Links to articles on the Internet
The genesis of the original klezmer pages was articles I had written for online publication over the years. There is an awful lot of good writing now, covering far broader a spectrum than just klezmer. Good music is always going to attract lots of good writers. Here are links to articles written by myself and other folks who have told me about their material. If you have material about klezmer, or about Jewish music in general, that you'd like to add, please e-mail me! For those who are exploring klezmer, think of this as your introduction to klezmer on the web:
Articles by subject
Articles by author
Print-only bibliography
Articles by subject
Primers for Musicians
Charlie Berg, the original Klezmer Conservatory Band drummer discusses "Klezmer drumming" and his role in the modern version of same.
Matt Temkin, reveals how to make your own poyk (drum), in this 1999 article, 5 Jan 2000.
Matt Temkin, our next generation percussion expert, here tells all about klezmer xylophone, 1 Jan 1999.
Master klezmer and musicologist, Josh Horowitz, posts a summary of Main Klezmer Modes to the Jewish-music mailing list, Jul 24, 1999.
Budowitz founder and ethnomusicologist, Josh Horowitz, writes about the process of reconstructing the "traditional" Jewish wedding, all eight days of it, for the Budowitz "Wedding without a Bride" album, based on interviews and research and some luck. Posted originally to the Jewish-music mailing list, Jun 2, 2000.
Here Josh Horowitz posts to the Jewish-music mailing list about tsimbls and their kin, 3 Jul 1999.
Michael Scott Armel has a page on Klezmer music theory.
Yossi Kurland has written wonderful guides to Jewish music at weddings and at bar/bat mitzvahs on the Wholesale Klezmer Band web pages.
"Necessary Klezmer Repertoire," a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) with some answers to this question by participants on the jewish-music mailing list
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Camps and Gatherings
The experience of getting together with other people interested in Klezmer music, and perhaps, nothing but Klezmer music, has inspired some wondeful pieces. Attending KlezKamp, KlezKanada, or any other such gathering is an important, and significantly fun part of the Klezmer Revival and its continued health.
KlezKamp '96--a short article and lots of photos about this major, wonderful klezmer institution. Why spend Christmas in the city when you can be in the Catskills surrounded by hundreds of klezzified musicians and fans?!!!, by Ari Davidow.
Ben Gerson, a member of the Klezmaniacs, a teenage klezmer band from Boston's North Shore, describes the band's second sojourn at KlezKamp.
In which I repair to the lovely Laurentians, just north of Montreal, and enjoy a quiet pastoral week of klezmer and nothing but. I also transcribed bits and pieces of several wonderful lectures, so there are several sketches attached here. A life alternating between the very different atmospheres of KlezKamp and KlezKanada would be near-ideal. KlezKanada '99, by Ari Davidow, August 1999.
This year, intrepid jewish-music mailing list reporter, Koby the Interactive Bear (aka Yakov Chodosh) makes it to KlezKamp and has a great time in "KlezKamp 2000", linked 8 Jan 2001.
Kosher Red Hots' member Sheila Fox writes about the 1999 KlezmerFest in St. Petersburg, Russia., reprinted from Mendele, where it was posted on October 20, 1999.
Miriam Kaul, of The Golem Shuffle, writes of traveling to Lublin Poland to headline the Hades Jazz Fest, Dec. 1999. Reprinted from e-mail.
Here's a link to photos from Sunday, June 10, 2001's second annual Central New York KlezFest - it was sunny and hot, and over 1500 people attended! Spontaneous dancing abounded - and I'm sure you'll recognize Henry Sapoznik and Howie Leess in these photos (I'm out there, too, mid-way down page 2 - with my squeezebox)...it was a LOT of fun! www.sjfed.org/klezfest/, Judy Schmid, judy@koenig-adpr.com.
Back in October, 2002, on Columbus Day weekend, several of us made our ways to Franconia, NH, where we learned (or in my case, tried to learn) traditional Jewish Dance taught by Zev Feldman.
The weekend before Passover, 2003, Yale held a one-day Jewish Music conference to celebrate a huge Jewish music donation to its Judaica Library.
"The Klezmatics found themselves in London with 24 hours to spare. 'Aha!' thought Geraldine Auerbach of the Jewish Music Institute...." A Weekend with the Klezmatics, by Rachel Lasserson
Wrapping Their Feet Around the Music, by William Meyers, in the Sep 5, 2003 edition of the Yiddish Forward (English language edition).
KlezKanada '04 weblog, as written during camp by Ari Davidow. Due to a lack of internet connectivity this year, the log was then posted at a one-week delay from the actual camp.
Ari Davidow collected the comments and narratives from the Jewish-Music mailing list and combined them with a few of Bob Blacksberg's photos to create a 20th KlezKamp '04 scrapbook, posted 16 Jan '04.
Richard Simas travels to Brazil for Kleztival, Brazil's Great Jewish Music Event, 2012, written November 2012
Live Music
Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul, Itzhak Perlman, Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, March, 2013, by Dobe (Dena) Ressler
Yesterdays, Cantoral Inspiration Concert at Eldridge and Mike Winograd with Bessarabian Hop at Workmans Circle, Feb 17, 2008, by Alan Watsky
Steve Greenman and Moldovish Ensemble at the Lowell Folk Festival today!, by Marc Adler, July 29, 2007
Misc Jewish Music
Helen Winkler has compiled a Jewish music and Jewish dance bibliography from yizkir bikher--memorial books written after the Holocaust to commemorate communities that were destroyed, as available on the web. Posted 9/3/01.
Tsen Brider: a Jewish Requiem is a paper by Joshua R. Jacobson, of Northeastern University (and Boston's Zamir Chorale) about the roots of a requiem written by Martin Rosenberg, who was murdered in Auschwitz, 1943. The roots include the Yiddish folk song "Tsen Brider" as well as "Yidl mitn fidl" from the Molly Picon movie of the same name. Dr. Jacobson's article is dated 1/1/2000.
Helen Winkler found this article by Yohanan Petrovsky about Jewish ethnomusical expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century: Lost Chapters of Russian Judaica: Abraham Harkavy and Shlomo Ansky (newly discovered documents from The Vernadsky Library, Kiev)
Tamar Adams, then 13, daughter of ethnomusicologist Judith Cohen, writes about traveling with her mother in Spain doing ethnomusicology, 1999.
