'The roadmap to world music from a Jewish slant'. We cover Klezmer and more, focusing on the edges and the sounds that express who we are now. We also provide the place for klezmorim, reputable musicians, fans, and scholars to network online.
From Steve Weintraub, posted to the Jewish-Music list. I have long maintained that dance (and people teaching/evolving the dance) is critical to the continued relevance of klezmer. He's been making that possible, one group of students at a time, for many years. Now this:
With all the recent discussion of Yiddish dance history and practice, it seems the right moment to announce a first ever intensive dance leader's track at KlezKanada this summer. The course will take 3 periods a day, while you absorb the musicial and Yiddish culture of camp. I'm very excited to be spearheading this initiative:
For those of us in my adopted home of Boston, MA, this is not a new subject. Dance leader Jacob Bloom has been fusing klezmer music and contradance for years (he also led the dance at our wedding). But, for those elsewhere, perhaps a fun introduction to the subject:
Can a Contra dance caller lead a Yiddish sher (scissors dance)? Darn right, if it's Drake Meadow! We will all get to experience the fun of it on Friday May 22nd as we gather to honor Rabbi Michal and appreciate her leadership of our community over the past two years. A special Kabbalat Shabbat beginning at 6:30 will be followed by a potluck dinner and entertainment by Klezmephonic, a new Ann Arbor klezmer band. [more]
Interview w/SoCalled about "five essential albums"
For the few people who have missed the release of the prolific hiphop artist SoCalled's new "Peoplewatching" album, here is a rather interesting accompaniment to the music, in which Dolgin connects his own work to concepts of community, and illustrates the idea by describing "five essential recordings" that reflect those values. A rather good interview, and lots of nice embedded clips:
From Pete Rushefsky, on Facebook (for details see the KlezmerShack calendar):
Central Asian maqom masters Roshel and Yakov Rubinov will be performing tomorrow (Wednesday, May 6) at a free show open to the public at the New School Event Space - Lower level of 65 5th Ave. at 13th St. in Manhattan. 6PM start.
Denis Wilen just sent me this link from the Internet Archive:
Music of the Klezmer Wedding
by Eric Fixler and Craig Harwood
Usage Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Topics klezmer, wedding, jewish, yiddish, socalled
This is the Oy Mendele! episode from December 2004, when we were still on KALX. It features music historian Craig Harwood and myself walking through the sequence of a traditional Eastern European Jewish wedding, with music of then and now.
It's worth listening to just to hear Craig say 'groovin'
archive.org/details/EricFixlerandCraigHarwood
26th North American Jewish Choral Fest, Jul 12-16, 2015
Find Your Joy
at the 26th Annual North American Jewish Choral Festival
* Inspiring Conductors
* New Workshops and Presenters
* Musical Memorial Tributes to
Gil Aldema z"l and Yehezkel Braun z"l
* Special Track for Young Singers 18-30
* Fascinating Focus on Ladino Music
and the 12th Annual Hallel V'Zimrah Award to
FLORY JAGODA
Celebrate launch of online Stonehill Jewish Music Collection, NYC, May 13, 2015
Wednesday, May 13: Special Launch Event for the Stonehill Jewish Music Collection. Mark your calendar for an event celebrating the launch of a new website http://www.ctmd.org/stonehill.htm) for the Ben Stonehill Jewish Song Collection!
In 1948, only 3 years after the war, Ben Stonehill recorded over a thousand songs from Holocaust survivors temporarily housed at the Hotel Marseilles after arriving in America. And on May 13, at this very hotel, we will be able to listen to some of the rare and important songs Stonehill captured for posterity. Though Stonehill passed away in 1964, we will hear his voice describing what he saw and heard in that lobby.
The evening will feature a presentation by Yiddish specialist and scholar Miriam Isaacs, Ph.D., herself born in a German DP camp. She has worked with CTMD to create a website which makes available the recordings and lyrics to many of these songs. Isaacs will describe the history and contents of the site and will play a few excerpts of the original songs, sung by men, women and children, mainly in Yiddish, but also Russian and Hebrew. Collectively, this body of song constitutes a haunting testimony to survivors' resilience, courage and humor.
We are thrilled that Masha Leon, one of the singers recorded at the time by Stonehill, will be joining us to share her experience and grace us with a song! A number of the songs will come alive as we will listen to contemporary singers in a zingeray (song-sharing session), featuring several wonderful exponents of traditional Yiddish and Russian song, including Isaacs, Carol Freeman, Esther Gottesman, Craig Packard, and Binyumen Schaechter.
The event will be followed by a reception with light refreshments. Programmed in partnership with the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center. We are grateful for the assistance of ethnomusicologist Bret Werb of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Lorin Sklamberg of the YIVO Institute, Paula Teitelbaum, Binyumin Schaechter, Craig Packard and Itzik Gottesman for their assistance with this project, as well as the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation and the Atran Foundation.
At the Hotel Marseilles, 230 West 103 Street in Manhattan (SW corner of West 103rd Street and Broadway). Admission is free! (7:00PM-8:30PM).
For the ninth annual Make Music New York, we're teaming up with Alicia Svigals, the world's foremost klezmer fiddler, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust to present a spring workshop series for violinists ages 12 and up, culminating in a performance produced by the National Yiddish Theatre and Joe's Pub for KulturfestNYC.
More info: makemusicny.org/blog/claim-your-spot-in-this-years-klezmer-violin-workshop-with-alicia-svigals/
