Final Witness: Murder, Television, and Foreboding Jewish Music

Cue the foreboding music.....

"Donnah Winger had everything she wanted: the perfect husband, the perfect job and now, after years of infertility, the perfect baby. But a chance meeting with an stranger sets in motion a series of events that leaves Donnah dead on her kitchen floor - bludgeoned with a hammer - fools authorities for years while her killer hides in plain sight."

Oh...and did I say the foreboding music is Ose Shalom?

Cut to April 2011.  I received an email from the music supervisor of the new ABC show "Final Witness." As she described it, "It's a true-crime show, but is unlike your typical true crime shows that probably come to mind, or even CSI or Law & Order. It's a show about real murders that combines interviews with friends and family members with highly cinematic visuals and music. It's high-quality and looks more like film than TV. Most importantly, it doesn't focus on the "whodunnit" or grisly aspects of the murder, but rather the emotional ties and pulls between all the characters."

She was currently working on an episode, which airs tomorrow night, titled "The Devil You Know" and tells the story of Mark and Donnah Winger, a Jewish family in suburban Springfield, Illinois.  The music supervisor was looking for "foreboding Jewish music," music with an ethereal, tragically beautiful feel. Back to the present, I wish I could say that I suggested the piece that finally made it into the program. I didn't. The show ended up using a melancholy, toy piano sounding arrangement of Ose Shalom by composer Michael Allen Harrison. (Check it out on Amazon right now, or better yet, watch the show on ABC tomorrow night (July 25, 2012) or on Hulu.com after that.)

But I tried.

After a bit of discussion I suggested a stack of tracks from around the Jewish world (see below), even hitting up Jeff Janeczko from Milken Archive of American Jewish Music and Erez from Shemspeed for suggestions. And I came up with the perfect track, Black Ox Orkestar's wonderful “Papir Iz Dokh Vays” (Check it out!). The show loved it! One of my favorite Jewish bands! But ... it was not to be. Black Ox Orkestar doesn't like Disney Corp and wasn't interested in having their music used in a program by a Disney company. AARGGHH. So close.

So Harrison's Ose Shalom it is.  Not Black Ox Orkestar, but I'm sure it will do fine. We'll see tomorrow night.

UPDATE: It's tomorrow & I watched the episode on ABC last night. True crime isn't my genre (I'm a sci-fi / science documentary guy and food network junkie) so I'll leave it to others to review it, but I thought it was well produced and interesting. I was on pins and needles waiting for Ose Shalom to show up. And it did, about halfway through in a scene where the Jewish family was sitting shiva. It was perfect, setting exactly the right tone. Well done, Final Witness!

Here's the initial list of foreboding and ethereal Jewish music I put together last summer, less a few that no longer have easy to reach internet versions. Since I wasn't sure what ABC was going to respond to the list is from across the musical map.   ...

Black Ox Orkestrar

“Papir Iz Dokh Vays” - http://www.amazon.com/Papir-Iz-Dokh-Vays/dp/B006JHWYUW

Darkcho

Anim Z’miros - http://shemspeed.bandcamp.com/track/anim-zmiros

Zahava Seewald

“Don’t be frightened my son” &  

“the daughter of god's beloved rose” - 

  http://www.myspace.com/zahavaseewald

Ofra Haza
- Ofra Haza - Kaddish  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hQ0OkcLKuE
- Ofra Haza - Forgiveness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKx81wrTASg

La Mar Enfortuna
- La Rosa - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpq1b0TeGw

Regina Spektor
Eli Eli - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8esLX-_js

Voices of Eden
Eli Eli - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK8DLS40yrI

Alan Goldberg 
Twilight Niggun from Chasing Stray Flames - http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Niggun/dp/B0016IO2MM

Atzilut
 “Baruch Shem” from Music for the Kabbala - http://www.amazon.com/Baruch-Shem/dp/B003PT4946

Consuelo Luz
Mar de leche or Kabbalah: Torah, from Adio - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/consueloluz3

Temple
Ana El Na from Coming Home - http://www.amazon.com/Ana-El-Na/dp/B0040PYOGC

Forgiveness: Traditional Jewish Prayers With Contemporary Experimental Electronic Music

http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Jewish-Prayers-Contemporary-Forgiveness/dp/B000FIHJIS

Erez vs Erez Yechiel
Tikkun Klali - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81s2GYNCb9Y

Klezmer 

Adiranne Greenbaum
Nign or Mourner’s Kaddish from FleytMuzik - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/greenbaum3

Alexandria Kleztet
Eli, Eli - http://www.amazon.com/Delusions-Klezmer-Alexandria-Kleztet/dp/B0000682XX

Andy Statman
Maggid - http://www.amazon.com/Between-Heaven-Earth/dp/B000S54TRW

Budowitz
Nokhspil (kale bazigns) - http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Without-Bride-Budowitz/dp/B00004YRA0

Crackow Klezmer Band
Holef - http://www.amazon.com/Bereshit-Cracow-Klezmer-Band/dp/B0000C0FCV

Klezmatics
Mipney Ma or Dybbuk Shers - http://www.amazon.com/Possessed-Klezmatics/dp/B00005Y23D

