This turn-of-the-century crossdressing feminist proves that Yiddish theater ain't no drag, Mar 12, 2017
With a modern revival 100 years after Pepi Littman donned Hasidic garb, the irreverent, nearly forgotten performer is even more relevant
From our friends Jeff Warschauer and Deborah Strauss:
JEWJAM SOUTH!
THIS AUGUST 10-13!
AN EXCITING BRAND-NEW PROGRAM.
Join us for JewJamSouth, a four-day celebration of Jewish choral music, Yiddish song and klezmer music this August in Clayton, GA!
JewJamSouth will take place on August 10–13, 2014, at Ramah Darom's campus in the beautiful North Georgia mountains. The event is designed for passionate Jewish choral singers, klezmer instrumentalists, Hebrew and Yiddish singers and their families. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or a newcomer, this four-day festival will offer a feast of musical inspiration, ideas and fun.
JewJamSouth is open to people of all levels and backgrounds, and no previous experience is needed. Beginners are welcome.
Throughout the four days, you'll have a chance to participate in a hands-on ensemble program and study, perform and be mentored by world-renowned faculty:
The event will culminate in a one-of-a-kind joint choral/klezmer gala performance.
Email Bennie Cohen with any questions, and register now, as spots are filling up quickly!
Having given you the means to hear her music (and musicianship), I now pass on this note from Ellie Shapiro, Director of Berkeley, CA's Jewish Music Festival. Shapiro is currently on a Fulbright Fellowship in Poland.
Dear All:
Did you know that like Tin Pan Alley, Jewish musicians, lyricists, composers, presenters, radio and record producers were predominant in the Polish popular music industry between the wars? Jazz, cabaret, tango, film and theater in Polish, Hebrew and Yiddish … modern culture exploded in Polish large cities in the two decades of independence from 1919–1939. We're all familiar with the scene in Berlin from Cabaret … but Warsaw had its own rich, vibrant world. Most of the brilliant talents who created it did not survive the Holocaust.
The Polish-Israeli singer Olga Mieleszczuk has created a program with some of the most famous songs from this era. Titled Li-La-Lo, she has researched how some of the stars of the Polish stage also then created the cabaret scene in Tel-Aviv.
Bay Area JMF audiences will remember Olga from the opening concert of the 28th Jewish Music Festival with Polesye. She has now launched a funding campaign to support turning the Li-La-Lo project into a CD. This is music that deserves a wide hearing. I hope you will consider helping to bring it to a global audience. Please click on this link below to learn how you can!
From a post to the Jewish-Music mailing list. Not clear if the launch activity is a lecture, concert, or both:
Julian Futter and Mike Aylward are proud to announce the launch of a new CD - "Wandering Stars" - the story of Gimpel's Lemberg Yiddish theatre.
We are launching this CD on Thursday 5 Dec at 8.00p.m. at the New London Synagogue, 33 Abbey Rd, London, NW8 0AT and anyone who is in London is welcome to come.
In 1900 Lemberg was one of the most important cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a population of 160,000, of whom a third were Jewish. The Lemberg theatre was the first permanent and most important Yiddish theatre in Europe.
Sholem Aleichem visited in 1905 and based his novel "Wandering Stars" on his experiences there.
In 1910 Franz Kafka was profoundly affected when he saw members of the troupe perform in Prague , Joseph Roth and Mark Chagall were also hugely influenced by what they saw.
The theatre gave birth to a unique form of musical drama that to a significant extent shaped popular American culture.
Thanks to the efforts of a small band of record collectors and discographers operating worldwide, many of these records have been documented and copies located and it is now possible for the first time in over 100 years to give a voice to this silenced civilization whose destruction has been rigorously documented, but whose achievements have so far been largely unexplored. Listen to songs about weddings, wild women, drinking, the original Yidl mit sein Fidl, a Hatikvah recorded in 1909, an out of control Simchas Torah and, of course, Sex.
The recordings are accompanied by a richly illustrated, full colour, 40 page booklet which places the theatre in its historical context, provides full biographies of the artists and detailed information on all the recordings.
