On Friday my buddy Daniel tipped me off to an interesting music download service called Aime Street. Like other music download services, you show up, find and listen to a some cool tracks, and pick your favorite and download them. Crank your favorite .mp3 player up to 11 and declare success. Amie Street's twist is cost of the track. While Aime Street charges per track like most download services, the cost isn't fixed. It's pegged to market demand. When a track is first put up on Aime Street it's free. No cost. Nada. As word gets out about how fabulous it is, music fans start grabbing copies and the price starts to go up, up, up. 15 cents. 30 cents. A buck. 
The first album is the official recording from the "White Night - Jazz, Avant Garde and Modern Music International Marathon" that was presented at the Enav Cultural Center in Tel Aviv in 2006. The festival and recording showcase a wide range of amazing Israeli and European jazz musicians. For a review of the concert, check out this All About Jazz column, to hear the album, check out the White Night Aime Street page.
My second album is Cantor Emil Skobeloff's "Jonah's Songs." According to his bio, Cantor Skobeloff is "Emil sings music that conveys a story about life's travails, and human passions. He says, "I want to touch the souls of the listeners, so they can share my passion and immerse themselves in this wonderful collection of nostalgic, Jewish masterpieces." Jonah's Songs is definitely passionate and nostalgic, with strong vocals and solid guitar work. Go listen and grab a copy of Jonah's Song.
My final download on Friday was the Alexandria Kleztet's "Delusions of Klezmer." I've had this album on my 'must get' list for a while now and was surprised and delighted to see it on Amie Street. This is a great disc and a must have for any good klezmer collection. Ari Davidow at KlezmerShack reviewed it when it came out a few years ago and said, "From the humor and skill of the opening "Frailach Medley," or Tarras' "Bulgar in Bb" through the rock-informed (but very klez-ish) "Duncan's Disturbance" or "Cry of the Wild Lucy" (complete with Armenian-American surf guitar riffs!) through reworkings of familiar synagogue and Israeli tunes ("Eli, Eli," "Dodi Li," "Y'did Nefesh") the band exudes excellent musicianship and a joy of klezmer that are exactly what one hopes for not only at a simcha, but when listening to the music in the comfort of one's home." So go give Delusions of Klezmer a listen and grab a copy.So come on folks, do the bands a favor, go grab some great free music and drive the price up.
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5 comments:
Yep, Amie Street is great. To correct something in your post, all tracks stop at 98 cents. They don't go up to a buck fifty, like you said.
Huh. I thought I'd seen some higher, but now I can't find them. So I guess your right and I goofed. Thanks for the correction.
Do you know anything about the British twist man Willy Bergman? He played great Yiddish songs in a twist style with a bandleader called Stanley Black (born Solomon something). I heard that Willy's band recorded an album of fantastic Yiddish twist but Solomon took the credit. Would appreciate any light fellow Jewish music fans might be able to shed!
Best
Marty
Thanks for the support, Jack! We really appreciate it!
- Seth & The Alexandria Kleztet
Seth...sure thing. love the disc.
To the anonymous commenter. It's funny you should ask that. There was a big discussion about Bergman and Black one of my mailing lists recently. Give me a day or so and I'll put together the info that got shared. Feel free to email me directly at jackzero AT gmail DOT com if you like.
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