day job).

It's good radio, folks, give a listen.

Helen Winkler caught this article and posted the link to the Jewish-music mailing list a couple of weeks ago: Wrapping Their Feet Around the Music, by William Meyers, in the Sep 5, 2003 edition of the Yiddish Forward (English language edition).

Richard Sharma writes last month (okay, I'm slow):

New Review: Monsieur Camembert - Absynthe: A review of the above album is now available on Rainlore's World of Music (www.rainlore.demon.co.uk). Monsieur Camembert is an outstanding band from down under blending klezmer with gypsy music, swing, musette music and tango with irresistable results.

There's also a new profile of versatile composer and double bassist Daphna Sadeh, www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Artists/DaphnaSadeh.html

There are also brief if somewhat belated tributes to Herbie Mann (z"l) and Howie Leess (z"l) on the Jewish Music page - www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Jewish.html

If the name "Lisa Rose" rings a bell among klezmer aficionados, it is probably because they recall her playing from Sandra Layman's astounding "Little Blackbird" CD released a couple of years ago, containing recordings from 20 years ago.

In the years since, Rose has focused on the visual arts (and more, but this exhibit, and this blurb, are about her art). Her most recent collaboration, with poet Daniel Y. Harris, is on exhibit in Oakland, CA through October. It is exciting and well-worth seeing.

It also reminds me of how much I sometimes miss hanging out at local klezmer concerts together or walking out of the same terrible documentaries as we did on occasion when I lived back in Oakland. The paintings have changed and grown from what I remember from back then. Working with Harris' poetry fuses something that is especially worth contemplating as we approach the High Holidays (secularly, or otherwise). These are images that eschew the tired and renew thinking about who we are in the universe, and what it means to think about "Jewish" in such a universe.

For more information and some digitized samples from the exhibit, see www.realhuman.org

The exhibit runs Sept, Oct 2003, at Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit St, Oakland, California. www.oaklandsinai.org.

Mobius, whose Jew*School weblog is my favorite Jewish weblog, sends me a link, www.jta.org/story.asp?id=030828-musi, to a lovely JTA article on the 80 CD set the Milken Archive is releasing on American Jewish music starting Sep 23, and the celebratory conference this Nov. 7-11.

Eve Sicular, of Metropolitan Klezmer (a band originally founded around Howie), writes:

I am sorry to pass along the news that our great friend and wonderful musical comrade Howard (Howie) Leess died early Saturday, Aug 23. His funeral was held on Sunday in the Rochester NY area.

It's hard for me to write much more than that right now. I am so glad so many people had the chance to be at live performances he gave so beautifully.

we miss him... a beautiful man; an inspiration to have known him!

Condolences can be sent to: Shirley Leess 174 Brittany Lane Pittsford NY 14534 or by e-mail: hleess@hotmail.com

For additional memories of Howie Leess, see the KlezmerShack "Howie Leess, in Memoriam" page

In one of the most culturally significant developments since Sandy Koufax bailed on pitching for the Dodgers on Yom Kippur of the 1965 World Series, Hip Hop Hoodios "Raza Hoodia" album has been picked up for national distribution by DLN/Delanuca - which means you can now find it in a lot more places (Tower Records & Virgin Megastores in particular).

So if you haven't grabbed our CD yet - or know friends, family, or somebody with a lot of money that could use some Latino-Jewish hiphop in their lives - please feel free to have them visit one of the fine stores below. The album is specially-priced at these retailers for just $9.99

We are hard at work recording the follow up album to 'Raza Hoodia', and are very excited about the guests we've lined up. The sooner you snatch up the remaining copies of 'Raza Hoodia', the quicker we can settle our debts with the IRS, the Mossad, and the entire population of Cameroon and put our next album out with a guilt-free conscience. [I've heard some new tracks, and they are going to be exciting when they come out. I'd pick up the first EP before it disappears! ari]

Please note: you'll usually find our album stocked in the "Latin Rock" or "Latin Pop" section of these stores

Also, don't forget the big concert at Joe's Pub, in NYC, on Sep 6.

Spend Labor Day Weekend, Aug 29 - Sep 1, with the New Folksbiene Yiddish Theater as they prepare for their 89th season. Enjoy lectures, demonstrations, panel discussions and concerts, and participate in activities ranging from choral singing to an acting workshop.