Doctoral candidate Abbi Wood has made available "Yiddish song: an A-Z of research", a lovely annotated bibliography of Yiddish song references, including publications that include the texts of Yiddish song. Posted 9/26/00.
Moshe Denburg, of Tzimmes, has written a great "Introduction to Jewish music" which covers klezmer, but also cantorial, ashkenazi, yiddish, sephardi, mizrahi, etc.
-->Velvel Pasternak, of Tara Music, writes about Song in Hassidic Life
Francesco Spagnolo writes about Italian Jewish Music. This was originally posted to the Jewish-Music mailing list on 15 Apr 2003.
The Polish Music Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Summer 2003 released a special edition devoted to Polish Jewish Music. There are a host of fascinating articles ranging from Bret Werb on "Majafus" to Hankus Netsky on Polish klezmorim to articles on classical (or modern classical) composers and a fascinating overview of Polish Jewish music in its breadth by Marian Fuks. This is an online journal published at the University of Southern California. Judy Pinnolis spotted this and posted the notice to the Jewish-Music mailing list in October 2003.
Steve Fischbach, reviews two CDs of Jewish-Spanish music from Salonica, 10/98.
Dr. Judith R. Cohen contributes A short bibliography of Sephardic Music, condensed from several other bibliographies by the author, special to the Klezmer Shack, updated 11/01.
George Robinson offers a survey of current Sephardic recordings, 5/99.
Pedro Ponce reviews the book, Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews, ed. Samuel G. Armistead, et al. This looks like a fascinating source of Sephardic song texts.
Dr. Judith Cohen writes about Sephardic Song in the journal Magshimon 21, 4 Feb, 2004.
Eva Broman posts to the Jewish-Music mailing list about New Ladino Music, 21 Jan 2005.
A La Turka/A la Franka: Cultural ideology and musical change, by Pamela Dorn, from Cahiers d'etudes sur la Mediterranee orientale et le monde turco-iranien, No. 11, Jan-Jun 1991, in which the problem is discussed in which a musical traditional that was primarily Middle Eastern has become transformed into a Western European style of music, as documented by commercially produced sound recordings as well as by ethnographic field tapes. Whew!
Gideon Aronoff does a St. Patrick's day special on "The Irish/Jewish music connection," 3/99
The Klezmorim of Prague is an article by Gerben Zaagsma about a Jewish musician's guild in Prague, originally published in Dutch in: Groniek. Historisch Tijdschrift 143/32 (december 1998) 223-230, translated by the author.
Eva Broman found this online PDF of Judith Frigyesi's paper, "The variety of styles in the Ashkenazi liturgical service", 2 Apr, 2002. I believe that this is the paper that Judith Frigyesi delivered (among other places—see footnotes) at the Yale "Celebrating Jewish Music" symposium, spring 2003.
A short article about Yankiel the Cymbalist, by Dr Claude Wainstain, in honor of whom the Poles have even issued a stamp! Originally published on the "L'Arche" magazine website. This article is in French.
An article by Judith Cohen about Israeli Bus Station music. Reprinted from "EthnoFolk Letters," Canadian Folk Music Bulletin, vol. 28, No. 1 (March 1994), p. 21.
This 2002 article by Cantor Sam Weiss talks about the music of the Passover Hagadah: Sing a Song of Passover
Nine biographies of some of the outstanding (primarily) US-based cantors of the last century. They were commissioned in 2003 for inclusion in a Biographical Dictionary of World Jewish Music, a project which did not come to fruition. The biographies also tell the story of how the role of cantor in American public life has changed over the century, and of the new musical influences on the Shaliach Tsibur leading traditional prayers: Nine Luminaries Of Jewish Liturgical Song, by Cantor Sam Weiss, published on the KlezmerShack in 2006.
"Congregational Singing in Hasidic Congregations," by Cantor Sam Weiss, originally published in Volume XXX of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly. Added to Klezmershack 2/07.
"Haderekh Arukah: The Songs of Naomi Shemer," by Cantor Sam Weiss, originally published in Volume 32, Fall 2007 of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly. Added to Klezmershack 3/08.
"Carlebach, Neo-Hasidic Music, and Current Liturgical Practice," by Cantor Sam Weiss, a version originally published in Vol. 34, Fall 2009 of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly. Added to Klezmershack 9/11.
From Ruth Rubin
These links were reseached by Helen Winkler, who also hosts the marvellous Yiddish Dance pages, www.angelfire.com/ns/helenwinkler.
An article by the late Yiddish folksinger and ethnomusicologist, Ruth Rubin, about Yiddish Alphabet songs taught in the Kheder (elementary school), from Jewish Heritage online magazine, their "Letters" issue, June 2000, Sivan 5760.
An article by the late Yiddish folksinger and ethnomusicologist, Ruth Rubin, about Oyfn Pripetshok, which she also called "der alef beyz" (the alphabet song), from Jewish Heritage online magazine, their "Letters" issue, June 2000, Sivan 5760.
A chapter from Ruth Rubin's book about thieves songs: I am Salve, the Thief, Tra-la-la, Songs of the E. European Jewish Underworld. From: Ruth Rubin, Voices of a People: The Story of Yiddish Folksong (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), Copyright © 1979 by the author, pp. 319-328. Used by permission of publisher.
The Jewish Music of the Holocaust. From: Ruth Rubin, Voices of a People: The Story of Yiddish Folksong (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), Copyright © 1979 by the author, pp. 319-328. Reprinted with permission of the author.
The Ballad of the Triangle Fire, by Ruth Rubin, 1968. From: Sing Along Songbook, 1993 UCLEA NE Summer Institute for Union Women, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1993.
About Klezmer
Henry Sapoznik's book on Yiddish music in general, and klezmer music in particular, is quickly reviewed by long-time klezmer musician, Jim Rebhan. The book is called "Klezmer! Jewish Music from Old World to Our World. 12/11/99.
Allan Kozinn, of the New York Times, reviews Henry Sapoznik's "Klezmer!" and finds it delightful and gossipy, but not history; and Seth Rogovoy's "Essential Klezmer" and finds it essential, if also not history in Klezmer's Evolution, Not Counting Nostalgia, Was as Unruly as Its Rhythms, 28 Aug 2000.
George Robinson interviews Mark Slobin about Beregovski's work, the klezmer revival, and more, 30 Aug 2001.
