KlezCalendar

The last few years there's been a surge of interest in the traditional music of Eastern Europe. Cornelia St. Cafe is celebrating all the different ways in which Klezmer and Gypsy traditions have worked themselves into the contemporary NYC music scene. The week-long festival includes Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, showing that the blend of Shtetl Klezmer and Down Home Bluegrass is smoother than you would imagine; Jeff Perelman with members of Romashka, Village Klezmer and Max & Minka, drawing upon their own travels throughout the former Soviet bloc to bring you infectious Eastern European Klezmer music, Gypsy (Rom) music, Balkan music and more; Jay Vilnai's Vampire Suit, exploring the interconnections of Balkan music, Middle- Eastern grooves and improvisation; and Susan Watts, the youngest generation of an exciting klezmer dynasty that reaches back to the Jewish Ukraine of the 19th century, bringing a rich repertoire of many original songs written for weddings, family members and joyous occasions.

Back in the 30's and 40's bluesy, comedic, swing musicians like Louie Jordan and Cab Calloway made some great music that still sounds fresh today. Yiddish was a pretty active street language in New York City at that time, and it was woven into the music. You had Slim Gaillard singing "Matzo Balls", Mildred Bailey recording "A Bee Gezindt", and Calloway's hysterical yiddish/ gibberish cantillation intro to "Ot Azoy" (That's the Way).

Paul Shapiro celebrates this interplay of 40's hipster swing with some Yiddish thrown in at the Cornelia Street Café. Calling it the Ribs and Brisket Revue*, the saxophonist/composer features Babi Floyd, (of Keith Richard's Expensive Winos et al) and Cilla Owens (one of New York's best kept secrets). They will be backed by musicians from Paul's CD "Midnight Minyan", on Tzadik Records, which was released last year.

*Paul was visited in a dream state by the ghost of Fats Waller who convinced him that R&B originally stood for Ribs & Brisket