For more information, see the Klezmer Calendar

For reservations, call 800-551-1553 or 845-221-2771 or www.circle.org/Circle/circle%20v.2/wcsr.htm

Every so often someone makes a claim to the English language that is so egregious, and at the same time, hits my funny bone just right, that I am forced to rename the site for a while. The first instance, of course, came when RadioShack decided that it owned the term "Shack" and went after an early web-based community, the Smut Shack. That one seems to have stuck permanently.

This site was only the Twisted Barbie KlezmerShack for a while, and ya'll can guess what prompted that alteration. Now, Fox News is going after Al Franken, whose new book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" allegedly might confuse folks who know Fox's news slogan, "Fair and Balanced."

Sometimes I get so caught up into listening to new music that I forget to tell people about reviews written. That is particular unfortunate this week, since there are some really exciting albums that I wrote about:

Into the Freylakh has produced a debut album that includes a very tuneful mix of klezmer and jazz. Lots of new jazz material, in particular, to gladden your ears. The album cover is also quite classy.

Fialke / A grus fun der alter heym. Now, someone explain to me why some of the best traditional klezmer is coming from Germany? For those of us waiting on a next fix from Budowitz or Khevrisa, Fialke steps into the breach. Guest participation by Budowitz tsimbl-master Josh Horowitz helps, too. (Horowitz is currently finishing up an album with fellow-tsimbler Stu Brotman of Brave Old World, et al, and Cookie Segelstein of Klezical Tradition, himself, so stay tuned.)

Paul Brody's Sadawi / Kabbalah Dream. This is one of the most amazing trumpet albums I have heard in a while. Klezmer, jazz, avant-garde, and entirely listenable.

Enjoy!

George Robinson just did a feature on Rashanim and also on Shtreiml (both are playing Makor this week), which can be found at:

www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=8313

Great bands. I have reviewed both recently on the KlezmerShack Excellent article. Enjoy!

I'm excited to announce that my new CD: The Days of Awe: Meditations for Selichot, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be officially released on Thursday, August 14. This groundbreaking recording is the very first jazz holiday album to focus exclusively on interpretations of music from the Jewish High Holy Day repertoire. Six of the tracks on the album are my arrangements of High Holy Day prayers from the repertoire of the legendary Cantor, Yossele Rosenblatt.

On Dec. 20, The Klezmatics and special guest vocalists will present a special holiday concert featuring the world premiere of Woody Guthrie's Hanukkah songs, translated into Yiddish. Called The Yiddish Woody Guthrie, it will take place at 1395 Lexington Ave, New York City. The Klezmatics have been working with Nora Guthrie and the Woody Guthrie Archives to uncover Guthrie's unknown Jewish holiday songs. Also featured will be songs by Guthrie's mother-in-law and famous New York Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt. Presented by the Y's MAKOR program.

I'll post more to the calendar for that date as I know it, but if you think of how amazing the recent Woody Guthrie music done by Billy Bragg was, and you think of the Klezmatics and what they added to their collaboration with Chava Alberstein, you can see why being in New York this Hanukkah may seem essential.

The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre is casting "The Lady Next Door", a comedy-drama about the immigrant experience written by Leon Kobrin and directed by Allen Lewis Rickman. The show will preview on October 25 and run through January 4, 2004. Auditions will be held in early August and rehearsals start October 1.

Additional information is available on the Folksbiene web site at www.folksbiene.org.

Di Eybike Mame (The Eternal Mother): Women in Yiddish Theater and Popular Song, 1905-1929
Wergo SM 1625-2
Available August 4, 2003 (U.S. distribution: Harmonia Mundi USA, beginning ca. October 2003)

We are pleased to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Joel Rubin and Rita Ottens' Jewish Music Series for Wergo with "Di Eybike Mame", the first CD anthology of recordings featuring women of the Yiddish stage. This carefully edited production documents the enormous variety of music present during the period 1890-1930, from folksong to music hall and vaudeville, liturgical song to operetta and musical comedy. The booklet includes a detailed essay on Yiddish theater music and the role of women in Yiddish popular song.

www.wergo.de

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It gives me the greatest of pleasure, after more than 7 years of travail, to announce that over 2,000 sheets of shul music have now been scanned and put on the www.shulmusic.org site.