Liturgical
The Beinoni Niggun
http://koshertube.com/videos/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=4440

Richard Kaplan
Rav’s Niggun or Niggun of the Besh - http://www.amazon.com/Tuning-Soul-Worlds-Jewish-Sacred/dp/B000172L7C

Maya Raviv
Avinu Malkenu - http://www.amazon.com/Avinu-Malkenu/dp/B0014DHL4U

Nilli
Avinu Malkenu - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUSLu6aKoaY

Tal Skloot
Avinu Malkenu - http://www.amazon.com/Avinu-Malkenu/dp/B0014EK43E

Classical
Ofer Ben Amots 
Come In Peace (Haskivenu), Psalm 81, or  Niggunim -  http://www.oferbenamots.com/audio/

Woj ciech Knar
Moving to the Ghetto Oct. 31, 1940 - http://www.amazon.com/Pianist-Music-Motion-Picture/dp/B00007E8SQ

Aaron Blumenfield
Kel Echod - http://www.aarons-world.com/jewish.html

David Gerinags
Meditation Hebraique - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VQ234C/ref=dm_sp_alb

Steve Reich
Tehillim - http://www.amazon.com/Tehillim-Steve-Reich/dp/B0000261K9/ref=cm_cr_dp_orig_subj

From the Milken Archive

John Zorn
Kol Nidre - http://www.milkenarchive.org/works/view/494

Abravanel Henri Lazarof
Kaddish for Maurice -  http://www.milkenarchive.org/works/view/514

Meyer Kupferman
The Shadows of Jerusalem  - http://www.milkenarchive.org/works/view/405

Aaron Avshalomov
Four Biblical Tableaux - http://www.milkenarchive.org/works/view/508

Hugo Weisgall
T'kiatot -  http://www.milkenarchive.org/works/view/522

Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz in concert in Ann Arbor!

Hey Michiganders, this is a don't miss concert. Be there! I will.

Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz in concert
Saturday July 14, 2012 - 7:00PM

Temple Beth Emeth Brotherhood presents an exciting evening celebrating Klezmer Music in America. Known widely for their band Hot Pstromi, they will be screening Mr. Strom's 30-minute documentary "A Great Day on Eldridge Street", and performing a concert of Klezmer music afterwards. The film documents an historic gathering in 2007 of musicians and singers from throughout the world for an iconic photo, and to make music.

Violinist Yale Strom's music draws on his extensive European field research. He is regarded as one of the world's leading scholar-ethnographer-artists of klezmer music and history.

The unique soulful vocals of Elizabeth Schwartz' have brought her acclaim from many quarters. She is the first woman invited to sing at New York City's landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue.

Tickets: $15 adults, $10 seniors.

Temple Beth Emeth
2309 Packard Rd
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Contact: Ralph Katz 734-663-1288 or the TBE Office 734-665-6744

Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz at Festiwal Zachor, Poland 2009




About the film "A GREAT DAY ON ELDRIDGE STREET"

On October 12, 2007, over one hundred klezmer musicians and Yiddish singers gathered on the steps of New York City’s Eldridge Street synagogue for a once-in-a-lifetime photo shoot. Brought from around the world, these musicians represent the most influential klezmer artists of the revival and in the world today. This significant event was noted for its participants (ranging from Theo Bikel to John Zorn) and was followed by the world’s longest klezmer march, when these musicians took to the streets of the Lower East Side for a parade and impromptu outdoor concert. As they marched, onlookers began to follow along curious to see what this celebration was all about. It was Yiddish street theatre at its best!

Over the next two evenings, the participants performed formally at City University’s Martin E. Segal Theatre and Symphony Space. A GREAT DAY ON ELDRIDGE STREET portrays all of these events. This film not only chronicles this extraordinary weekend, but celebrates the revival of klezmer music and Yiddish song that has now become one of the main soundtracks for Jewish culture throughout the world today with humor, pathos… and of course, great music.

Mikey Pauker on IndiGogo, Wisaal & Max Chaiken on Kickstarter

Here are few more Jewish music related bands going the IndioGoGo and Kickstarter advance sales route. Check 'em out

Mikey Pauker
My buddy, Mikey is in Israel studying and making music. He's been invited to play mainstage at the Jacob's Ladder Festival, a 5,000+ attendance folk, bluegrass and world music festival in Israel. This is a really big deal. But doing this messes up his booked flights. So he's asking for help and selling his CDs to raise funds to get him home. Here's the IndiGoGo link. Here's Mikey's website and facebook page.

Help Mikey Pauker play Jacob's Ladder Festival (and get home again!)



Wisaal
Next up is Wisaal, from Michigan. According to their bio, "Wisaal - An Arabic word meaning links, connections, or unities - reflects our attempt to fuse elements of the Arabic musical heritage with Klezmer, Indian and American influences while resection the spirit of these traditions." Wisaal is raising funds / doing advance sales for their debut album. Here's their kickstarter page, facebook page and website.

Wisaal Recording Project


Max Chaiken
Last up is the Max Chaiken Band, from Boston. According to his bio, "For nearly 10 years, Max has been song leading and writing original, contemporary Jewish music. He served as the Head Song Leader at the URJ Camp Harlam from 2004 through 2009, and currently serves as the Head Song Leader at the URJ Kutz Camp." Their raising funds / doing advance sales for their debut album "All That Breathes" Here's their kickstarter page, their facebook page, and their website.

