KlezCalendar

Ever since I formed Klezmer Madness! in the mid 1990s, I致e been exploring the possibilities of adding funk, jazz, and, lately, hip-hop influences to klezmer. Improvisation has always been a part of my musical landscape, but it was my embracing of klezmer music in my early 30s that gave me the opportunity to create my own style of improvising and composing within (and under the umbrella of) the music of my own Eastern European Jewish cultural heritage. These explorations logically led me to my collaboration with Socalled, a kindred spirit in the search for that magic place where a combination of klezmer, funk, jazz, and hip-hop can find a commonality of ecstatic trance.

In a conversation with Socalled somewhere on the road in Europe in late 2005, the name Fred Wesley came up. Fred, of course, is world renowned as one of the great masters of funk through his amazing trombone playing and arranging with the likes of James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Parliament Funkadelic, and others. I felt that collaborating with Fred would be a tremendous (and logical) next step in this musical journey that I致e been on for the last ten years. Much to my delight, he accepted the proposal to join this path of musical exploration.

We are honored to have Fred Wesley with us tonight to present this new project for the first time here at Zankel Hall.

優avid Krakauer

In celebration of his 50th birthday, clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer takes his mission of revitalizing klezmer one step further in a collaboration with one of the great masters of funk/jazz, trombonist Fred Wesley楊nown for his work with James Brown, Bootsy Collins, and Parliament Funkadelic. This concert marks the world premiere of this new collaborative project between Krakauer and Wesley and will feature David Krakauer痴 Klezmer Madness! ensemble, complete with hip-hop beat architect Socalled, and a three-piece horn section led by Wesley. The result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party!