CD available online: www.honestjons.com/shop.php?pid=43514&CatID=124
Film clip of a very young Molly Picon singing the title song from Yid'l Mit'n Fidl.
Why do people here on the right coast follow Bert Stratton's "Klezmer Guy" blog so assiduously and drool at the thought of bringing his band, Yiddishe Cup to perform locally? You can get a hint of it all in his article on Mickey Katz, published in this week's Cleveland Jewish News.
"Mickey Katz was a shag carpet guy, I suspect, like my folks. Mickey and his wife lived in an apartment building in L.A. in the 1980s. I’ve read enough about Mickey Katz to guess what kind of carpet he went for." [more]
Well, after a whole week of film about various parts of the Klezmer Revival and new Jewish music, and a bang-up concert by So-Called last night, Yidstock ends today with an impressive series of shows starting with a sold-out Brian Bender brunch at 10am.
There are still tix available for the Hankus Netsky and Hebrew National Salvage show at noon (we'll certainly be there) with some recently discovered Yiddish gems. Then, for a change of pace the always-astounding Frank London's Klezmer Brass AllStars—with Eleanor Reissa are up at 2pm (It's true, we would have shlepped out to Amherst just for this.). The Festival finale, a concert with the Klezmatics at 4pm, is sold out (we settled for standing room only).
It's been a great weekend of music, from enjoying the Bang on a Can summer residency at Mass MoCA (North Adams) on Friday, to catching Arlo Guthrie and Family last night at Green River, to today. It will seem so mundane to end vacation and be back to work in the morning.
From Jeff Warschauer to the Jewish Music list:
Come to the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow this summer!
For several years now I've had the great privilege of teaching the Yiddish Song workshop at the festival in Krakow. We truly have a wonderful time, and you will make new friends from all over the world. Here's the description for this year:
Yiddish Song Workshop: Answering the Big Questions Through Yiddish Songs
We all confront the big questions: What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What shall we have for Shabbes lunch? And Yiddish songs attempt to answer these kinds of questions, too! Each year, a wonderful, international community comes together in Krakow to sing, dance, learn and have fun. All are welcome, with no previous experience necessary. Join us!
Info on the whole festival: www.jewishfestival.pl/index,en.html
Starting to worry about what you might want to hand out this Hanukah? Well, the obvious answer is the new CD by Adrienne Cooper, Enchanted. George Robinson tells us more in this review in the Jewish Week:
New Musical Life For A Supposedly Dead Language, Thursday, November 4, 2010, George Robinson, The Jewish Week
You've already read my thoughts about referring to Yiddish with the tedious phrase, "supposedly dead language" in a post earlier this evening, but George and I are in significant agreement—this is the real deal, and an amazing recording. I'd go into more detail, but it's his turn.
A nice historical montage, beautifully sung:
NEW YORK PREMIERE
November 8th - December 13th
Tickets now on sale! Click here to purchase tickets for
THEO BIKEL in SHOLOM ALEICHEM: LAUGHTER THROUGH TEARS
Written By Theodore Bikel
Music Direction by Tamara Brooks
Tamara Brooks, Piano
Merima Kljuc(o, Accordion
Directed by Derek Goldman
Presented by Special Arrangement with National Jewish Theater
Arnold Mittelman, Producing Artistic Director
Originally developed in 2008 by Theater J, Washington, DC
Ari Roth, Artistic Director and Patricia Jenson, Managing Director
THIS SHOW WILL BE PERFORMED MOSTLY IN ENGLISH WITH
YIDDISH AND RUSSIAN SUPERTITLES
A PLAY WITH MUSIC CELEBRATING THE GREAT YIDDISH WRITER
Regular Ticket Prices: Orchestra $55, Balcony $45, Students $25*
*Student tickets can only be purchased at the box office, student ID required
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts proudly announces the 1st Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival, June 17-25, 2009
The Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival will bring together Yiddish theatres from Israel, France, Romania, Poland, Australia, the USA and, of course, Canada.
This Festival will have something for everyone. For audiences, a diversity of exciting formal and impromptu events will entertain, educate, and inspire. For theatre professionals, the Festival offers a unique opportunity for artistic exchange.
