Naftule's Dream in Forest Hills
On a lovely spring day a couple of weeks ago, just after the goyishe New Year, I saw Naftule's Dream for the first time in ages. The setting was the Forsyth Chapel at Forest Hill's Cemetery here in Boston. The cemetery is one of at least a couple in Boston designed to provide a lovely place to picnic and to commune with the dead. In this case, although the band ended with "Black Wedding" from their very first CD, both the living and dead were very much at peace. Although, thinking of the intensity and wonderful disharmonics of some of the band's music, that might be a minor mis-statement.
The band started off with some quieter new material, perhaps in keeping with the setting, but with the audience's approval and occasional nods to the klezmer music that gave them their name, the music got louder and more intense. The new pieces sound different—those showcased here were quieter and perhaps closer to chamber music in some ways that earlier, more prog-rock inflected numbers. Relatively new trumpeterGary Bohan was featured on at least one number, as were several by accordionist Michael McLaughlin.
As usual, I left at peace, with some of my inner chaos expressed, and ready to see them again, soon. The only thing that could have made the event closer to perfect would have been the Isaac Bashevis Singer material that they worked up years ago and never recorded. Yiddish ghost stories for a New England cemetery—that would be pretty slick.