Perhaps pre-celebrating the California tour of Beyond the Pale this week, Keith Wolzinger announces Klezmer Podcast 60, featuring Eric Stein and Beyond The Pale. It is available on the website, iTunes, and Blubrry

If you are anywhere in the Southwest, you must make your way to Albuequerque weekend after next to join Jeff Warschauer and Deborah Strauss and a stellar class of local and imported teachers and musicians at the 12th Annual "KlezmerQuerque" (my all-time favorite festival name). Find out more at the Cong. Nahalat Shalom website: nahalatshalom.org.

On the other hand, if you are California Dreamin', what could be better than checking out the new Veretski Pass "The Klezmer Shul" on Feb 14 as part of the grand KlezCalifornia extravaganza which runs from Feb 12-15. Questions? 415.789.7679. www.klezcalifornia.org

The Sway Machinery traveled to Mali in January to play at the Festival of the Desert. It was quite an exciting moment for the band. You can check out some of what transpired in this video of The Sway Machinery and Super 11:

From David Chevan:

During this past MLK weekend the Afro-Semitic Experience celebrated our 12th anniversary of music making with a Friday night service in New York City, a benefit concert for New Haven’s Columbus House Homeless Shelter, and a concert at the Museum of Jewish Heritage also in New York City. We had a wonderful time in New York City sharing our music and having a real Afro-Semitic Experience at the Museum of Jewish Heritage where we gave our New York City premiere of our new work (and new CD): The Road That Heals the Splintered Soul .

Our performance at the benefit concert for the Columbus House Homeless Shelter in New Haven was video recorded by our friend, pianist and visual artist, Richard Gans. Three of the tunes we performed have now been posted to YouTube and they have a lot of good energy. Richard was not limited by his use of a single camera and he did a great job as he captured the performance. You can really feel the wonderful vibe in the room last Saturday night as we transformed the place with our healing feeling. There are two little girls and a little boy who sat in the front row for most of the concert and they are sure feeling the music!!! You can see their heads bobbing in most of the camera shots. What fun.

The Road that Heals the Splintered Soul:

Obatala:

Adon Olam:

Mark Rubin puts it much better than I can:

You checked this out? It's friggin' AWESOME. No foolin'. Best sounding and curated Jewish release I've yet encountered. Belf sounds like he's playing in your front room.

… They've already moved 5000 copies and are headed to a second pressing, which is a pretty big number for a box set especially these days. I think Henry just did the track annotations on it, with Chris King doing the clean ups and Sherry Mayrent writing what could be the best introductory notes I've seen in a good long while. It's her baby as far as I know. And I hear there's already talk of a second volume. Seriously holmes, this is a must have set even if you think you've already heard it before, you ain't heard 'em like this.

Pick up your copy from amazon.com and help support the KlezmerShack.

When I drove over to Madison last spring to listen to a concert set up for a mini-KlezKamp, it was clear that everyone was having a good time. (I did, too.)

Behind the scenes, more was happening. Here is an excert from the KlezKamp blog:

"The initial funding for the institute is made possible by a generous gift from Sherry Mayrent and Carol Master. The Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture will be a unique facility devoted to fostering an understanding of the world of Yiddish through its arts. The institute will be directed by Henry Sapoznik."

Read more details on the KlezKamp blog from last month.

A nice historical montage, beautifully sung:

If I could figure a way to get to NYC, just to see all of these folks together and in one place, I'd do it. The fact that they are together to raise money for people very much in need is even more compelling.

Jewish Artists for Haiti Benefit Concert Jan. 28, 7 pm
at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
30 West 68th Street in Manhattan

All proceeds from the benefit concert will go directly to The American Jewish World Service Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
Admission to the concert is a minimum donation of $18.

Artists include: Frank London and The Klezmer Brass All-Stars, Neshama Carlebach and The Green Pastures Baptist Choir, Soulfarm, Basya Schaechter and Pharoah's Daughter, Judith Sloan, Alicia Svigals, Gary Lucas, Jeremiah Lockwood and Sway Machinery, Maracatu New York, Cantor Dan Singer, Zalmen Mlotek and others with styles ranging from Klezmer to hip hop.