Continue reading "1st Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival, Jun 17-25, 2009" »
I just got word of this late last night, and reservations have to be made today (or presumably, at the door on Sunday, but this is a fantastic event!
HOT, HIP AND HEYMISH
with the Queen of Yiddish Soul
Congregation Sinai presents
ELEANOR REISSA SINGS YIDDISH SOUL
Piano Accompaniment by GRANT STURIALE
DIRECT FROM A SOLD OUT RUN AT THE HOUSEMAN THEATRE IN NY!
Sunday, February 24th at 2:00 PM at Congregation Sinai, 1532 Willowbrae Avenue in San Jose
Tickets for 2pm Eleanor Reissa performance are $36. each, in support of her brother's San Jose shul. For reservations and more information, please contact the Sinai office (1532 Willowbrae Avenue, San Jose or 408-264-8542). CDs will be available for purchase at the concert as well. Reservations required by February 22nd.
Continue reading "Eleanor Reissa in San Jose, CA this Sunday, Feb 24, 2008" »
Oh, I am so excited about this one. Keith reviews the new album by Toronto's Sisters of Sheynville—Sheynville Express. This is one of the sweetest albums of the year. Imagine the Barry Sisters if they were singing today. The repertoire gets some updates, but the oldies sound as though they have to be this year's hits. And the harmonies? We haven't heard harmonies this sweet in many years.
While I'm busy promoting reviews on other websites, I should mention a new review put up just last week by first-time KlezmerShack reviewer Anna Torres. Of course, it helps to work with great material, and I think you'll agree that Frank London's latest, the soundtrack to his new opera, "A Night in the Old Market" is outstanding.
In the belated reviews and even more belated notice, let me mention an actual review written by yours truly. I've been listening to Brave Old World's "Songs of the Lodz Ghetto" for so many years. First it was live, then, I was listening to the CD and still catching the performances whenever possible (here in the Boston area, that will be in just a couple of weeks). I've been too wrapped up in it. This is one of the most powerful CDs ever recorded, and one of which I never tire. It's about time I passed on the word to others.
With great frustration, I look at reviews and tips that I wanted to get online two months ago. Hold them for next year? Present them now? The latter wins. After all, these are great CDs, reviewed by Elliott Simon, which means that the reviews are thoughtful, insightful, and intelligent. So, travel back a skip in time and consider Simon's article, Happy Chanukah 2007, from All About Jazz, Dec 8, 2007.
An lovely person who was trying to "friend" me on YouTube sent me this video of Jason Rosenblatt and his niece Neshama Rosenblatt enjoying some quality harmonica time together. Another klezmer generation gets its licks in on "Bei mir bistu shein". Indeed!:
On the Jewish-Music list, that subset of participants, the guardians of all that is proper Yiddish kulchah (not necessarily the people promulgating such culture) have been having a field day emphasizing how much they despise an especially shmaltzy version of the song by a Russian singer. It is sufficiently gruesome to my ears that I will not repeat the link on this page. But Radio host Rochelle Zucker has dug up a tango version of the song, beautifully sung by Argentinian singer Zully Goldfarb (whose "Makh tsu di eygelakh" came in for criticism, itself, a few months ago):
Here is another Youtube version of the same song by Argentinean Tango/Yiddish singer Zully Goldfarb. She performs in the Tango Clubs in Buenos Aires and always includes several Yiddish songs in her show - and always explains what they are and where they come from and also about her own life as a daughter of Polish Immigrants to Argentina
Something is going on in Argentina. There is some fascinating Jewish culture happening there, ranging from this singer, to the klezmer/Yeshivish band, Orkestra Kef, to the brilliant improvisationists, the Lerner Moguilevsky Dúo. | Permalink
From the wonderful traditional klezmer clarinetist, Gustavo Bulgich, come these YouTube Videos of a recent show:
Gustavo here.
Please check out the posting of 2 videos from the show "UNA NOCHE YIDISHE" Premiered on October 20th @ the Red Cat theatre in Los Angeles.