Stephen Simpson
Moderator, Shul Music List
steves@shani.net

Perhaps you've been wondering what's up in Chicago and why KFAR Jewish Arts Center has been so quiet following last season. Well, first there was a WAR, then we had Sfirah (a traditional period of no music) and then came our summer break and then there's the economy... But have we been sitting on our tuchas? Heck, no! We've been preparing a tasty selection for your enjoyment for the coming year. Check it out:

www.kfarcenter.com

After being put out of commission for a short while due to a faulty computer, Richard Scharma has released reviews of new releases by Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos, as well as a concert review.

www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Jewish.html

I only got to two of the brand new recordings this weekend, partly because I've had trouble putting away some of the CDs that were sent last year. It's time. It's certainly time to spread the word.

Anyone who has watched him perform, or more broadly, who has seen Claudia Heuermann's "Sabbath in Paradise," which covers the New York downtown Jewish music scene, is familiar with Coleman's work. His recordings with Sephardic Tinge--Coleman accompanied by bass and drums--present him at his most accessible and, I think, most lyrical. Last year's Our Beautiful Garden Is Open is an excellent example.

I remember being amused by the name, "Orient Express Shnorer Klezmers" or something--a French klezmer band that seemed interesting, but I never had time to write a review. Now they have evolved into an incredibly articulate, brassy klezmer jazz ensemble. This tribute to Jewish food is a perfect introduction. Remember, when terrorists put a bomb in Paris back in the mid-eighties, it was a Jewish deli that was bombed. This is French Jewish food. Food matters. Delicatessen

This is simply a pleasure. One of the most beautiful Sephardic albums I have heard in a while. Lovingly documented, beautifully sung by Hadass Pal-Yarden. Yahudice

Yes, we have another name change. The band whose name was once preceded by "Shawn's", is now simply "Kugel." Be that as it may, here's another helping of everything from the Grateful Dead to Aleynu, in Finger Play

This week's winner of the "another band that I would have happily hired for my own wedding" is KlezmerFest. The band includes a couple of members of Hasidic New Wave, but this is where they get down and make traditional Party Music.

It may be the first feature film in 50 years to use klezmer as the soundtrack - pretty wild when you consider that the film in question, "Dad on the Run" is about the madcap adventures of a French Jewish wedding musician of North African descent.

But the movie is incredibly funny, and well-worth seeing--if only for what may be the first loving circumcision ceremony on film ("when I do a bris, the baby never cries") and a Jewish mother who isn't a misogynist caricature. Even "Fiddler on the Roof" gets a good-bye sendoff.

Why don't American filmmakers do funny movies about Jews that don't involve making fun of being Jewish? Even "Crossing Delancy," which does have some nice, albeit culturally conservative moments, fails on the above-mentioned ceremony (and perhaps also in its culturally moribund moral message). You'd think we could do better. You'd think that a culture that can revive joy of klezmer could be less uncomfortable with making non-self-hating fun of itself. Sheesh, even "Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" had to be made in France.

Despite best of intentions, I couldn't stop listening to these four albums this weekend. So that's as many reviews as got done:

I used to claim that the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars were the hardest working klezmer bar band in existence. They've gotten much better than that. And their mix of New Orleans funk and Jewish soul just gets better and better with Borvis.

This is almost the Jewish equivalent of Gregorian Chant, just more recent, in tune with the music of the Ottoman Empire, and, well, very Jewish. Very well done, with very good notes: Maftirim.

If, like me, you thought that Adrianne Greenbaum's flute album, or the Duo Controverso albums were high points of the year, then this incredible collection of clarinet-accordion pieces based on perfect klezmer will be the next essential stop. Truly heymisher.

This is the best Klezmatics album since, oh, "Jews with Horns"? Ecstatic music, ranging from klezmer to hasidish to the edges of new Yiddish music, and words worth listening to, context worth considering. If you read the KlezmerShack, you've probably already got your copy. If not, time to Rise Up.