Honestly, Max's Kickstarter video is boring (boring = no music). So here's Max doing a lovely job putting Psalm 150 to the chords of Leonard Cohen's classic Halleluyah. I just heard the high school choir at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor sing this recently.

Psalm 150 to Leonard Cohen's Halleluyah

Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart on recording a klezmer in a gym

Ok, it's way too short but this video of Mickey Hart describing recording a klezmer band is a hoot. Mickey Hart is a world-class percussionist, both as a member of the Grateful Dead and through a variety of performance and recording projects.

The album, The Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra's "The Traveling Jewish Wedding," was released back in 1980 and was just re-released on Smithsonian Folkways as part of the Mickey Hart collection. It's a fine early klezmer revival recording and is actually one of the one of the first klezmer album's I owned. It's loaded with fine, though not outstanding, cimbalom, violin, and folkie vocals and in true klezmer revival form it's regionally omnivorous and indiscriminate. It including traditional Yiddisn and klezmer tunes, Sephardic tunes, and one or two that sound very influenced by Israeli folk music. Great stuff.

I had no idea, though, that Mickey Hart recorded it. Guess I didn't read the liner notes on that one.

Mickey and Fred on Recording Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra


While the Golden Gate Gypsy Orchestra is no more, if you happen to be in Hawaii GGSO's Barry and Gloria Blum would be happy to perform at your wedding, bar mitzvah or bris.

Sunny Klezmer ... the new Klezmer Juice video.

Klezmer Juice, a fine klezmer band from sunny southern California just released an honest-to-gosh MTV style music video. Ok, so it's mainly the band leader Gustavo Bulgach, biking, driving, and dreamily noodling his clarinet in all sorts of sunny California locals. But they get credit for a real video. Before this moment of sunny cinematography, Klezmer Juice's credits included being the on-screen band in the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaugn film "The Wedding Crashers," being nominated for a Grammy and putting out two fine contemporary klezmer albums. Good job, gang.

Papirosen - Gustavo Bulgach KLEZMER JUICE

The YouTube Audition: Three Klezmer Videos

I think this is obvious, but is worth mentioning. Every video of a band on YouTube, whether put there by the band or not, is an audition for the band's next gig. The thing is, if you've seen as many videos as I have you'd realize that either band's don't understand this or haven't thought it through. So, being the ever helpful fellow I am (helpful meaning self-appointed know-it-all), I thought I'd offer some suggestions.

But first let me provide some context. The volunteer committee that helms the Detroit JCC's Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest is about the best gang of folks you could hope to work with. And two weeks ago we were in rare form. After going through some general planning discussions about the upcoming Adat Cohen (last week), Mandy Patinkin (September) and Chava Alberstein shows (January), we started in on next March's full festival lineup. Since I'm a helpful guy (see definition of helpful above), I was prepared with a pile of videos that I'd collected and that had been suggested by others on the committee. We had a great discussion and I remember leaving it wishing that all those bands hoping to play festival gigs could have been a fly on the wall. Oh yeah. I write a blog. They can be.

To simplifying things, I'm not going to talk through all the videos we watched. I'm just going to use some video's by some great regional klezmer bands as my examples. I've never seen any of them play live (shame on me), but know band members from each. I personally enjoyed each of the videos and hope that I can book each of them either this coming festival or a future one. I hope none of them mind using them as examples.

First up was the Michigan State Klezmorim.



Good stuff. Lyrical, stately, lovely. Easy to imagine them playing a private party or small club or restaurant. What happened when I played the video? I was immediately asked if they could play uptempo. You see, we're a big festival with a big stage and are envisioning a more uptempo affair, possibly with dancing. This video just didn't match the committee's vision of the event. Unfortunately, this is the only MSK video I could find.

Observation #1. I know videos take time and effort to put together; but if you want more than one kind of gig you need to have more than one video available. Make sure that there are enough videos that one of them will make us say "Yeah..I want them to do that for me!"

Second was the Heartland Klezmorim.



Ok. This was more like it. Good bouncy klezmer. The band was up on stage, obviously playing a festival gig. But iffy sound quality didn't help show off the band's musical ability and the band's tight, straight up playing didn't show off their stage presence. There is more than one Heartland video, but this was pretty representative...good band, but based solely on this video, are they good enough?

Observation #2. Just because the musicians are good, doesn't mean the video will be a winner. I'm not sure if the video was commissioned by the band or shot by a fan at the show, but either way this video didn't do Heartland justice. Having videos of your band playing gigs in front of happy fans is a good thing. But also make sure there are some videos with good sound and good camera work that really show off your musicianship and stage presence.

Last was the Chicago's Maxwell Street Klezmer

This was the best received video of the set. Good (enough) sound and lights, clear and evident musicianship, lots of stage presence. It was really easy to imagine what they'd look and sound like on our festival stage. Equally important, Maxwell Street has 25 videos put online by the band, as well as others by fans. It made it easy for me to find one or two more that confirmed their abilities.