The Jewish Artists for Haiti Concert is initiated by The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring and the New Yiddish Repertory Theater, with co-sponsors Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, The Forward Association , National Yiddish Theater/Folksbiene, Security USA and Golden Land Concerts and Connections.

For more information, advance tickets or to donate go to www.circle.org or call Workmen’s Circle at (212) 889-6800 x.212.

Most years we Jews guiltily acknowledge that it's true, Jews wrote most of the most insipid popular songs of this once sacred season. This year, to return the favor, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah wrote an insipid Hanukkah song which has been getting a lot of play. I've been ignoring it, but I just noticed a great catch by Teruah's Jack Zaientz:

SHIR HODU LAUNCH PARTY

Thursday 14 January 2010, 7.30pm
SOAS
Room 116, Main Building SOAS,
Thornhaugh Street,
Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Admission Free.
-----
EXTENDED BODY:
Exciting new release!
Shir Hodu: Jewish Song from Bombay of the '30s

Producers Julian Futter and Dr Sara Manasseh invite you to the launch of an extraordinary, re-mastered compilation of long lost professional recordings of the Bene Israel and Baghdadian Jewish communities in Bombay, India (originally on the King, Hebrew and Jay Bharat Record labels). Among the performers, all well-known in their communities, are Hazzanim (cantors, prayer leaders) and shofar (Ram's horn) blowers, a meat shop owner, music school directors, and instrumental stars of the Indian cinema. This musical link with the past has been vividly brought to life by the memories and photos of the descendants, relatives and friends of the singers and instrumentalists, gathered from across the globe. The CD comes with a richly illustrated 24-page booklet that will serve as a valuable source for future researchers into Indian Jewish musical traditions.

To purchase the CD please contact Alan or Mark at Honest Jon's: +44(0)208 969 9822
Website: www.honestjons.com

Produced by Julian Futter & Dr. Sara
Manasseh;

In association with Jewish Music Institute

Flying Bulgars' New CD Tumbling Into Light NOW AVAILABLE!

Tumbling Into Light is currently available through order on our website as well as at Soundscapes at 572 College Street, Toronto.

CD also available from Maple Music at www.maplemusic.com

Jewlia Eisenberg requested a Hebrew version of "Silent Night" for a video to go with a New Yorker satire (currently unavailable, but linked from www.newyorker.com/humor/2009/12/21/091221sh_shouts_rudnick). Not a great satire, but there are more painful things to read. Happy solstice, everyone.

Anyway, upon reflection, she decided that the issue was not "Christianity" vs. "Judaism" and she came up with a very different video:

"The Great Goddess is still rocking out with her bad self … taking new forms but still connected to that neolithic old-school vibe. Go boobs of Mary! Listen, enjoy, post, celebrate dark nights and solstice"

Like much of the rest of the Jewish world, I have been assaulted by countless copies of the video showing a new shlock Hanukkah (official JWA spelling) song by right wing jerk happenstance Jew (but only the "right" kind of Jews)-lover Orrin Hatch.

I have refrained from mentioning the item on these pages. Now, Rohl Kafrissen puts her finger on what is significant about this recording: turnabout is fair play.

Like Rokhl, my family has managed to forget this new one as we light candles this year, although we've done our usual couple of variants of "Ocho Kandelikos" and the Sephardic version of "Maoz Tzur" that Judy knows....

It all ends tonight and through tomorrow. Enjoy the brightest lights tonight and here's to hoping that Hatch's song joins "Hanukkah with Monica" on the trivial pursuit pile.

Forwarded to me by a friend:

The 5th Annual Sephardic Music Festival, sponsored by NYC's 92nd Street Y Tribeca location, got off to a roaring start with a performance by Galeet Dardashti's group, "The Naming". Dardashti mixes English, Hebrew, Arabic and Persian in original musical compositions and songs about women. Her subjects range from the matriarchs to her Teheranian great-aunt Tova who was childless and therefore put on tefillin every morning since she felt she had no excuse for slacking, given that women are generally excused from the compulsory execution of this mitzvah by dint of needing to take care of their children. 'The Naming' has good electronics which help visualize the biblical or midrashic texts from which Dardashti crafts her songs. The musicians are more than competent; they are clearly interested in using traditional Persian Jewish music in a respectful way when it gets fused into more western traditions. Themes include Sarah and Hagar, the Queen of Sheba's riddles and hairy legs, childbirth, and a beautiful song about the city of Shusan which is also a paean to Vashti (today's demonstrators in Teheran and Jewish women are all seen as Vashti's offspring).