As he once wrote me, as though feeling guilty, "I can't stop putting out books"! Now Velvel Pasternak has struck again with yet another essential book of Jewish music: Songs Never Silenced:

... The story behind this book is this: in l948, a survivor named Shmerke Kaczerginsky who lived in Paris wrote down the songs that he remembered or that he could gather from others. The book consisted of the lyrics for two hundred and twenty songs, together with the hand- written, melody transcriptions of a hundred of them. His book nearly disappeared after a while and the few remaining copies of it can only be found on the dusty shelves of second hand bookstores. But Velvel Pasternak somehow discovered it and has given it new life in this new edition which contains those hundred for which there were written melodies, and he has added a few more songs from other sources, and a small section of songs without melodies that were simply too powerful to leave out."

This, just posted to the Jewish-music list by Elliott Simon. Sounds like my kind of CD. I'm looking forward to getting my own copy.

"A new CD from Myriam Alter features her compositions, that have argentinian/judeo spanish roots, played by an interesting quintet that includes joey baron and greg cohen (part of Zorn's Masada) an Argentinian bandoneon (accordion) player, dino saluzzi, and kenny werner on piano...my review from the july AAJ was just posted at www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0703_142.htm"

That amazing German klezmer, Heiko Lehmann, has lots of good things to say about the new Khupe album (I intend to do the same in English, asap). The review is in German, on the German Klezmer pages. As he says, " Khupe ist das ohne Zweifel gelungen, mehr noch: Heymisher übertrifft das Debütalbum". Whatever that means, ich bin einverstanden. You can read the whole thing on www.klezmer.de. Note, above and to the left, what happens to an all-white cover with a smear of teeny tiny print, reproduced on an all white background. Don't be fooled. This is a killer album. More, anon. Or, check out the sound samples and review at the URL above, NOW.

Sam Weiss posted this neat article to the Jewish-music mailing list:

from U. of Chicago Chronicle, June 12, 2003:
BOHLMAN RESCUES MUSIC OF RARE JEWISH CABARETS
By Seth Sanders

"Not only can Philip Bohlman discuss the Jewish cabaret music that was rescued from oblivion by the Austrian Censor's office--he and his colleagues also can perform it, rescuing it once again.

"Bohlman, Professor in Music and the College, is an ethnomusicologist who researches Jewish music, the musical cultures of Europe, America and the Middle East, and the musical dimensions of religion, nationalism and racism. Just last year he published World Music: A Very Short Introduction, which brings all of these elements together. ...

The rest of the article is on the University of Chicago website at chronicle.uchicago.edu/030612/bohlman.shtml

Just recently I added a new category to the KlezmerShack's review listings, "New Yiddish Music". It is something that I have considered for several years, and have debated around in my mind for a long time. This wasn't just a bureaucratic reorg. I'm hoping that this attempt at categorization will spark some discussion.

Please read the full article and add comments, if you like.

In the "if I don't mention it, where will you find out about it" category, Jeff Dorchen, who does all sorts of interesting stuff, has invented a wonderful "ad hoc book of days". Sample:

February 13, Lag b'Omar

This was the day Omar was supposed to have my car ready. Now he tells me I have to take it to the dealership.

On this day I thought Omar was laggin' b'hind.

WOOD OF THE DAY: red cedar

Lest I be accused of abandoning all Jewish music in my last few posts, don't miss his "Jewboy Cain Socialist Orthodox Jewish Folksinger from the South". Scary how much he looks like Elvis and reminds me of my favorite Chicago grunge klezmer band, "Shloinke".

"Divan" stars at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

• at the Castro, Wednesday, July 23, 6:45pm
• Party: at Bistro E. Europe with langos, turo csusza, and the music of DANUBIUS, Thurs, July 24, 7:45 - 10pm, 4901 Mission Street (www.bistroe.com for extended menu and info...)
• at Wheeler Auditorium in Berkeley, Monday, July 28, 1pm
• at Rafael Film Center, San Rafael, Sunday, August 3, 2:45pm

Check out a clip of DIVAN on: www.sfjff.org/sfjff23/video/

Tickets for the screenings available on: www.sfjff.org

To reclaim an ancestral couch upon which esteemed rabbis slept, Pearl Gluck travels from her Hasidic community in Brooklyn to her roots in Hungary. Along the way, a colorful cast of characters gets involved - the couch exporter, her ex-communist cousin in Budapest, a pair of matchmakers, and a renegade group of formerly ultra-Orthodox Jews. Divan is a visual parable that offers the possibility of personal reinvention and cultural re-upholstery.

Soundtrack by Frank London

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