Alexander Fedoriouk & Kalman Magyar / Crossing Paths

Originally posted to the Jewish-Music mailing list. Reprinted here by permission of the author.

Just received "Crossing Paths" today, the new CD from Alexander Fedoriouk and Kalman Magyar. Jewish music relevance? Hmmmmm....track 5 is indeed a slow hora from the klezmer repertoire. And Fedoriouk just played with Steven Greenman this past week in New York.

No, it's not for the most part Jewish music - it's Gypsy and Hungarian - but maybe its that if you like Jewish music you'll like this.

I've been a big fan since hearing Fedoriouk's "Cimbalom Traditions" album. In this, he teams up with world class violin player Kalman Magyar, to make an album in which they say : "A & K have the utmost respect for {folk music] and continue to perform, teach and propogate folk music; here, however, they have taken great liberties with the melodies, styles, and forms of the folks tunes on which the music is based."

Oh yeah. How about an old Bukovina melody played as boogie-woogie?

As I've noted in the past I'm not a general fan of the "klezmer is Jewish Jazz" school, nor the school that says it has to be "radical". [Hint - sex is no longer radical as contrasted with synogogue].

But like the exception I made for Kleztraphobix - ortho-simcha players bringing jazz into thier jewish music - I feel the same way about this. These are top notch = phenominal - players of the folk style they come from - who have brought blues, and swing into this particular project with utterly spectacular results.

I guess what gets me is the difference between musicians who feel that have to deconstruct and pulverize the tradition to make music of meaning - and those who have knowledge and respect for the tradition but also realize they have thier own modern perspective on it.

This does not displace "Cimbalom Traditions" as my favorite Fedoriouk recording - but I'm going to be listing to "Crossing Paths" over and over again for some time.

Our friends at cdbaby.com are selling it.

Reviewed by Roger Reid, 5/1/03

Songs

1. Gypsy Jive 4:27
2. Seven Step 4:21
3. Trading Aces 6:01
4. All Jazzed Up 3:55
5. Lamentation 4:01
6. Sweeping Strings 5:45
7. Vamp Ahead 4:27
8. Transitions 5:45
9. Hora de Caval 3:59
10. Take Nine 4:41
11. The Wine of Life 4:20

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