Smadar Levi was uplifting ; her band had a lot of good energy and she genuinely knew how to work the crowd in a mix of English and Hebrew. The emphasis was on Moroccan music that was clearly suffused not only with Jewish and Moroccan themes but also with Sufiism. She had just come back from the music festival at Fez where she apparently did a command performance for the Moroccan king. Her mix of languages in original songs set usually in both Hebrew and Arabic worked well. Her band felt like an updated version of HaBreira HaTivit and people by the end of the set were clapping and dancing since she clearly invited audience participation.

—Esther Malka

It's time for a reprise of that killer holiday melody as sung by Jewlia Eisenberg and the wonderful SF band, Kugelplex:

This is a very rare public performance by one of the most wonderful klezmer violinists out there. If you're in the area, it's worth stopping by!

You're invited!

Sandra Layman will be performing with the Seattle Jewish Chorale and Kesselgarden at a free event on Sunday afternoon, November 29, between 2:00 and 5:00 pm, Barnes and Noble bookstore at University Village, NE Seattle.

It's a "pre-Hanukkah" event, with beautiful choral singing (including a lovely song for women's voices with violin), interludes of rousing klezmer music, and Hanukkah sing-alongs. Drop by, and bring the kids!

It's finally available -- at a special low price for the holiday gift-giving season -- the downloadable (MP3) version of my CD, "Little Blackbird"! Preview and buy it at: Little Blackbird

I try not to let visitors see my office, where the piles of CDs awaiting review stun me. But, today is Thanksgiving. We've set the table, Judy is working on some pies with a niece, and it's time for me to express holiday feelings by catching up with a few of the recordings that have been on my "this is wonderful. spread the word." list for a while. Foremost among these is this stunning 2005 recording by Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer: "Rejoicing: Yiddish Songs & Klezmer Music." If you do not have a copy, you will want one now, and you'll probably want to get copies as Hanukkah gifts. In that case, don't let me stop you from ignoring my review and ordering directly from cdbaby.com. I'll encapsulate what I said in a few words: "Never miss a chance to hear Strauss-Warschauer Duo perform. Never be without their CD. It's as important as chicken soup."

From the Jewish-Music mailing list on Nov 17, 2009. Additional information on the Jewish Music Web Center:

I just received the sad news that fellow collector and lover of Chazzonus Barry (Berel) Serota has passed away. Although I never met him in person, I had the privilege of talking with Barry on the phone several times. The last time I talked to him on the phone, was at the basement of Chazzan Noah Schall during my stay in the U.S. in August.

Barry Serota did very much to preserve the beautiful art of Chazzonus and he leaves behind a great legacy. He published many rare recordings on the Musique Internationale label and his extreme knowledge of Chazzonus and Chazzonim will forever be missed. Fortunately some of his knowledge was passed on to others - I am among one of those privileged persons - and I hope the great gap he leaves behind will be filled by other collectors (I think no single person can replace him). Barry made Aliyah just a few months ago (maybe he saw things coming) and hopefully his short life in Eretz Yisroel was a happy one. I hope the enormous collection he leaves behind will fall into good hands, so it will be preserved for generations to come. The man did a great job for Chazzonus and I'm forever thankful for all he did. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones. I hope they'll find the strength to deal with his untimely death. May he rest in peace.

It is a sad day in the world of Chazzonus...

Jeffrey P. Lieuwen

25th Anniversary
A Fertl Yurhundert KlezKamp
KlezKamp: The Yiddish Folk Arts Program
December 23-29, 2009/5770
< ahref="http://www.livingtraditions.org">www.livingtraditions.org

This is to announce the opening of registration for A Fertl Yurhundert KlezKamp, our 25th anniversary program to be held at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa from December 23–29. This year's program features a faculty of over 45 of the world's greatest exponents of traditional and contemporary Yiddish culture.

