the KlezmerShack

Seth Rogovoy writes:

The new issue of Sing Out! Magazine (Spring 2004, Vo. 48, #1) includes
reviews by yours truly of CDs by the KCB, Aufwind, Solomon and Socalled,
Rahel Jaskow, Yale Strom and a couple of the Milken Archive releases.

It also includes reviews by others of new CDs by Ceilizemer and Margot
Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys (for which I wrote liner notes).

It's been a busy month for Seth, who also had these appear in the English-language Forward

This week's Forward (2/13/04) includes two pieces by yours truly reviewing
recent recordings by a slew of klezmer, Yiddish and Jewish music artists.

Klezmerania: A roundup of recent releases (Yale Strom, Solomon and Socalled,
David Krakauer, Frank London, Eleanor Reissa, Klezmocracy, David Glukh, Koby
Israelite, CeiliZemer, KCB, Lori Cahan-Simon, Mel Waldorf)

Dispensing the voice of klezmer past and future (Klez Dispensers)

Posted by Ari Davidow at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KLEZFEST ST. PETERSBURG 2004

The Center for Jewish Music of the Jewish Community Center of St.
Petersburg is proud to announce "KlezFest St. Petersburg 2004,"
an international seminar on the traditional music of Eastern
European Jewry, to be held June 12-16, 2004 in St. Petersburg,
Russia.

For more information, please contact the Jewish Community Center of
St. Petersburg via fax at (+7-812) 314-5117, or e-mail frenk@lea.spb.su.

Posted by Ari Davidow at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Matt Temkin has written several articles for the KlezmerShack about rereleases and old recordings. It is especially fitting, then, that he weigh in on the new "archival" releases of American Jewish Music by the Milken Foundation.

And, on the subject of the Milken Archives, Seth Rogovoy posted this link from the excellent "NextBooks.com" site on the same subject: "Preservation Squall," a fascinating essay about issues raised by the Milken Archive of American Jewish music, by Paul Mitchinson.

Finally, the Milken Archive itself announces the two latest releases in the series, numbers 11 and 12:

• Dave Brubeck's "The Gates of Justice"
• Bruce Adolphe: Three Works

From the Milken Archive e-mail press release:

DAVE BRUBECK'S THE GATES OF JUSTICE (CD #8.559414)

Jazz icon, pianist and composer Dave Brubeck wrote this cantata in an attempt to heal the rift between the Jewish people and American blacks that emerged in the late 1960s, especially after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. Based on biblical and Hebrew liturgical texts, quotations from Dr. King's speeches, Negro spirituals and the Jewish sage Hillel, with lyrics by Brubeck's wife Iola, it was intended to underscore and resurrect the spiritual parallels between Jews and blacks. For more information, go to www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=12

BRUCE ADOLPHE (CD #8.559413)

This disc features three works by composer, author, educator and performer Bruce Adolphe, currently the composer-in-residence of the Chamber Music Society of New York's Lincoln Center: (1) Ladino Songs of Love and Suffering, a virtuoso song cycle for soprano, guitar, and French horn based on folk poetry in Ladino, the Castillian Spanish/Hebrew vernacular of Mediterranean Sephardi Jews; (2) a scene from Adolphe's opera, Mikhoels the Wise, about the life and death of the most prominent figure of the post-revolution Soviet Yiddish Theater; and (3) Out of the Whirlwind, a six-movement oratorio based on Yiddish poems and songs written by members of the Jewish resistance in the ghettos during World War II, and by other Holocaust victims. For more information, go to www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=11

==================================================

OTHER CD RELEASES
from The Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
and Naxos American Classics

==================================================

Ten other Milken Archive discs are currently available through Naxos American Classics, including:

• AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN JEWISH MUSIC [8.559406]
  "...wonderfully eclectic." � RedLudwig.com www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=5
• KURT WEILL'S THE ETERNAL ROAD (Highlights) [8.559402]
  One of Amazon.com's 10 Best Opera and Vocal Music CDs of 2003 "...fervent and touching."—New York Times www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=1
• DARIUS MILHAUD'S SERVICE SACR� [8.559409]
  "...a glorious ... and complete ... rendition."—ClassicsToday.com "...an intriguing work from first note to last, sonic proof of the value of the Milken Archive."—Oakland Press www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=8
• JOSEPH ACHRON [8.559408]
  "Elmar Oliveira's edgy virtuosity and sweet throbbing timbre suit the music very well and Joseph Silverstein draws superbly rich playing from the Berlin Orchestra..."—Gramophone www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=7
• MARIO CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO [8.559404]
  "...sung superbly by...soprano Ana Maria Martinez..." � Fanfare www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=3
• LEONARD BERNSTEIN: A JEWISH LEGACY [8.559407]
  "The most illuminating Bernstein recording in years..." � Newark Star Ledger www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=6
• GREAT SONGS OF THE YIDDISH STAGE, VOL. I [8.559405]
  "...lively, affecting, beautifully performed pieces." � New York Daily News www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=4
• KLEZMER CONCERTOS AND ENCORES [8.559403]
  "The Jewish elements in [Robert Starer's Kli Zemer] emerge proudly and poignantly, always conditioned by economy and taste." � The New Yorker "...played with feeling and virtuosity by David Krakauer..." � Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=2
• A HANUKKA CELEBRATION [8.559410]
  "In a word, this effort is spectacular.... all of the selections are fired with emotion....a must-have for your record collection." � Los Angeles Daily News www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=9
• JEWISH VOICES IN THE NEW WORLD [8.559411]
  "...unusually haunting music, with a distinctive combination of serenity and boldness." � Oakland Press www.milkenarchive.org/cds/cds.taf?cdid=10

These twelve discs are the first of 50 CDs to be released over the next several years by the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, the most comprehensive collection of musical works pertaining to Jewish life and culture in America ever assembled.

All proceeds from the sale of Milken Archive recordings will be directed back into the Milken Archive's nonprofit programs in furtherance of educational and cultural goals.

For more information, please visit www.milkenarchive.org and www.naxos.com.

Posted by Ari Davidow at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roger Reid has given me permission to repost his review of a recent concert by Jon Madof's Rashanim and the Jason Caplan Quartet. The review was originally posted to the Jewish-Music mailing list on Nov 13, 2003

Posted by Ari Davidow at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Four new reviews on the KlezmerShack:

Freylach Time!, based in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina is a tradtional klezmer gem. It is also a community treasure. Now that the band has finally recorded, you can hear for yourself: Freylach Time! / The Klezmer Dance Band

London's Oi Va Voi has been impressing audiences from the UK to KlezKamp and everywhere in between for years. Whatever they are playing, it isn't klezmer any more, except insofar as it gets people up to dance. This new album, "Laughter Through Tears" just made the New York Time's "10 Best" list for 2003. For a change, I agree!: Oi Va Voi / Laughter Through Tears

César Lerner and Marcelo Moguilevsky are two amazing musicians from Argentina. I've seen them perform in the UK and Canada. Now you can year why audiences love them and their brand of passionate klezmer infused with South American jazz. The new album, Sobreviviente, is live: Lerner Moguilevsky Duo / Sobreviviente

A year with a new release from the Klezmer Conservatory Band is a good year. This latest contains many new gems - more than a taste of paradise: Klezmer Conservatory Band / A Taste of Paradise

Posted by Ari Davidow at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)