Observation #3. A little show goes a long way. Ok, so the clarinet vs violin shtick is a bit theatric. But the relaxed, casual, control that the band shows as they goof around onstage makes them look like professional entertainers. For a festival gig, that's a good thing. We're looking for entertainers as much as artists. So bands, if you're going to shoot a video... make sure you're doing something that will look good on film. Make me want to see it live.

So to recap... bands, your videos are your audition performances. Even if you don't intended them to be. So put some thought into them, make sure you're showcasing your variety and musicianship and ability to entertain.

Di Niggunim & The Barons of Tang, a hot mess and a wild ride

This past Tuesday I bopped over Detroit to the anarchist art collective Trumbleplex to see San Diego based "anarcho-klezmer punk collective" Di Niggunim. I had a blast. Trumbleplex is my kind of place. Not a club. Not a bar. A place where happenings happen. Lots of independent minded folks with a lot of great energy. I spent a good chunk of the evening looking longingly at the mosh pit wishing I had left my camera in the car and could jump in.

The opening band, Detroit Party Marching Band, (not a Jewish band. duh.) was a riot. I don't mean they were funny. The gang of them (there at least 12. I lost count) were hooting and squawking in full marching band gear and marching band instruments and sounding like they were about to take to the streets. Shake something up. Burn burn something down. Riot. whew.

Di Niggunim, sadly, was a hot mess. They'd had gear stolen in Chicago. Their drummer had been sentenced (just that day) to three years in prison for "stuff." Their clarinet player couldn't make the tour and the guitar player'd gone home. The bass player was borrowed. The singer was sick. Life on the road folks. That said, they gave it their all and played the best they could and a fine time was had by all.

Here they are, sounding an awful lot better than they did Tuesday...

Fascist Degradation - Di Nigunim

I love these guys. They've got a lot of heart and I proudly threw some extra cash into the hat that got passed and added their sticker to the back of the Teruah-mobile before I went home.

The big surprise of the night was The Barons of Tang, from Melbourne, Australia. BoT is a "gypsy deathcore" band. Klezmer influenced, but really a melange of music styles. They were tight and talented and reminded me of Gogol Bordello or an early Pouges. Maybe not as good on the vocals, maybe not as strong on the songwriting, but they could get there. They'll be hitting Toronto's Ashkenaz tonight (Thursday). I didn't love them enough to drive to Toronto from here...but I thought about it the whole drive home.

Dogs of Rotterdam by Barons of Tang

hat tip to my buddy Noah for tipping me off to the show and to Youtube users commander and UndergrowthMagazine for the videos.

Klezmer Music Outreach

"In January of 2001, the Timberlane Regional High School Wind Ensemble started working on an intricate piece entitled Five Yiddish Dances to be performed in their March concert." From this start, the documentary follows the TRHSWE as they get a crash course in klezmer and Yiddish culture organized by their band director Tony DiBartolomeo and provided by Concord, New Hampshire klezmerim Seth Austen and Beverly Woods.

It's great to see this kind thing happening. The students clearly appreciated the time that Austen and Woods spent with them and understood how it benefited both their performance and their understanding of the Jewish community. My only concern, and this happens a lot, is that they seem to have developed a sense a historical Yiddish culture that is disconnected from current Jewish culture. I would have loved to hear one of them comment about wanting to catch the Klezmatics or the Bester Quartet on their next tour. Ahh well. One step at a time.

So congrats to DiBartolomeo, Austen and Woods for making it happen and congrats to the students for what I'm sure was a fine concert. Wish I was there to see it.

Klezmer Music Demonstration at TRHS/PAC from Timberlane School District (TEN) on Vimeo.

And to other Jewish music folks who read this... we really need to seek out opportunities to do this kind of audience and musician development. I'll be visiting some Detroit area Jewish schools next year to talk about Jewish music in general and "progressive Jewish music" (e.g. pop/rock/hip-hop) in particular. My goal is to get the students engaged and excited about next years Detroit JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music fest, and the Progressive Jewish Music Showcase in particular. All I had to do was make some connections and ask. I haven't made the step to visiting non-Jewish schools but that's something to think about too...

More on Math Rosen, Yiddish Laser Bass and the Panorama Jazz Band

In my last post, I wrote about Canadian DJ Math Rosen's "Yiddish Laser Bass." Rosen got back to me later in the week with the track's back story. Rosen's background is bit like mine and, I'm sure, a bit like lots of yours. Jewish culture was more background than foreground as kid, but it was formative and now is influencing his own culture making. Love it. Rosen's an interesting guy and I look forward to his album coming out. I'll keep you all posted.

"The instrument is a Monome 256, from a mom-and-pop company called Monome. It's a totally open-source digital controller, meaning that it can be programmed to do virtually anything. Lots of people use it like I do, essentially a loop-slicing sequencer tool. But there are dozens of applications out there, everything from self-generating music to a wicked game of tetris. The units are all hand made by the creator and his partner, and all the software is designed by the users and shared on the forums. It's a pretty amazing community.

As for the Yiddish tune... It came from a few places. For one thing, there was Sunday Simcha -- the klezmer radio show my dad used to listen to every Sunday morning. That definitely got into my subconscious at an early age... I grew up pretty secular, but my parents always encouraged a curiosity about music and its connection to heritage across cultures.