Kevin Linscott of the Klezmorim on the origins of Klezmer music from Lark in the Morning. Interview circa 1986.
Some photos and memories of Joseph Moskowitz, who played Hungarian cymbalom and recorded Hungarian, Roma, Klezmer music in the early 20th century, assembled by his step-grandson.
George Robinson looks at women in klezmer: women-led bands and women-only bands, in "Sisters in Swing", Jewish Week, 12/15/99
The Klezmer Revival: Old World Meets New, by Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle, 7/31/97
About the Klezmer Revival, by Ari Davidow.
Why We Do this Anyway: Klezmer as Jewish Youth Subculture, by Alicia Svigals, reprinted from: Slobin, Mark ed. (2002) From American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).
Josh Horowitz writes about early klezmer music, instrumentation and styles in this mock "interview" of Budowitz. This is one of the nicest, most concise histories of early klezmer that you'll find anywhere. There is also a German language version.
Phil Brown interviews Pete Sokolow on "Klezmer in the Catskills, Dec. 1999."
Bob Cohen translates an article by Itsik Shvarts, from Romanian: Jewish Musicians in Romania. A lovely snapshot of "early" klezmer and klezmorim. From the band website.
Here, Bob Cohen builds on Zev Feldman's work and describes Jewish music in Romania. This is a great "core" piece about Jewish music and about klezmer repertoire. Bob describes the motive behind this piece as "the sounds behind the Di Naye Kapelye sound." From the band website.
Jewish ethnomusicologist/musician Bob Cohen here describes some basics of playing "Jewish Fiddle". From the band website.
Experienced Klezmer Pete Rushefsky reviews a new edition of "The Ultimate Klezmer," a thick vintage fake book reissued by Tara Publications, edited and introduced by Josh Horowitz, 4/2001.
Mark Rubin interviews Henry Sapoznik about the banjo. It was the banjo, in a way, that brought Sapoznik to klezmer. But Henry has a lot to say about the Sixties old timey music scene, playing banjo, growing up the son of a cantor, and, of course, klezmer banjo. The interview isn't dated. Rubin just brought it to my attention this week.
Has the klezmer revival fizzled?, by Steve Cohen, from the Philadelphia Forum, 10/16/97. Although not knowledgable about klezmer, or the revival, excellent info on klezmer's own "Philadelphia Sound." Inquiring minds want to know even more!
In Today's Berlin, It's Hip to Be Klezmer, by Steve Kettman, of the San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 20, 1998. "The playful Jewish music is the rage in Germany's biggest city, and a community once wiped out is getting back on its feet "
Heiko Lehmann is known to many people in the klezmer scene as a klezmer, as a collaborator with Michael Wex, and, least important to many, as a non-Jew. He has also been involved in the East German, then unified German klezmer scene for a long time. Here is a talk delivered at the WOMEX festival in Berlin (Oct 19 2000). Klezmer in Germany/Germans and Klezmer: Reparation or Contribution.
The Uncut Interview. Kapelye co-founder, KlezKamp co-founder, etc.: Henry Sapoznik on the history of klezmer and the current scene, from a WNET segment, "Klezmer Rules," January 15, 1998.
Is the Klezmer Revival a Revival? is a nice, solid research paper on klezmer, it's origins, arrival in the US, and the revival. Good footnotes. By Evan Variano, (Princeton, '00), 1999.
From Klezmer to New Jewish Music, by Alan Bern, music director of Brave Old World, is an article about how the band's music has evolved from "klezmer" to something else. originally published in the Dutch journal, Mensh & Musik, 1998.
The Klez Dispensers in the Klezmer Revival: Starting a New Group in the Old Style. Building on the previous article, Variano discusses how the Klez Dispensers chose and shaped their repertoire as a revival band. By Evan Variano, 1999.
Why Klezmer?, by Inna Barmash. Although unreadable onscreen with my computer settings (DON'T specify fonts and sizes that you don't know your readers have in screen-optimized versions!!!), the article is a lovely description of what made singing this music important, and talks also about klezmer's current popularity in the US and in Germany and elsewhere. 1999.
Di Naye Kapelye's Bob Cohen writes about "How to sound like a geezer," by which he describes how to learn a reasonably authentic klezmer by playing with the old-timers and listening to a lot of great old music.
Eulogies and memories dedicated to klezmer clarinetist Howie Leess, 1920 -2003.
In Why Klezmer?, then college-student Inna Barmash, co-founder of the write an article describing her attraction to the music form. This article was originally published in Princeton University's Nassau Weekly in 1999.
"Where Klezmer Meets Corn," by Bert Stratton, published in the Cleveland Jewish News, 22 Feb, 2001, in which the author, leader of Yiddishe Cup talks about playing klezmer in the mid-West.
That "Radical Jewish Music" stuff
Actually, we didn't invent this Radical Jewish Culture stuff. To me, the Fugs are to what's happening now, as the Velvet Underground were to punk. Except that the Fugs are even better and earlier. But you can read all about it in this undated NYPress article.
New Jews: John Zorn, Mandy Patinkin, the Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, and more, by Josh Kun, Boston Phoenix, 9 Oct, 1998.
Film Review: Sabbath in Paradise, includes much footage of performers from the "Radical Jewish Culture" scene in NY, by Peter Hollo, originally posted to the zorn-list, 11/16/98.
Looking at the new Jewish music from an unusual, and perceptive angle, Jonathan Schorsch writes Making Judaism Cool in the March, 2000 Tikkun Magazine. Now, if they don't rearrange a site that hasn't been touched in three months, it will stay there to be enjoyed and talked about.
Wanna know who Michael Wex is? Want an introduction? Here's an article he wrote, published in the Canadian Theatre Review, no. 103, summer 2000 as an introduction to his play "I Just Wanna Jewify: The Yiddish Revenge on Wagner". It's also sad, but very true.
Ben-Ari, Miri
Seth Rogovoy, writes about Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari, for the Berkshire Eagle, 3 Nov 00.
Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer
You didn't know there was klezmer in Japan? Check out this review by René van Peer.
Brave Old World
Concert review, Boston, 10 July 1997, by Ari Davidow
Poem, upon seeing the band, Jan 1998, "The Klezmer," by Jim Kohn
Review of Brave Old World / Royte Pomarantsn (Blood Oranges, by Dave Dalle, 1/11/98
Burning Bush
Nan Metashvili caught Burning Bush in York, UK, at a sold out concert on Dec 12, 2004. A former resident of Alaska, she is in the UK prior to traveling on the West Africa. Posted 21 Dec '04.