ZAI GEZUNDT
Bob Weiner posted about this one:
If you can make it to NYC's Lincoln Center, don't miss this Molly Picon exhibition from June 26 through September 22, 2007 at the NYPL for the Performing Arts, curated by Dr. Diane Cypkin.
Information on the exhibition and 3 related programs can be found by following the link below: www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/lpaexhibdesc.cfm?id=446
Dancin' Steve Weintraub found this and posted it to the Jewish-Music mailing list:
Perhaps everyone knows about this site except me, but I just ran across the collection of rare 78 recordings you can listen to on RealPlayer: yiddishsong.org/html/rare_78s.html
Including is a very nice bit of badkhones, lyrics to Rayze nokh Amerika, which I had previously only known as an instrumental, and an english language foxtrot version of di mezinke oysgegeben, titled "Titina" (rhymes with Palestina and farina) recorded, no less, by the Bar Harbor Society Orchestra!
Happy listening.
It was Cantor Sam Weiss who also posted the following to the Jewish Music list last spring:
"Notes From Zamir", which I referenced earlier regarding Salomone Rossi, is turning into a very interesting Jewish Music magazine. In their current issue devoted to Jewish Musical Theatre, also available online, www.zamir.org/Notes/", there's an article by Mark Slobin on "The Jazz Singer," from which comes the following excerpt which I thought would be interesting to many on this list:
Continue reading "Notes from Zamir/ Mark Slobin commenting on Jewish Music Theatre" »
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
There never seems to be time to review everything I'd like to write about. When music this good arises, I find myself listening over and over and forgetting to move on. That's okay. That's why I listen and write in the first place. So, from Australia to Ireland via California and Salonika via NYC, here are the latest. If you are getting an early start on your Chanuka shopping this coming weekend, pay good attention - these are the new musics that folks will be wanting:
The Fig Tree, 2003
This is a delightful collection of Greek, Jewish, and other music, accompanying a book on immigrants to Australia by Arnold Zable. Don't let the distance from Australia stop you from listening to this, hearing the latest from our favorite Australian klezmer bands, and hearing some wonderful other music, as well.
CeiliZemer / Shalom Ireland, 2003
Continuing the international tour, this soundtrack to a documentary about Jews in Ireland fuses the two musics delightfully. Yes, indeed, think of what hasidic music (and klezmer) might have been like if the uillean pipes had been available in Eastern Europe. There's still time to add them here.
David Chevan / Days of Awe, 2003
Chevan has gathered his Afro-Semitic Experience, including guitar wizzard Stacy Phillips, and added Frank London. The result is exquisite jazz versions of music from the High Holy Days. If you like this sort of thing (I do), this is definitely the sort of thing that you will like.
Margot Leverett & the Klezmer Mountain Boys, 2003
Today's theme seems to be fusion music. You got yer Greeks and Klezmers; you got yer Irish and Klezmers. And when you're especially lucky, you got your bluegrass klezmers. But, it's a Margot Leverett album, so you already knew that it would be on your "essential klezmer" list, anyway. I think of Leverett the way I think of Jeff Warschauer and Deborah Strauss - if she's involved, it's not only amazing, but it's comfort music - the perfect accompaniment for when you feel great, and an even better accompaniment for when you need a lift.
Sarah Aroeste / A la una, 2003
Solomon & Socalled / HipHopKhasene, 2003
As much fun as I had writing about everything else, this is my favorite of the bunch. Witty, brilliant, funny, and great music. The album features not only the amazing Socalled, but Oi Va Voi's Sophie Solomon. Guests include David Krakauer, Zev Feldman, Frank London, Michael Alpert, Elaine Hoffman-Watts and daughter Susan... even Jewish-music mailing list regular, Cantor Sam Weiss. Essential for all but the humor-impaired.
George Robinson announces a slew of new music columns published almost all together in New York's Jewish Week:
Five-Star Klez: From New Orleans and Odessa, fusion and traditional approaches.
A Fall Sampler: From Solomon Rossi to Michael Strassfeld.
Heard Around The World: From Turkey to London to the Lower East Side.