The other place that tune came from is a bit of a story... The main hook is sampled from a group called the Panorama Jazz Band, who make a really eclectic mix of Dixieland, Klezmer, Baltic folk tunes... you name it. I saw them perform while I was staying in New Orleans about a year after Katrina. I was down there volunteering, gutting damaged houses mostly. And I found my heart in that town. It's hard to explain what that place does to a person... It's that thing about music connecting across cultures -- there's nowhere in the world where you can see that more than you see it in New Orleans.

So you can thank my parents and a Louisiana jazz-fusion band for that tune.
I'm working on a record right now, and I think the yiddish folklore influence might sneak in a few more times. I'm trying to find the sounds from my childhood that built who I am, before I was thinking about who I am. Those sounds are way down deep and you can't explain them or extract them. For me, it's a whole lot of rap, some jazz, and maybe a bit of klezmer."

For me it was traditional folk and jazz, punk, and Fiddler on the roof and Conservative nusach. But Rosen's right, "Those sounds are way down deep and you can't explain them or extract them."

I do love trad jazz (particularly ragtime music) and I couldn't resist looking into the Rosen's fav's "The Panorama Jazz Band." They've been working New Orleans since 1995, blending their flavor of traditional jazz with a blend of "folkloric* music from around the world – especially Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America." I dig it. I'll have to grab one of their recordings. Here's the PJB playing one of their Eastern European bits....the Yiddish classic "Baym Rebn in Palestina."

Baym Rebn in Palestina. Panorama Jazz Band

Baym Rebn in Palestina.Panorama Jazz Band from mel zimmer on Vimeo.

*I have often, tongue in check, defined "world music" as any group with an accordion. I will now define "folkloric" as any band with an accordion and without a power cord.

Hat tip to Vimeo user Mel Zimmer for uploading the PJB video.

So you wanna learn klezmer: A Klezmer Guide and the Klezmer ABC's

So you want to bulgar like Abe Schwartz, huh? Need the sheet music? Allen Lutins is your guy. He plays in two klezmer groups (The Mitzfits, a small klezmer band, and the larger Cornell University Klezmer Ensemble) as well as Musica Universalis, an early music consort. He's put together an impressive KlezmerGuide that cross-references klezmer recordings, including many available online and sheet music.

"KlezmerGuide started as a personal database to keep tabs on the recordings and sheet music collections I've accumulated as a klezmer clarinetist.... KlezmerGuide focuses on old "78 RPM" shellac recordings from Klezmer's "golden age" (the first half of the 20th century). Many of these recordings can be heard for free online thanks to the Judaica Sound Archives, Florida Atlantic University. Non-comprehensive (but significant) listings of more modern recordings are also included. "

By the way...the score for Abe Schwartz' "Der Shtiller Bulgar (The Quiet Bulgar)" can be found, according to the Guide, on page 40 of Henry Sapoznik and Pete Sokolow's "the Compleat Klezmer," as well as a half dozen other locations. An 1918 recording by the Abe Schwartz Jewish Orchestra can be heard online at the Florida Atlantic University Judaica Sound Archives. Ok. No more excuses. Start practicing.

Ok..still need more inspiration and/or raw material? Lutins' Guide had a link to another awesome resource, John Chambers Klezmer ABCs. ABC, in this case, refers to the "ABC text-based music notation system and the de facto standard for folk and traditional music". Chambers, who plays (or played?) in the Boston area Klezmer Contraband has a transcription Der Shtiller Bulger and a slew of other tunes. It doesn't look like the site is actively maintained, and I can't comment on the quality of the transcriptions, but it's a great place to start. Update: I just got confirmation from John Chambers that he's still active and adding material to the site. Chambers also confirmed that the Klezmer Contraband is still active in Boston. Go check 'em out.

Here's his ABC version of Der Shtiller, rendered into normal score and into MIDI.


Ok, what else do you need. Get practicing.

Abraham Inc goes "Tweet Tweet"

I'm totally digging the new Abraham Inc. album. It's a full on, head on, collision of klezmer, funk, and hip-hop music. Here's the blurb (I love blurbs.)

"An unprecedented collaboration between three cultural visionaries: DAVID KRAKAUER, champion of klezmer music and world-class clarinetist; legendary funk trombonist and arranger FRED WESLEY, celebrated for his work with James Brown and George Clinton; and hip-hop renegade and beat architect SOCALLED – Abraham Inc"

What underlies that blurb is a real depth of knowledge in each of the music styles, but what makes the album work the way in which Abraham Inc cleverly uses a very contemporary, stuttery, cut & paste, hip-hop oriented approach to the funk and klezmer merger. The hip-hop style breaks help deconstruct the two musical styles and reconstruct them as assembled fragments of the new compositions. In this collage of bouncing and popping fragments, it sounds totally natural to hear Socalled's Yiddish bounce against C-Rayz Walz's English raps or hear Krakuer's clarinet klezmer runs bounce against Wesley's horn sections.

Abraham Inc Tweet Tweet (Official Music Video)

While Tweet Tweet is the first single, and a worthy track, my favorite is the H-Tune, a reconstruction of "Yidlach Anthem" Hava Nagila. It's a great example of their style, Hava Nagila's melody is broken in to phrases all of which are layered on top of each other and over funk horns. What you end up with is NOT Hava Nagila, it takes some work to pull out the Hava Nagila phrases. What it is, is the H-Tune.