Judith R. Cohen
Steve Fischbach reviews Judith Cohen's Travels through the Sephardic World, 11/00
Di Fidl Kapelye
Roger Reid, saw Amsterdam's Di Fidl Kapelye Feb 2004, and posted to the Jewish-Music list: Dutch Strings, Hammers, and Bows.
Kinky Friedman
He's less-well-known now, but in the Seventies, the man who wrote "They don't make Jews like Jesus anymore" and "Ride 'Em Jewboy" was a big deal. Still is, in the opinion of many of us (but perhaps, we'll concede, not the world's most skillful songwriter). The Long Island Jewish World covers the Kinkster here: Texas Jewboy Rides Again, July 2, 1999, by Jonathan Mark
Bob Gluck
Bob Gluck: An electronic midrash in sound, Interview by Seth Rogovoy, August 07, 1998
Hasidic New Wave
From Salon online magazine: "Hasidic New Wave demonstrate the difference between klezmer and Jewish jazz", by Seth Mnookin - 08/11/99
Klezmatics
Ari Davidow musing about The Klezmatics Tour Israel: A Fantasy, after an Israeli Independence Day celebration at which Chava and the band appeared publicly for the first time, 7/98.
Ari Davidow reviews the album release concert of "Di Krenitse (The Well)" at NYC's Town Hall with Chava Alberstein and the Klezmatics, 10/98.
Klezmatics on Green Linnet Records home page, to purchase Jews with Horns and get tour dates.
Dirty Linen Magazine's tour date listings
Pop Culture Press online, Feb 96 interview with band by Mark Rubin
Interview with Frank London by Chris King, St. Louis, MO
Review of Jews with Horns, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Review of Jews with Horns release party, NYC, 8/95, for Music News of the World online
The Klezmer Conservatory Band
About the Klezmer Conservatory Band, by Chris King, 9/96
May, 1996, KCB concert review, by [name withheld]
Charlie Berg, the original Klezmer Conservatory Band drummer discusses "Klezmer drumming" and his role in the modern version of same.
The Klezmorim (the band)
Lev Liberman and David Julian Gray talk about The Klezmorim,, the band that started the Klezmer revival. Reminisces date primarily from 1996-1997; addendum on origins of term "klezmer" in 1999.
Krakauer, David
David Krakauer's Klezmer incites, provokes. Concert review, 8/26/96, by Seth Rogovoy.
Making old-world music new, a feature article on David Krakauer.
Krakowski, Wolf
Seth Rogovoy reviews a concert by Wolf Krakowski and friends at the National Yiddish Book Center, 19 Dec, 1999, originally posted to the jewish-music mailing list.
Kroke
Arthur Lazere reviews the Kroke album, "Sounds of the vanished world," for CultureVulture.net, possibly 12/99.
Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys
Writer Seth Rogovoy interviews Margot Leverett about her music and about the Klezmer Mountain Boys. From the Berkshire Eagle on May 30, 2003
Gary Lucas
Mark Melnick reviews "Busy Being Born," 11/11/98.
New Klezmer Trio
A review of the band performing, by René van Peer.
A review of the first album, by Clark Gaylord, Spring 1995, originally in Skronk magazine. Linked with author's permission.
Pharaoh's Daughter
Here Seth Rogovoy interviews Basya Schechter about Pharaoh's Daughter and the religion connection, Berkeshire Eagle, 3 Nov 00.
Tim Sparks
A lovely interview about his music, instruments, style, and the albums for Tzadik: "Klezmerized," originally published in Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine, May/June 2000, by Bruce Muckala.
Andy Statman
Seth Rogovoy talks about Andy Statman's music and new album for the Boston Phoenix, 3/20/97.
Jon Kalish writes about Statman's recent music for the Jewish Forward, Jan 23, 2004. "Unlikely Music in an Unlikely Place: Nestled in a Tiny Shul, Andy Statman Transforms His Music Again"
Rudy Tepel & His Orchestra
Matt Temkin reviews four classic early 1960s albums, two instrumental: "Lubavitch Wedding," "Chassidic Wedding," and two Chassidic Choir accompaniments: "Bobover, Vol. 1", "Bobover, Vol. 2". Posted 17 Jun 2001.
Kazutoki Umezu
Another Japanese Klezmer! Read more about him in this Japan Times article, Onward klezmer voyager from 20 Feb 2002. Suggested by Bert Stratton.
Yiddish Cup
Oy Vey! Yiddishe Cup Charms Packed Salter Audience, Feb 18. 1999, Dave Coates, The Wabash College, Ind., "Bachelor"
Album reviews and roundups
Here, George Robinson goes over the best Jewish recordings of 1999, originally in the NY Jewish Week, November 1999
Drums of Passion, consumer guide to new releases of Jewish music: Klezamir, The Music of Rabbi Michel Twerski, Shawn's Kugel, Judy Silver, Souls of Fire, by George Robinson, originally in the NY Jewish Week, summer 1998
Bending the Genres, consumer guide to new releases of Jewish music: King Django, Klezmatics/Alberstein, Chevan/Byrd, et al, by George Robinson, originally in the NY Jewish Week, 10/16/98
The Unklezmer Report, 7/98, by Ari Davidow. A collection of albums that may be of interest to klezmer fans (Einstein's Little Homunculus, Ferus Mustafov, Bulgarian 78s, etc.).
Jewish Music's Wave, by Jon Kalish, JCN18, ~May 1998 (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, Krakauer/Kronos, Elias).
Stewart Cherlin's Chanukah 1997 Jewish music roundup, originally published in the JUFNews, Jewish Federation, Chicago, December 1997.
A June, 1992 article showcasing even more new releases, by Ari Davidow
A December, 1991 article on the Chanuka klez release roundup, by Ari Davidow
Klez and Jewish music as they looked to me 1986, originally posted to the WELL's Jewish conference (also available in the jewish-music mail list archives on shamash.org as "klezmer.stuff.old"). By Ari Davidow
The klezmer reviews--all my album reviews so far, including the Klezmer Top Ten (or thereabouts), by Ari Davidow
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Articles by author
Armel, Michael Scott
A page on Klezmer music theory.
