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CD Review: German Goldenshteyn / A Living Tradition - A+!

Continuing my series of quick reviews for those wondering what to get for the holidays....

cover art as practiced in the former soviet union?German Goldenshteyn / A Living Tradition. LTD 1803, 2006. Available from CDbaby.com
[Updated from the KlezKanada newsletter, 24 Aug 2006] Nothing makes up for the sudden loss of German Goldenshteyn this past summer, but for those who remember him and his music, Living Tradition records has released a CD recorded last year at KlezKamp. (There will be a second Goldenshteyn CD, probably in Winter 2007. One track from the second CD is available in the KlezKanada Faculty Anthology now.)

KlezKanada regular Alan Sissel calls it "the only CD I’m listening to right now." Goldenshteyn is backed by some of the best klezmorim around, from Josh Horowitz to Michael Alpert. The real star, however, is German Goldenshteyn, whose songs and whose clarinet are, as the label says, a Living Tradition. This is traditional klezmer as no one knew it was played any more until German arrived in the US and demonstrated the music that he had been playing all of his life. a bisl of the music that formed his living tradition is now passed on to us.

The money from the sale of the CD is going to a special fund set up to support his family. [GRADE: A+]

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