Since it arrived at the house a couple of days ago, we've been listening to almost nothing else but <a href="klezcontacts.html#leverett">Margot Leverett</a>'s "The Art of Klezmer Clarinet" (Traditional Crossroads, CD 4296). It follows us throughout the house, from bedroom to living room, to downstairs in the office. Leverett is one of the founding members of the <a href="contacts/klezbands_k.html#band.klezmatics">Klezmatics</a>, current member of the seldom-seen klezmer music supergroup, "<a href="contacts/klezbands_m.html#band.mikveh">Mikveh</a>," and a regular teacher at <a href="articles/klezkamp96/kk96.html">KlezKamp</a>. Here, the currently New York-based clarinetist steps out with friends from the Boston Klezmer scene to pay tribute to greats of the American Klezmer clarinet: Dave Tarras, Naftule Brandwein, Shloimke Beckerman. The album could also be titled, "The Joy of Klezmer Clarinet," for the soul that infects Leverett's playing. It's also rather neat that this album be released on the label that is home to Klezmatics violinist Alicia Svigals' tribute to older European klezmer fiddlers, <a href="bands/svigals/fidl/svigals.fidl.html">Fidl</a>. In any event, if I manage to do a full-scale review of any album this busy year, this one is headed in that direction, if only because I have no intention of listening to anything else (well, perhaps a bit of the new Muszikas Bartok album, or Tan Dun, or the newly released Clash tapes, but those are mere palette cleansers) for the foreseeable future. In addition to the clarinetists mentioned above, I also want to mention the pleasure I got out of recognizing some Max Epstein in the "Bulgar Medley." In her liner notes, she describes first hearing an early LP by the self-styled "Dukes of Freilachland," aka, The Epstein Brothers. "... for a while they were the only tunes I wanted to play." The liner notes are also a nice shorthand of the klezmer revival, from the perspective of a veteran explaining how she discovered the music and the effect it had on her as she heard and learned more.</p>
<p>A few klezmer revival musicians have a special place as carriers on of tradition: Andy Statman will forever be linked to Dave Tarras. Michael Alpert's ties to a variety of musicians, singers, and <em>badkhanim</em>, ranging from Ben Bayzler Bronya Sakina, and Leon Schwartz are part of how we see him as a musician, today. In Leverett's case, her long apprenticeship with Shloimke Beckerman's son, Sid, himself one of the prime sources of older American klezmer repertoire, both informs her playing and depth of knowledge, and perhaps also the "menshlikh-keit" and joy of playing that one hears on this CD.</p>
<p>Oh, one other thing. We tend to dance when we experience this CD. We trust that klezmer aficionados will find that an acceptable imperative.</p>