Aronoff, Gideon
A St. Patrick's day special on "The Irish/Jewish music connection," 3/99, JewishMusic.com
Berg, Charlie
The original Klezmer Conservatory Band drummer discusses "Klezmer drumming" and his role in the modern version of same.
Bern, Alan
From Klezmer to New Jewish Music, by Alan Bern, music director of Brave Old World, is an article about how the band's music has evolved from "klezmer" to something else. originally published in the Dutch journal, Mensh & Musik, 1998.
Cherlin, Stewart
Stewart Cherlin's Chanukah 1997 Jewish music roundup, originally published in the JUFNews, Jewish Federation, Chicago, December 1997.
Music of Reb Joe Black (Apr '03)
Genesis at the Crossroads: Trio Mizan and Maxwell Street Klezmer Band Review (Mar '04)
Moshe Cotel - Chronicles: A Jewish Life at the Classical Piano (Nov '04)
Viktor Ullmann Remembered (July '05)
Chicago Folk Tradition and the Klezmatics (Jan '07)
Apprehension and Longings: Arnold Schoenberg and Béla Bartók (May '07)
Apprehension and Longings: The Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass (July '07)
Cohen, Bob
Bob Cohen translates an article by Itsik Shvarts, from Romanian: Jewish Musicians in Moldavia. A lovely snapshot of "early" klezmer and klezmorim. Now that Bob's band has its own website, we are pleased to link to the version of the article, and the web of related links that he maintains.
Here, Bob builds on Zev Feldman's work and describes Jewish music in Romania. This is a great "core" piece about Jewish music and about klezmer repertoire. Bob describes the motive behind this piece as "the sounds behind the Di Naye Kapelye sound."
Jewish ethnomusicologist/musician Bob Cohen here describes some basics of playing "Jewish Fiddle". From his website
Cohen, Judith R.
A short bibliography of Sephardic Music, condensed from several other bibliographies by the author, special to the Klezmer Shack.
Cohen, Steve
Has the klezmer revival fizzled?, by Steve Cohen, from the Philadelphia Forum, 10/16/97. Although not knowledgable about klezmer, or the revival, excellent info on klezmer's own "Philadelphia Sound." Inquiring minds want to know even more!
Dalle, Dave
Review of Brave Old World / Royte Pomarantsn (Blood Oranges, 1/11/98
Denburg, Moshe
-->Introduction to Jewish music" covers klezmer, and much more. Written in 1996 by the bandleader of Tzimmes.
Doctorski, Henry
Doctorski is a prolific writer about free-reed instruments, and maintains the The Classical Free-Reed, Inc. website. Doktorski's latest book "The Free-Reed Review -- the First Fifty Reviews" is now available from free-reed@trfn.clpgh.org. Please write for more information. Here is a listing of several of his klezmer-relevant reviews. They are undated, but are likely to have been made around the time of the CD release, as indicated:
Budowitz / Mother Tongue, 1997
Klezmatics / Jews with Horns, 1995
Klezmatics / Possessed, 1997
Mayrent, Sherry / Hineni, 1995.
Various artists / A Marriage of Heaven and Earth, 1996.
Wholesale Klezmer Band / Yidn fun amol (Jews of long ago), 1997.
Fischbach, Steve
Reviews two CDs of Jewish-Spanish music from Salonica, 10/98.
Gray, David Julian
Lev Liberman and David Julian Gray talk about The Klezmorim,, the band that started the Klezmer revival.
Hollo, Peter
Film Review: Sabbath in Paradise, includes much footage of performers from the "Radical Jewish Culture" scene in NY, originally posted to the zorn-list, 11/16/98.
Horowitz, Josh
Mock "interview" of Budowitz, from the liner notes of "Mother Tongue". This is one of the nicest, most concise histories of early klezmer, instrumentation, and styles that you'll find anywhere. Fun to read, too.
Here klezmer and musicolorist Horowitz posts a summary of Main Klezmer Modes to the Jewish-music mailing list, Jul 24, 1999.
People often ask about tsimbls. Having watched Horowitz work with an Austrian tsimbl maker a few years ago, I was pleased to get permission to post these remarks posted to the Jewish-music mailing list about tsimbls and their kin, 3 Jul 1999.
Here Josh writes about the process of reconstructing the "traditional" Jewish wedding, all eight days of it, for the Budowitz "Wedding without a Bride" album, based on interviews and research and some luck. Posted originally to the Jewish-music mailing list, Jun 2, 2000.
Kalish, Jon
Jewish Music's New Wave, JCN18, ~May 1998 (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, Krakauer/Kronos, Elias).
Kettman, Steve
In Today's Berlin, It's Hip to Be Klezmer, by Steve Kettman, of the San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 20, 1998. "The playful Jewish music is the rage in Germany's biggest city, and a community once wiped out is getting back on its feet "
King, Chris
Interview with Frank London about the Klezmatics, 9/96
Jim Kohn
Poem, upon seeing Brave Old World, Jan 1998, "The Klezmer"
Kun, Josh
New Jews: John Zorn, Mandy Patinkin, the Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, and more, by Josh Kun, Boston Phoenix, 9 Oct, 1998.
Kurland, Yossi
The Wholesale Klezmer Band Guide to Jewish Weddings
The Wholesale Klezmer Band Guide to Traditional Jewish music for Bar & Bas Mitzve Celebrations
Liberman, Lev
Lev Liberman and David Julian Gray talk about The Klezmorim,, the band that started the Klezmer revival.
Linscott, Kevin
On the origins of Klezmer music from Lark in the Morning. Interview circa 1986 by one of the original Klezmorim.
Melnick, Mark
Review of Gary Lucas / Busy Being Borner, 1998 (reviewed 11/11/98)
Reid, Roger
The author reviewed a concert by Jon Madof's Rashanim and the Jason Caplan Quartet, originally posted to the Jewish-Music mailing list on Nov 17, 2003.
Robinson, George
This month, George offers a survey of current Sephardic recordings, originally in the NY Jewish Week, 5/99.
