Abraham Inc / Together we stand

When the first Abraham Inc recording came out over a decade ago, it was a revelation. Klezmer-jazz-funk. It rocked and still rocked. I'm happy to say that I wasn't the only person who wanted more and the band finally came together for some well-needed "ooomph" just in time for the 2020 campaign season. Like it's predecessor, "Tweet Tweet," this one is still current. As they say on the website, "it means everything to us to be able to share our message of cross cultural collaboration with more people and to continue this creative mission in an ever-more polarized world."

The theme of the recording is best expressed in the opening funk "Together we stand." But there's more to it than that. "Look up from your devices," says Socalled on the second number, "Lullaby for Charlottesville." It's time to wake up. Dance. Act. And shlep some Yiddishkeit. Or, as they say in Abe Inc's House Party, "Come on over to my house and let's have some fun!" That's really what it's all about? We're all connected, we're all changing. We've got to pay attention.

I'm always happiest with music that makes me smile, that grabs me in the kishkes, drags me out of the chair and gets me up and dancing. This is that sort of music. These are times that need this sort of music. And I love the variety, from the job of Duke Ellington's "Blue Pepper," to the slightly shifted klezmer dance and Krakauer's clarinet lead in "Bb à la Socalled" to the harshness of Krakauer's "The news keeps babblin' on" and the hip hop/funk sensibility of the closing "House Party."

In the end, as they sing in "Get down Moses,"Leave it all behind, dis moi où est l'party!" and, as I said about "Tweet Tweet:" Get your copy, and maybe a few spares, at the Abraham Inc store.

Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 18 Dec 2021

Song Titles

1. Together we stand (words: Josh Dolgin; music: Fred Wesley) 4:45
2. Lullaby for Charlottesville (Josh Dolgin) 3:26
3. The hippies were right (David Krakauer) 3:49
4. Get Down Moses (words: Sarah MK; music: Jerome Harris) 7:25
5. Doina (trad.) 2:45
6. Strannik (Kroitor, Dolgin) 4:31
7. Walls (words: Fat Tony Obi; music: Dolgin) 2:42
8. The news keeps babblin' on (David Krakauer) 2:33
9. The song I never got to sing (Josh Dolgin) 3:14
10. Blue Pepper (Duke Ellington) 2:46
11. Bb à la Socalled (Josh Dolgin, David Krakauer) 5:41
12. Abe Inc's House Party (words: Fred Wesley, Taron Benson; music: Fred Wesley) 5:55

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