We invite you to follow us on Facebook and get regular updates about our upcoming event. For more information about the program register online at our KlezKamp website. We look forward to seeing you this coming December at KlezKamp 25.

Henry Sapoznik

This just in: Hank Sapoznik has announced that all sales of the "Youngers of Zion" CD will be earmarked to Mark Rubin's rehab fund. For those of you who missed my post on the Jewish-Music mailing list about YOV (perhaps more truthfully named "middle aged agents of Katz's deli" or somesuch) being a great place to get a Mark Rubin fix, here's what I wrote back in 2005:

I don't even know what to say about this. The album cover says it all, but you'll have to read the review to know how I heard it. Henry Sapoznik, with Austin's musical ambassador, Mark Rubin, and the absolutely stunning fiddle of Cookie Segelstein, teamed up to bring us the one and only Youngers of Zion / Protocols. Listen or else.

Since you are here, now, let me encourage you to purchase this delightful CD from cdbaby.com before you go elsewhere. Or, if you already have the CD, you can help the Mark Rubin fund, directly.

markdrubin.blogspot.com

I'd have more to say, but opinions on this country's health care system will have to go elsewhere. Anyone stupid enough to try to justify how we can pay any more for health care than any other country and have so many people underinsured/uninsured and put up with recision and denied covered the way we do, even for those allegedly insured, so that we rank at the bottom of other industrialized nations by any measure (other than money spent), should stay out of my sight. Call health care reform anything you want, but if you are not pushing for reform, you should consider yourself wilfully ignorant and thoroughly uninformed. You should be embarrassed and ashamed.

Mr. Rubin has torn his rotator cuff and needs $4000. It's volunteer week. Please volunteer some needed cash.

In the meantime, I'll talk about Mark Rubin's amazing music. I personally make sure that I hear him every few months, in some ensemble, whether I thought I needed to or not--him, Hank Sapoznik, and Cookie Segelstein as the Youngers of Zion is one cure for anything that might ail you.

About a year ago, Rubin was sitting in for Andy Statman's regular bass player at the Ashkenaz Festival. Larry Eagle was on drums, so you know that I'm talking about a very hot trio. Rubin and Statman blew the place away. I have heard both play incredible music many times, but Mark pushed Andy who pushed back into places I have never before been (although I would happily return).

An amazing bass player. An amazing story-teller. Help if you can.
markdrubin.blogspot.com

Nobody who knows fiddler & poet Alicia Jo Rabin's first, pre-Golem release, Sugar Shack (2003) will be surprised to hear that her latest project, "Girls in Trouble" is amazing, tuneful, poetic, and just damn impossible to walk away from.

The album's concept is simple: while procrastinating about writing a thesis to complete her Jewish Studies degree at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabins wrote poems about several Biblical "women in trouble" and set them to music. Then they took on a life of their own. The subjects range from the obscure (Yiftah's daughter—the one example of uninterrupted human sacrifice in the TaNaKh) to the familiar—Miriam and Ruth. Part of the fun is trying to connect the story as told in Rabins' wonderful poetry, to the actual Biblical event. But the songs are balm. Even when the tales are chilling, her ability to tell a story and set it to wonderful, quiet music, is healing.

I wasn't going to mention this CD until it's release next week, but I can't stop listening to it. Like Rabins, I have to stop procrastinating and get back to work, so let me at least pass on the word about this recording—and suggest that you pre-order a copy at half price ($5.99) to ensure that it arrives asap. (The JDUB website says CDs will ship the week of Nov 3.)

For more information about Girls in Trouble, visit the MySpace page.

The Salt Wives sound like a very interested local band, and Daniel Kahn just seems to get better. If I can keep my eyes open so far past my bedtime, this is where I'll be until the wee hours, tonight.

Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird

Sept 16 10:00 PM
The Lily Pad
1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge, Massachusetts
With David Symons & The Salt Wives

Jo Amar passed away on June 26. The news was first announced to the world in the Jerusalem Post on June 28. Haaretz captured more of the essence of the singer and his significance, with some wonderful quotes from scholar Edwin Seroussi.

The New York Times obituary also captured much of who he was: Jo Amar, Genre-Blending Jewish Singer, Dies at 79, by Bruce Webber, published Jul 9, 2009.