Here, George goes over the best Jewish recordings of 1999, originally in the NY Jewish Week, November 1999
Bending the Genres, consumer guide to new releases of Jewish music: King Django, Klezmatics/Alberstein, Chevan/Byrd, et al
Drums of Passion, consumer guide to new releases of Jewish music: Klezamir, The Music of Rabbi Michel Twerski, Shawn's Kugel, Judy Silver, Souls of Fire, originally in the NY Jewish Week, summer 1998
Women in klezmer: women-led bands and women-only bands, in "Sisters in Swing", Jewish Week, 12/15/99
Rogovoy, Seth
Here Seth covers a wide range of Jewish music, just out in the fall of 2000, New Jewish music for the global village, Nov 00.
A review of a recent album by Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari, for the Berkshire Eagle, 3 Nov 00.
Review of concert by Wolf Krakowski and friends at the National Yiddish Book Center, 19 Dec, 1999, originally posted to the jewish-music mailing list.
Bob Gluck: An electronic midrash in sound, Interview, August 07, 1998
The Klezmer Revival: Old World Meets New, Berkshire Eagle, 7/31/97
David Krakauer's Klezmer incites, provokes. Concert review, 8/26/96.
Making old-world music new, a feature article on David Krakauer.
Pharaoh's Daughter and the religion connection, Berkeshire Eagle, 3 Nov 00.
Andy Statman: The Real Jewish Jazz for the Boston Phoenix, 3/20/97.
Rubin, Mark
Rubin, Ruth
An article by the late Yiddish folksinger and ethnomusicologist, Ruth Rubin, about Yiddish Alphabet songs taught in the Kheder (elementary school), from Jewish Heritage online magazine, their "Letters" issue, June 2000, Sivan 5760.
An article by the late Yiddish folksinger and ethnomusicologist, Ruth Rubin, about Oyfn Pripetshok, which she also called "der alef beyz" (the alphabet song), from Jewish Heritage online magazine, their "Letters" issue, June 2000, Sivan 5760.
Rushefsky, Pete
A review of a new edition of "The Ultimate Klezmer," a thick vintage fake book reissued by Tara Publications, edited and introduced by Josh Horowitz, 4/2001.
Sapoznik, Henry
The Uncut Interview. Kapelye co-founder, KlezKamp co-founder, etc.: Henry Sapoznik on the history of klezmer and the current scene, from a WNET segment, "Klezmer Rules," January 15, 1998.
Schorsch, Jonathan
Looking at the new Jewish music from an unusual, and perceptive angle, Jonathan Schorsch writes Making Judaism Cool in the March, 2000 Tikkun Magazine. Now, if they don't rearrange a site that hasn't been touched in three months, it will stay there to be enjoyed and talked about.
Svigals, Alicia
Why We Do this Anyway: Klezmer as Jewish Youth Subculture, by Alicia Svigals, reprinted from: Slobin, Mark ed. (2002) From American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).
Temkin, Matt
Here Matt reviews four classic 1962-63 recordings by Rudy Tepel and His Orchestra -- two instrumental: "Lubavitch Wedding," "Chassidic Wedding," and two Chassidic Choir accompaniments: "Bobover, Vol. 1", "Bobover, Vol. 2". Posted 17 Jun 2001.
Tanz! and other great klezmer reissues, June 11, 2002.
Terry Gibbs' Jewish-Jazz Fusion, a review of a Terry Gibbs Jazz-Jewish fusion rerelease, Posted June 11, 2002.
Series Review: Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Matt takes a critical look at the packaging and scope of an exciting new series. Posted Feb 2, 2000.
van Peer, René
Overview of Japanese Klezmer band, Betsuni Manmo Klezmer by René van Peer, from Musicworks #68, Summer 1997.
1992 concert review of the New Klezmer Trio by René van Peer, from Eindhovens Dagblad, September 7, 1992.
Wainstain, Claude
A short article about Yankiel the Cymbalist, in honor of whom the Poles have even issued a stamp! Originally published on the "L'Arche" magazine website. This article is in French.
Weiss, Sam
This 2002 article by Cantor Sam Weiss talks about the music of the Passover Hagadah: Sing a Song of Passover
Nine biographies of some of the outstanding (primarily) US-based cantors of the last century. They were commissioned in 2003 for inclusion in a Biographical Dictionary of World Jewish Music, a project which did not come to fruition. The biographies also tell the story of how the role of cantor in American public life has changed over the century, and of the new musical influences on the Shaliach Tsibur leading traditional prayers: Nine Luminaries Of Jewish Liturgical Song, published on the KlezmerShack in 2006.
"Congregational Singing in Hasidic Congregations," by Cantor Sam Weiss, originally published in Volume XXX of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly. Added to Klezmershack 2/07.
"Haderekh Arukah: The Songs of Naomi Shemer," by Cantor Sam Weiss, originally published in Volume 32, Fall 2007 of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly. Added to Klezmershack 3/08.
Zaagsma, Gerben
The Klezmorim of Prague, originally published in Dutch in: Groniek. Historisch Tijdschrift 143/32 (december 1998) 223-230, translated by the author.
Print-Only Bibliography
There are a growing number of print-only sources on Klezmer Music. It is time that I began listing them as I find them. For general bibliographic information, for the most detailed listings, the best source is Judith Pinnolis' Jewish Music Web Center. This page just covers basic resources that I have encountered.
Baade, Christina L. "Jewzak and Heavy Shtetl: Constructing Ethnic Identity and Asserting Authenticity in the New-Klezmer Movement," Monatshefte, Vol. 90, No. 2, 1998: pp. 208-219. [I found this in a database search somewhere. It is a wonderful article about the cultural issues surrounding the "klezmer revival," well-written and nicely footnoted. It is not about the music itself, which is wonderful for those of us who have been looking at the role the revival has been playing in modern culture, Jewish and otherwise, in America.]
Bauer, Susan. von der Khupe zum Klezkamp: Klezmer-Musik in New York. (Berlin: Piranha, 1999. Language: German). A history of the Klezmer revival with accompanying CD. The text is available online at: www.klezmer.de/Bucher/S_Khupe-Inhalt/s_khupe-inhalt.html.
Coen, Gabriele Coen and Isotta Toso. Klezmer! La Musica Popolare Ebraica dallo Shtetl a John Zorn, (Rome: Castelvecchi, Feb. 2000. Language: Italian).