The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre is casting "The Lady Next Door", a comedy-drama about the immigrant experience written by Leon Kobrin and directed by Allen Lewis Rickman. The show will preview on October 25 and run through January 4, 2004. Auditions will be held in early August and rehearsals start October 1.
Additional information is available on the Folksbiene web site at www.folksbiene.org.
I got carried away. CDs were falling off the shelf, so I sat down this weekend and stayed sat down until I got several reviewed. We've got some great new Jewish music, some avant garde and jazz, some klezmer (lots of klezmer), some Sephardic and Mizrahi music, more klezmer and Yiddish folk.... That's not the whole gamut, but odds are that something in this weekend's stack will be just what you were looking for:
Den Flygande Bokrullen / Tarrschwein, 2002, headbanger klezmer
I can't get away from Chicago. Of course, when the bands are this good--Duo Controverso, or today's featured Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, who would want to leave?
One of the first exciting klezmer revival recordings I purchased, nearly 20 years ago, was Maxwell St's first album. It opened with the flute playing "Mi Yimalel" and then blasted into klezmer. They haven't stopped since, and this album, last year's "Old Roots, New World," is the best yet.
www.klezmershack.com/bands/maxwellst/oldnew/maxwellst.oldnew.html
Jeanette Lewicki is better known to many of us as the accordion and voice of San Francisco's anarcho-klezmer street trio, "The Gonifs," or from her work with the San Francsico Klezmer Experience. Now, paired with Matthew Fass as "Max and Minka" the duo have produced one of the loveliest klezmer/accordion/everything music CDs to have arrived in recent years. The first half of the CD consists of (mostly) Yiddish songs and klezmer. The second half, though, is an enormously inventive, wonderful "patchwork suite."
The cover is an amazing print of rather delightful artwork. Open up the CD and see the accordion fold connecting the duo. The lyrics are printed (albeit at leading that is a trifle tight) in a prime unreadable Yiddish typeface nicely matched to English.
This is the sort of CD that you purchase because it is a work of art, and then you discover that there is some great music on it, as well!
www.maxminka.com, while they last.
New Haven, Conn. Yale University will host a conference on April 12 and 13, celebrating the acquisition of a major collection of Jewish music by the University.
The Wallersteiner Collection of Jewish Music includes about 700 pieces of sheet music of popular, liturgical and theater songs and hymns from Germany, the United States, Israel and elsewhere from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection was acquired by the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library at Yale.
For further information check the conference web site at www.library.yale.edu/judaica/music/index.html or contact Nanette Stahl, conference director, at nanette.stahl@yale.edu or phone number (203)432-7207.
Continue reading "Jewish Music Conference at Yale, Apr 12-13" »
ELDRIDGE STREET PROJECT
presents a site-specific multimedia installation
TRANCE
Pearl Gluck and Basya Schechter
April 30 - July 30 2003
OPENING NIGHT WED, APRIL 30, 6PM
live performance and reception
12 Eldridge Street, (between Canal and Division)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 212.978.0803
Continue reading "TRANCE: An Art Installation (Opens April 30)" »
The new Theresa Tova CD, "Live at the Top o' the Senator" is a jazz singer's delight. The KlezmerShack review is up at www.klezmershack.com/bands/tova/live/tova.live.html". Enjoy!
Yo Yo Ma did it. Wynton Marsalis did it. And now, the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, like the aforementioned classical music superstars, has blended thorough musical scholarship with an unabashed joy of performing on their new Shanachie Records CD release "Old Roots, New World." ...
Richard Sharma has posted several reviews of wonderful klezmer albums to the Jewish-music list. The author has given us permission to post this one to the KlezmerShack, and we thank him profusely. Our own delay in getting this reviewed is only partially mitigated by Mr. Sharma's well-written, and suitably enthusiastic words: www.klezmershack.com/articles/sharma/sharma.maxwellst.html
Enjoy!
A giant of Yiddish culture, Seymour Rexite, passed away on Monday, Oct 14. The funeral will be on Thursday, Oct 17, 1:15pm at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th Street and Amsterdam. There is an obituary in the New York Times.