Geoff Berner - More Punk Klezmer Cabaret

Writing about Daniel Kahn last night reminded me that I've never posted about Geoff Berner. What a terrible oversight on my part. Berner, like Kahn, has a bar-room cabaret klezmer sound honed playing across Europe, only Berner is even more bitter and funny.

Here's Berner, playing live with Kahn, in Germany a couple of years ago.

Geoff Berner - Lucky Goddam Jew (live with Daniel Kahn)

If remember correctly, Kahn and Painted Bird played Berner's Whiskey Rabbi last night.

Daniel Kahn & Painted Bird w/Psoy at Temple Israel

Whew. It's 12:30am I've got to get up for work in the morning, but I'm too wound up from seeing Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird to go to sleep yet. In case you've missed my previous mentions of Khan, he's a Yiddish folkie, with a strong mix of Brecht-influenced cabaret and klezmer mixed in. He's a solid songwriter with an outstanding band. And when not singing from the Yiddish socialist/anarchist revolutionary songbook, he spins tales of whiskey and parasites (both the human and the animal types). What's not to love.

Tonight was my first chance to see him live, though I may get a chance to see him again on Tuesday at the Ark in Ann Arbor. The show was at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, MI, a huge Reform synagogue. How huge? Kahn was cranking, the crowd was cheering, and we still managed not to bother the wedding on the other side of the synagogue. That huge.

It's easy to sing Kahn's praises. He's the front man and lead songwriter, right? But I want to make sure I give credit to the rest of the band too. They gave the music a depth and verve that was joy to listen too. They swung easily from moody theatrics to military march to New Orleans jazz, all while holding the dark klezmer feel intact. About half-way through the set my wife went into trombone bliss, and looked up with a far-away look in her eyes "I love that instrument." Yeah. I'm with you, sweetie.

Here's a video of Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird (a slightly different line-up) playing the title track of his new album.

Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird - Parasites


For the last couple of songs, Kahn and Painted Bird were joined on stage by "multilingual poet-singer" Psoy Korolenko, who recorded with Kahn and Oy Division on the recent album "The Unternationale." I'd never heard of, or heard, Psoy before but I was blown away. He has a formidable voice and presence. Best of all, he's currently an Artist in Residence at the UofM, so I'll be able to meet up with him and see him perform a few more times this fall.

Sympathy For Whom? After Mick Jagger, by Daniel Kahn, Psoy & Yana Ovrutskaya


After the show I was able to grab a few minutes of Kahn's time to chat about Jewish music. My question, which I'm starting to ask the Jewish musician's I meet, is whether or not they feel like they are part of a Jewish music scene. From my vantage point on the side lines, there seems to be a scene developing where different strains of Jewish music are starting to intertwine. I was fascinated, but wasn't surprised, by the complexity of Kahn's answer. First of all, Kahn was a bit put off by the question. It was clear that he'd been involved in way too many abstract and personal discussions about Jewish identity and authenticity to really want to get into it with me tonight. (Also, to be fare, the guy had just finished a tiring set and was chatting with me while packing his gear). He's a guy who doesn't feel particularly religiously Jewish, but was drawn to a klezmer and Yiddish folks for the funky music and politics they represent. At the same time, his experiences living in Berlin prompted him to start writing songs that examined and presented his Jewish identity if, for no other reason, to stop having to explain it to everyone individually. So no...he doesn't feel part of a Jewish music scene. He happily plays with other Jewish bands or musicians at festivals or when it seems like a good idea. Some of his band members are Jewish and others aren't. He also happily plays klezmer shows, folks shows and cabaret shows and what ever else seems like a good idea. He sits at the intersection of a number of scenes, but not a general Jewish scene.

All of this, by the way, is a fine answer to the question.

Fraidy Katz and Wolf Krakowski: Yiddish cabaret roots rock

I've gotten a pile of CD's in the mail lately. It's great fun, but I'm feeling guilty for not posting about them more expeditiously. The basic problem is that doing a good review takes real time. Time to listen and absorb. Time to reflect and consider. Time to write. That's a lot of time. Oh. And it takes some insight too.

No wonder I don't do many reviews. That's a lot of work.

So this isn't really a review. Consider it an homage to two amazing performers and three phenomenal albums. Let's start with Wolf Krakowski. I got two albums of his in the mail about a month or two ago from a friend who wasn't going to be able to do reviews of them. I popped the first of them, "Goyrl: Destiny", into the CD player and proceeded to loose about three hours listening to it over and over again. The next day I forced myself to listen to the other one, "Transmigrations: Gilgul." Ok. I only lost two hours on this one, but that's pretty darn good.

These are "what if" records. What if Yiddish didn't get abandoned by a generation of Jews desperate to see their children assimilated and safe in the US. What if, instead, their children hung out in bars and on street corners with jazz musicians and rock-and-rollers, teaching cabaret and folk melodies and learning country licks. Their music would have sounded something like this...

Tate-Mame (From Goyrl: Destiny)


A Shod Dayne Trern (A Waste of Your Tears) (From Goyrl: Destiny)


Her Nor, Du Sheyn Meydele (Listen, Pretty Girl) (From Transmigrations:Gilgul,)


While I was sitting on these discs, trying to find time to write about them, I got an email from Krakowski asking if I'd like a copy of the new(ish) Fraidy Katz album that he produced. Absolutely. And I wasn't disappointed. Fraidy Katz's "The Eternal Question" picks up where Krakowski's albums leave off, adding Katz's warm and expressive vocals but holding on marriage of traditional Yiddish melodies and roots rock arrangements that made Krakowski's albums such a joy. Here are a few song clips...enjoy!

A Shtekele (A Little Stick)


Nakht un Regn (Night and Rain)


You can get more information on Katz and Krakowski at the Kame'a Media website.

Excerpts from Daniel Cainer's Jewish Chronicles

"From Daniel Cainer's Jewish Chronicles - a show of songs and stories about Jewish identity"

Excerpts from Jewish Chronicles


You can learn more about Daniel Cainer and subscribe to his podcast at his website.

Verfremdungsklezmer! Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird

I love big joyful noise. And I mean noise, squawnky, grindy, heartbreaking and uplifting noise. And I found a great source recently: Daniel Kahn. Kahn is a native Michiganian who's lived in New Orleans, New York, and now Berlin picking up a range of musical styles and influences. Kahn describes his latest project "Painted Bird" as Verfremdungsklezmer "Punk Cabaret + Radical Yiddish Song + Gothic American Folk + Klezmer Danse Macabre." This is my kind of noise. Painted Bird is available through Chasma Records, a "collective of independent musicians based out of Europe and the US ... specializ[ing] in the music of these very related cultures...Eastern European, Klezmer, Yiddish, Gypsy Jazz and Balkan." I have a feeling I'll be picking up a bunch of Chasma recordings in the near future.

Here's the Daniel Kahn YouTube video that got my attention, but don't stop with this one. YouTube's got a bunch.