The H Tune (Hava Nagila)

For more info and to buy the album, check out the Abraham Inc. website and Facebook pages.

Hat tip to AliciaKraks for posting the H-Tune video (shot back in Feb 2010). AliciaKraks happens to be Alicia Krakauer, H-Tune vocalist and daughter of David Krakauer.

Hanukkah Day 6: The Asthmatix...Latkes From Australia

Hanukkah Day 6 comes straight from Australia, courtesy David Brook. I've written about Brook's music adventures before...he and J. Harkham were the pair that put out the Darkcho album, easily one of my favorite Jewish recordings of 2010. This time he sent me the video for the first single from the new band The Asthmatix. It's not clear if Brook is playing on the recording, but I'm guessing he is. And he's not. He's friends with the band and produced the video.

The Asthmatix...Latkes

I really dig this video. It follows nicely after the klezmer meets hip-hop / house bands including Canada's Socalled, Germany's Jewdyssee, and England's Ghettoplotz. I'd love to see these folks spend some time at KlezKamp and improve their klezmer chops. Not quite in Socalled's league yet, but good stuff.

UPDATE 1: I just found another Asthamatix video, VaHAEnu. The video itself isn't as snappy as Brook's video for Latkes and it lacks the clever socalled-esque use of vintage narration cuts, but the violin and turntable are showcased much more effectively. My estimation of the violinist and the DJ jumped up a notch or two. Great stuff.

UPDATE 2: Brooks sent me the band's blurb (I love blurbs).

The Asthmatix have been blending the art of klezmer, hip-hop, middle eastern melodies and traditional turntablism since 2007. Taking to the stage with violin, keyboards, and turntables they have played Sydney venues including the 505, Name This Bar, Opera Bar and festivals including Shir Madness at the Bondi Pavillion. Band members include Mickey Morphingaz(Beats), Daniel Weltlinger (Violin), Dan Pliner (Keyboard), and Asparagus Mlynsky (Turntables) who will release their highly anticipated single, Latkes, in December, just in time for the Jewish festival.

UPDATE 3: You can get your own copy of the track from iTunes, or for the price of your email address at their website.

Beyond the Pale nominated for the 6th Annual Canadian Folk Music Awards

Just a quick pre-shabbat shout out to the Canadian klezmer band Beyond The Pale. As reported by the Vancouver Sun, they received the most nominations of any Canadian folk band in this years Canadian Folk Music Awards. They were nominated in four categories... instrumental group, world group, ensemble and pushing the boundaries. Way to go guys!

According to the CFMA website, the awards are going to be handed out on Saturday, Nov 20, so I'll report back soon with how BTP did.

Here's a recent video of BTP at the legendary Freight and Salvage folk club in Berkley California. None other than the also legendary Theodore Bikel came out to see them play, and then got coaxed on stage to sit in.

Beyond the Pale and Theodore Bikel at the Freight and Salvage

Hat tip to YouTube user ellyrocs for uploading the video

Almonds and Wine and Jewish Heritage

Here's a lovely short animated film titled "Almonds and Wine." Produced, directed, and animated by Arnie Lipsey and with music by Kapelye,

"brings a Yiddish folk song to life, as the animated journey of a young bride and groom from Eastern Europe to North America is set to rollicking klezmer music. Fleeing the threat of war, the couple arrive in Canada, establish a new life together and hand down their traditions to the generations that follow"

The video was just uploaded to YouTube yesterday, but the film was released in 1999.

One of the things that caught me while watching the film was some of the subtext of the narrative. I'm in the middle of reading Beth S Wenger's "History Lessons: The Creation of American Jewish Heritage" and that's got me thinking (go figure) about Jewish foundation myths. Wenger write about the Jewish American experience, but I would imagine the Jewish Canadian experience was similar. Wenger notes that ...

"Despite occasional uncertainties about what might lie ahead in their adopted homeland, American Jews participated in an array of public events and produced and consumed a vast corpus of popular literature that championed the possibilities for Jewish life in the United States....The invention of these narratives both eased Jewish adjustment to American life and created a distinct ethnic history compatible with American ideals."

"Almonds and Wine," along with many other contemporary Jewish films, art, literature and music, seems to be following along on this same trajectory. On one level it presents a simple narrative of what came to pass. This is who and where we were, this is how we got where we are now, and this is the trajectory we're on. This may be a literal depiction of the Lipsey's family, or not. Either way, it is the story of a great many Jewish families.

Below that, though, is a clear sense of advocacy, of the rightness of it all. This despite the fact that the changes in Jewish culture and tradition that happen to the family in "Almonds and Wine" as it establishes itself represent a huge rift between the new world and the old. The family, as presented, goes from being rural and Orthodox to being urban and Conservative. Men and women now dance together. Men don't wear kippot except at the bimah. Grandma and gramdpa had an arranged marriage (though, convenient from a modern perspective, they'd had a crush on each other already), none of the grand kids do.