Feldman, Walter. "Bulgareasca/Bulgarish/Bulgar: The Transformation of a Klezmer Dance Genre," Ethnomusicology 38(1): pp. 1-35. (The journal's homepage is not terribly helpful, rather it is a wonderful illustration of how to provide information factiods to least possible useful purpose. It can be accessed at www.indiana.edu/~ethmusic/publications.html. Volume 38 should correspond to 1994.) [This is a wonderful article. It is also the only scholarly article on the subject! ari]
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. "Sounds of Sensibility" in Judaism, no. 185. Vol. 47, no. 1 (Winter 1998), special issues on klezmer music, pp. 49-78. (see below, under "Slobin")
Loeffler, James Benjamin. A gilgul fun a nigun : Jewish musicians in New York, 1881-1945 (Harvard College Library, 1997, Cambridge, Mass., 63pp., Series: Harvard Judaica Collection student research papers; no. 3)
Ottens, Rita, and Joel Rubin, Klezmer-Musik (Taschenbuch - 335 Seiten (1999) DTV, Mchn.; ISBN: 342330748X. Language: German). [The book opens with a lurid description of a scene which, it turns out, was largely invented by Ottens and Rubin--the recording date described is correct, but virtually everything else was invented and runs contrary to what one investigator has discovered since. Ari]
Pasternak, Velvel. 2000. Beyond Hava Nagila (Hal Leonard Publishing, August 2000, accompanied by 16-track sampler CD) ISBN: 0933676786. Likely to be a useful popular intro to Hasidic music and history. Includes transcriptions, anecdotes. "... meant for amcha, the ordinary Jew, who loves nigunim (melodies) and who loves a good story and doesn't have a great need for footnotes, fine points, or technical information....
Polin Volume 16: Focusing on Jewish Popular Culture and its Afterlife. Contains a number of articles by Zev Feldman, et al, about Jewish Music in Poland. "Scholarship on the civilization of Polish Jews has tended to focus on elite culture and canonical literature; even modern Yiddish culture has generally been approached from the perspective of ‘great works'. This volume of Polin focuses on the less explored but historically vital theme of Jewish popular culture and shows how, confronted by the challenges and opportunities of modernity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it blossomed into a complex expression of Jewish life. There are also translations from the work of two writers previously unavailable in English: excerpts from the ethnographer A. Litvin's pioneering five-volume work Yidishe neshomes (Jewish Souls) and several chapters from the autobiography, notorious in inter-war Poland, of the writer and thief Urke Nachalnik. As in earlier volumes of Polin substantial space is also given to new research into a variety of topics in Polish Jewish studies, as well as to book reviews. To get the volume of Polin look at the website of the publisher www.littman.co.uk, or, in the US, go through International Specialized Book Services (ISBS).
Rabinovitch, Israel. "A Village Fiddler in Jazzland" in Of Jewish Music, Ancient and Modern, translated from the Yiddish by A. M. Klein (The Book Center, 1952, Montreal, Canada). Recommended by Kurt Bjorling, this is a wonderful piece imagining the recent immigrant klezmer musician playing to himself in a land where jazz, not klezmer, has value. A powerful look at how some (most? a few?) immigrant musicians found the musical language of the New World as alien as the spoken language. It also speaks to the variety of music played by the klezmer--not just wedding dances, but all manner of music for all occasions.
Regev, Motti and Edwin Seroussi Popular Music and National Culture in Israel (University of California Press, 2004). Not about klezmer, per se, but a fascinating book. There is also a review on an Israeli site (scroll down past the information about an Edwin Seroussi speaking engagement): notes.co.il/mati/28799.asp
Rogovoy, Seth, The Essential Klezmer: a music lover's guide (Algonquin Books, May 2000, 320pp, paper) ISBN: 1-56512-244-5. [Rogovoy may not know much about Jewish history or culture in general, but he knows and loves klezmer and popular music, and he writes with passion. I can't imagine a better popular introduction to the genre. There certainly isn't a bigger annotated discography outside of the klezmer pages! Ari]
Sapoznik, Henry, Klezmer! Jewish Music from Old World to Our World (orig. Macmillan Library Reference, Sept. 1999, now Music Sales Corp, Dec. 2000, 350pp, cloth) ISBN: 0825671914. A memoir of the Klezmer Revival, along with considerable history of Jewish music recordings in America. Reviewed on the KlezmerShack [This isn't history, nor is the author immune from exaggeration, but Henry turns a good anecdote, knows more about Jewish discographies than maybe any other human alive, and was a major participant in the revival. Fun! Ari]
Shvarts, Yulian (iulian schwartz) literarishe dermonungen (literary remembrances) (Bucharest, Romania: Criterion, 1975, in Yiddish). Itzik Gottesman suggests and provides annotated cites for two articles: "Profiln fun yidishe klezmer in amolikn rumenye" (profiles of klezmer in old rumania). [mainly about the Lemish klezmer family in Moldavia in 1860s-80s], pp. 71-77; Yidishe Tants in Rumanye. (Jewish dance in Rumania), pp. 78-89.
Slobin, Mark, ed. Judaism magazine, Volume 47, Number 1, Winter 1998, was dedicated to Klezmer and Klezmer revival. Edited by Mark Slobin, and including articles by both academics, and well-known klezmorim (sometimes wearing both hats) such as Hankus Netsky, Alicia Svigals, and Frank London. Most of the magazine is not yet available online. I have so far found only Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett's article, "Sounds of Sensibility." E-mail Murry Baumgarten, the magazine editor, and give him ammunition in convincing the magazine's managers to do so.
Slobin, Mark, Fiddler on the Move: Exploring the Klezmer World (New York: Oxford University Press, October 2000) ISBN: 019513124X. "Beyond [the] 'Judaism,' [issue] I've done my own short book on the klezmer scene today, not a history, and not a comprehensive study, in four sections: what is klezmer like as a heritage music in the world of contemporary heritage musics? why do people get into klezmer? how does klezmer function in communities? how does actual klezmer style (musical choices) fit in with this picture, with examples of tunes in different versions. Whole thing is well under 200 pages, with many quotes from musicians." Part of the OUP's American Musicspheres series. [I think this is by far the best book about the Klezmer revival so far. The only book so far worth reading that goes beyond the consumer level. ari]
Slobin, Mark, American Klezmer (Berkeley: University of California Press, due to be published Dec. 2001). This is the book referred to as "2000b: Klezmer Roots and Offshoots." in his "Fiddler on the Move" bibliography.