"Mr. Amar’s music was a hybrid, fusing Sephardic and North African-Arab songs, Jewish liturgical vocal styles and even Western-style harmonies into a kind of Middle Eastern pop. He sang in a bright, engaging tenor, recording about 20 albums, and with his crowd-pleasing manner, he performed not only in large performance halls with full orchestras but also in cabarets and at weddings and other private functions. He was often asked to be the guest cantor on Jewish High Holy Days, invitations he accepted selectively, in cities including Paris and Casablanca." [more]

Lori Lippitz, from Maxwell Street Klezmer, wrote: "I loved his singing and learned many tunes from his recordings. Very special to me is his Hamavdil with an Arabic-style chorus (French Morrocan)."

from Ben Bresky:

Can Non-Jews Play Klezmer? Tim Sparks does on his new CD

Can a Gentile play Jewish music? Which is more Jewish? Barbra Steisand's Christmas album or Tim Sparks' klezmer album? Find out in this in depth interview with non-Jewish jazz guitar virtuoso Tim Sparks on his new CD 'Little Princess', which gives Naftule Brandwein, the 1920s king of the klezmer clarinet, a smooth instrumental jazz treatment.

Click here for mp3 podcast download

Pioneering a cure, by Mel Bezalel, Jun 15, 2009, Jerusalem Post

When the first pioneers arrived on these shores almost 100 years ago, they carried with them numerous and varied cultural identities, a reminder of their home communities that, in many cases, had evolved over many generations.

Music was a significant facet of this, says the New York-based Rabbi Greg Wall, producer of Pioneers for a Cure (PfaC), a charity project officially launched on Yom Ha'atzmaut this year to raise funds for cancer research through re-recording and distributing pioneer songs. Thirty tracks were recorded over the past two years in a New York studio, and are now available to download. [More]

Israeli radio's Ben Bresky sent me this a couple of months ago. It's still a good article about an interesting band:

Israeli Klezmer Revival Band 'Oy Division' Rocks Tel Aviv by Ben Bresky, Jun 10, 2009

If you think a club in Tel Aviv is no place to find a rocking acoustic klezmer band, then think again. On any given night, Oy Division is playing to an enthusiastic group of young Israelis. The rockers, jazz musicians, and world beat singers who make up the group have never done Jewish-oriented material before. But they’re now dedicated to the music their grandparents played, as demonstrated on their new CD which features accordions, clarinets and singing in Yiddish and Russian.

Clarinet player Eyal Talmudi talked about the group's thoughts on klezmer, Yiddish culture in Israel and their unprecedented Rolling Stones cover on Israel National Radio's 'The Beat with Ben Bresky.'

Full article including video and photos.

From Klezmokum's Burton Greene:

Klezmokum just posted 6 video clips from our tour of synagogues and culture centers in November, 2007 on youtube…. Check it out!

Also there's a documentary about my life and involvement with Jewish music at www.justin.tv/bgreene. (It's in 4 segments.. you have to wait about a minute for the first segment to begin.)

I'm a bit late in posting this, but Keith Wolzinger is now doing video podcasts. The latest, #54, covers an interesting French ensemble, the Watcha Clan

Shalom Friends and Colleagues,

We are thrilled to announce that our new CD—Chalamti Chalom, I Dreamt a Dream—is now available for purchase on CDBaby. You can listen to samples and purchase the CD through this direct link.

Included on the CD are pieces by Morris Barash, Paul Ben-Haim, Maurice Goldman, Michael Isaacson, Marc Lavry, Alan Menken, Sergiu Natra, Moishe Oysher, Lazar Weiner, Moseh Wilensky, and Chanan Yovel.

Also on this CD are two Hebrew settings written by Paul Ben-Haim before he made aliyah in 1933. Left unpublished and unperformed in his archive, we have brought these remarkable, virtuosic pieces back to light for the first time.

We have combined our talents to create this CD of Jewish peace songs in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. The music ranges from secular to sacred, cantorial to broadway, and from art songs to popular melodies.

We hope that you will enjoy listening to Chalamti Chalom as much as we enjoyed producing it.

To purchase your copy—follow this link.

B'virkat Shalom,
David Berger and Joyce Rosenzweig