Most importantly, there's no sense of choices made. The experience of immigration and assimilation was as destructive to traditional Jewish religion and culture as the Holocaust was. The immigrants reinvented themselves as fast as they possibly could, shedding language, customs, and religious practices to better fit in. This was a messy process. Not all immigrants made the same choices. There is still a strong Orthodox and Chassid community in the US and Canada (including Toronto, where Lipsey is based). Many immigrants went much further in their assimilation than what is pictured here, either by attempting to create a secular Yiddishkyte (e.g. Workman's Circle, the Jewish Forward) or a secular American "Seinfeld, bagels, and Sandy Kofax" Jewish culture.

"Almonds and Wine" reflects a lovely foundation myth for a principle segment of the immigrants that attempted to find a middle path that was integrated, assimilated, but religious and (up to a point) traditional. I applaud the myth because my family lived it. I'm very much a product of that middle ground. But at the same time the more I write this blog, the more I interact with Jews, on all sides, whose experience differs from mine, the more I find narratives like this to be unsatisfying, distorting, and, well, mythic.

Paris Yiddish dance flashmob

Ok. It would have been funnier in a department store, but it's still awesome to see a fully choreographed Yiddish dance flash mob on the streets of Paris.

"Part of Klezmer Paris 2010. Students and faculty take Paris by surprise in front of the Tuilleries. Concept and choreography by Steven Weintraub, band led by Christian Dawid, Christina Crowder, and Jake Shulman-Ment."

Klezmer / Jazz from Argentina .... The Lerner-Moguilevsky Duo

Hi folks. Today's great Jewish music find is César Lerner and Marcelo Moguilevsky, the Lerner-Moguilevsky Duo. Woodwind player Lerner and piano/accordion player Moguilevsky are based in Buenos Aires, Argentina and play a lovely, arty, klezmer-influenced jazz. While new to me, they're not a new combo. They've been playing together for 15 years and have just released their fifth klezmer/jazz recording, Aleph Beth. I haven't found a good import source for their recordings yet, but you can order directly from them or download their 2003 recording Sobreviviente from eMusic. (Which I'll be doing shortly).

While most of their press is in Spanish, I was tipped off to them by a recent article in English in the Buenos Aires Herald. It's fine article, but I admit being a bit amused/annoyed by the following comment.

"In Argentina, though, and despite having the largest Jewish community in South America, klezmer remained rather relegated, downgraded to intimate expressions in the private life of the community members, most of all as the music played in festive occasions such as weddings and bar-mitzvahs. "

Yes there is an age old tension between klezmer as country wedding music vs citified cabaret / theater music, but I'm not quite sure how anyone but a city slicker art house music snob could say "downgraded to intimate expressions in the private live of community members" with a straight face. Yay intimate expressions. Bring 'em on. (And bring on the art house too!)

The article follows...

"This is why the oeuvre of Lerner and Moguilevsky, sustained in time and in an impeccable discography, is so important. Both grandsons of Eastern Europe and Russian Jewish immigrants, they have rescued those traditions that were just there, anesthetized in the memory of a whole community, waiting to come to life and flourish again not just as something from a time already gone, but as a present cultural expression with strong links with the present and the past at the same time."

That's my kind of florid prose. I could say that with a straight face. Here's the Lerner Moguivsky Duo playing during Yiddish Summer Weimar, July 2007. There are a lot more videos available on YouTube, so check 'em out.

Hat tip to YouTube user, failsworthpole for posting the video.

Kroke - High-energy Polish Klezmer

This morning a fellow on Twitter was asking about Polish klezmer bands. I know of two...Klezmafour and Kroke. I've written about Klemazfour before. They're a high-energy klezmer band with an affinity for electronic jazz/rock. I'm a fan. I realized, though, that I hadn't written about Kroke.


Kroke, which is Yiddish for Krakow, is a bit less high-energy than Klezmafour but has a similar affinity contemporary jazz and rock. As Ari Davidow of the Klezmershack blog notes, "The music is too dark to really represent traditional klezmer. At times, it is almost as if the Velvet Underground have been reborn as a klezmer band." That and fact that they draw on Sephardic music as much as klezmer gives them a broad, world-music-stage kind of sound. I've found their presentation to be a bit more reverv-soaked theater than I like, but that's just me. No doubt their fine musicians...Check 'em out....

kroke - klezmerzy


Kroke - Ajdejano - Krotoszyn Folk Festival 2007

Jewish Music Fest Shoutouts, Chicago, SF, Toronto, Atlanta, Washington DC

My own adventures with the Detroit JCC Stephen Gottlieb Jewish Music fest aside, there are a number of Jewish music fests going on this summer that are worth pointing out. This is just a quick list, not an exhaustive one. If I'd don't mention one in the area you live in, check my left-side panel for a larger list of annual fests. If you're in Europe..check Ruth Ellen Gruber's extensive list of European Jewish Music Festivals.