Spagnolo, Francesco, "Se il violinista cade dal tetto: L'Italia nel revival della "musica klezmer" [If the Fiddler Falls Off the Roof: Italy in the "Klezmer Music" Revival] Rivista Italiana di Musicologia, XXXVI/1 (2002), p. 85-129 [Italian]. From the English abstract: "Over the past decade, a new genre - "klezmer music" - has surfaced in the music world. Rooted in eastern European Jewish instrumental music and Yiddish song, klezmer has become popular throughout the world, even in countries where Jews are not (or are no longer) present, and where this form of music originally did not exist. Italy - where the extreme popularity this music enjoys has overshadowed local Jewish traditions - presents an interesting study case. "Klezmer" has become a synonym for "Jewish", and denotes a (musical) culture that is believed to live in a transnational and multicultural world outside history. This article reviews recent scholarship on the definition and history of traditional klezmer repertoires, explores general trends in the klezmer revival, and shows how the Italian "klezmer scene" tends to present a repertoire devoid of traditional and Jewish content, while at the same time shaping a "usable tradition" and a new "aesthetic of the old"." Certainly the most comprehensive, and possibly the only scholarly article on klezmer in Italian.
Strom, Yale. The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore (Chicago, IL: A Cappella Books, 2002. xvi, 381 p). This is not a scholarly book, and some of the history is simply wrong (see similar comments on the Sapoznik book, above). But, the parts that refer to Strom's work over the past two decades in Europe are invaluable. For a detailed review, see the Jewish Music Web Center, www.jmwc.org/jmwc_bookandscore_reviews.html#strom
Wallach, Jeff "European Recordings of Jewish Instrumental Music, 1911-1914," Spring 1997 issue of the ARSC Journal (Association for Recorded Sound Collections). Among other items, some interesting anecdotes about the Belf Orkester & speculation about their origins.
Wallach, Jeff "Soviet Recordings of Jewish Instrumental Folk Music, 1937-1939," Spring 2003 issue of the ARSC Journal (Vol.34, no.1) issue of the ARSC Journal (Association for Recorded Sound Collections).
Fictional Klezmer
Aleichem, Shalom, "Stempenyu". Originally publishing in Yiddish (1888). Only author-approved translation in 1913, in London, by Hannah Berman. More recently, a translation by Joachim Neugroschel, 1979, as "Stempeniu" in the anthology The Shtetl (Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press) and frequently available in used bookstores. Excellent anthology. Wonderful scenes of the klezmer at work, in the shtetl in the first part of the novel. The Neugroschel translation is also notable for translating "klezmerloshn" (klezmer language) into American jazz argot. Helen Winkler found a copy of the Neugroschel Stempeniu online.
Margolis, Sasha, The Tsimbalist
. Delightful murder mystery set in mid-19th century Russia featuring a Tsimbl player as the detective. Sometimes idealized a bit, but otherwise reasonable and very sympathetic picture of Jewish life in the Pale back then. Decent mystery. Excellent description of a traditional wedding celebration (and some other music making). Recommended.
Rosenbaum, Thane, The Golems of Gotham (2016). The fact that the heroine is a 14-year-old who plays klezmer is insufficient to overcome memorably bad writing. It isn't always clear if the author is merely ignorant, or too in love with his own writing to correct mistakes. The theme--coming to terms with remembering the Holocaust and moving onward--is important. But recent books by Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and Anne Michaels (Fugitive Pieces) show what good writers, if not ones whose imaginations are tied to the buzzword, "klezmer", can say on that theme. This is not in that league.
Singer, I. B., "The Dead Fiddler", translated by Mirra Ginsburg, in The Seance (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1968). Although primarily a story about dybbuks, this contains a nice description of a typical wedding music set in a (presumably?) Polish village, and some description of a klezmer's life.
Steinberg, Janice, "Wailing Reed", in Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction, Lawrence W. Raphael, ed. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1999. An interesting riff on the klezmer revival.
Stuchner, Joan Betty, Shira's Hanukkah Gift. Children's book illustrated by Richard Row. (North Winds Press, 1998, ISBN: 0-590-03833-8).
Waldrop, Howard, "The Sawyers" in Going Home Again, 1997 (actually, this will link you to the American hardcover, due in July 1998. You can also contact the Australian publisher, Eidolon Publications, for a softcover edition today: PO Box 225, North Perth, Western Australia 6006, eidolon@midnight.com.au. Alternatively, the story is part of Black Thorn White Rose, a 1995 Fantasy collection with updated takes on old fairy tales
"The Sawyers" is the best literary example of musicians playing klezmer that I have seen. In part, this is because no one writes modern fiction or science fiction about people playing klezmer. Jazz, sure. Classical or folk music? Yeah, what of it? But klezmer? Here are two paragraphs that I wrote a few years ago. At least they're politically correct. I think. ari
"Not all of the things that happened in our village were wonderful. Charlie was a jazz musician who had started out in rock and roll. Then he went to klezcamp one year, discovered the tsimbl, and was consumed by the new passion. He formed a trio with Lucille, a chicana refuge from Nicaragua who played some of the most intense klezmer sax I have ever heard, and G., the Norse legend, on a three string cello which they claimed was the sort of thing that early klezmorim would have used instead of a drum machine.
"One night at a concert Charlie started off playing some quiet stuff. 'Flatbush Waltz,' and the like. Before we knew it, he had moved on to a klezified Jerry Lee Lewis medley. His fingers moved faster and faster behind the tsimbl hammers. You couldn't follow them any more. Freylekhs and then shers and then people stopped dancing because no one could move so fast. Then, one of the tsimbl strings burst into flame. Charlie didn't seem to notice. He worked around the now disfunctional strings for a while, never missing a note. Horrified, we watched the hammers catch fire, and then Charlie. And then he was gone."
If you have a klez story to tell (or more to add to the one above!, comments, reviews to add, or just want to let people know about your band, or have something else to say that I haven't already mentioned (and especially about bad links or other mistakes)--send me e-mail, or use the new feedback form. I'll get it all online as I have time. It's a pleasure!
. Delightful murder mystery set in mid-19th century Russia featuring a Tsimbl player as the detective. Sometimes idealized a bit, but otherwise reasonable and very sympathetic picture of Jewish life in the Pale back then. Decent mystery. Excellent description of a traditional wedding celebration (and some other music making). Recommended.