Chicago Jewish Festival. Next Sunday, June 13, is the Chicago Jewish Festival. It runs from from 11 to 5ish, with 4 concurrent stages as well as food, art, and local organizations. I think the music is free, but am not sure. And I get to go! If you see me say howdy! I'll be live tweeting the show. This year artists will include my buddies StereoSinai as well as

"Tzioni ‘R' Us/Weiner Experience, Moshe Skier Band, The Ruby Harris Band, David Broza, Kol Sasson, Rabbi Joe Black, Listen Up! A Capella, Community Sing, David Broza, Jazmer, Barbara Silverman, Lafayette Klezmorim, Tarkay, Tracy Friend, Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, Guy Mendilow, Shakshuka, Saul Kaye, Cantor Jeff Klepper, Tumbalalaika, Guy Mendilow, Kol Tikva, Lynn Hazan, Caryn Bark, Shining Lights, Jeff and Janis, Anna and Catherine Kazyansky, Mamaloshn Yiddush Song Group, Ed Holstein, Marilyn Price, Steve Justman, Shelechet Aviv Israeli Dance Troupe, Ballet Entre Nous, Aaron Freeman, Jessica Honor Carleton, Solomon Schecter Choir, Junior Klezmer Band, Guy Mendilow Band, Judy & David, Jessica Honor Carleton, Joel Frankel, Judy & David, Marilyn Price, Jewish Jammers, and Comedy Ventriloquist Chuck Field."

And rumor has it that Patrick A of Can Can and Punk Torah will be in town for festival as well, though not performing.

Whew. Looking at a list like this is humbling. As much as I think I know the list touring Jewish musicians, looking at the line of summer Jewish music fests makes me realize how much more action there is out there than I can track. Great fun.

San Francisco Jewish Music Festival. July 11. This year is the SF Music Fests 25th year. They had a big showcase in March and will be having another one in July.

"Artists include Eprhyme, Glenn Hartman and the Klezmer Playboys, Peter Jacques, Elana Jagoda, Kugelplex, Ira Levin, Joe Nguyen, Kat Parra, Red Hot Chachkas, Dror Sinai, Gerry Tenney and California Klezmer, Vocolot and Joshua Walters. Plus klezmer, maqamat (Middle Eastern modes) and Middle East percussion jam/ workshops, an Instant Chorus, and an Instrument Petting Zoo, in association with the Community Music Center and Zambaleta World Music Institute."

Ashkenaz Music Festival, Toronto. From Aug 31 to Sept 6. Headliner shows require $ tickets, but everything else is free. And considering most of the "everything else" would headliners at other festivals, this is amazing. I would love to go but don't think I'll be able to afford it. Anyone feel like sponsoring an itinerant blogger? No? Oh well. Maybe in two years.

"Abraham Inc., Adrienne Cooper & Marilyn Lerner, Andy Statman, Batsheva, Beyond the Pale, Canadian Cabaret hosted by SoCalled (including helly Posen, Brian Katz and Lenka Lichtenberg, Lache Cercel, Aviva Chernick, the Yiddish Swingtet, Mike Ankielwicz), Daddo, Daniel Kahn, Deep Minor, Di Fidl Kapelye, Flory Jagoda, Gypsophilia, Jaffa Road, Klezmer Kids, Konsonans Retro, Kosher Gospel w/ Joshua Nelson, David Wall, and Ken Whiteley, Kurt & Annette Bjorling with Di Fidl Kapelye, Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing, Marilyn Lerner, Mitch Smolkin, Nayekhovichi, Nayekhovichi, Sephardic Cabaret hosted by Aaron Bensoussan, Shtreiml, Sisters of Sheynville, The Flying Bulgars, The Huppah Project, The Klez Dispensers, The Lithuanian Empire, Theresa Tova, Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, Vira Lozinsky, Zully Goldfarb."

Atlanta Jewish Music Festival. Ok, it was last night and I missed it. But I wanted to give a shout out to one of the new Jewish music fests. First of all I love seeing some Jewish action down South. There's been a solid Jewish population down there for a long long time, but it doesn't get the attention that Jewish in northern east and west coast cities get. Secondly, the line up for their fest was pretty interesting. Yesterday's show included the Moshav Band, DeLeon, Girls in Trouble, and 4th Ward Afro-Klemzer Orchestra. What's interesting about this is that it was much more of a rock / pop concert than your typical fest. Most fests lean toward Jewish flavored folk / world music. As more Jewish rock, pop, and hip-hop bands are getting formed, I wonder how long it will be until more fests have stages like Atlanta's.

Washington DC Jewish Music Fest. It kicks off tonight and runs until June 13, with....
Screening of The Jazz Baroness, Danny Sanderson, Seth Rudetsky’s Deconstructing Broadway, Galeet Dardashti, Uri Gurvich Quartet, Saints & Tzadiks (Susan McKeown & Lorin Sklamberg), Golem with Girls In Trouble, The Macaroons Children's Concert, and Vagabond Opera.

LA Jewish Symphony: Like the Human Experience - but Jewish-ier

Yep. There is one. A consistently performing Jewish Symphony. In LA. Since 1994. And, of course, I didn't know about it until today. (Go ahead. Rub it in). I don't see an official blurb on on the symphony's website, but here's a nice quote from the LA Times..

"the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony is an established and growing ensemble that aims to fill a cultural niche by exploring new or seldom-heard music by or about Jews."

The symphony seems pretty active and has two upcoming concerts, a "Humanitarian Aid Concert" to benefit Mazon on June 13 and a "Cinema Judaica" concert that highlights Jewish film composers and Jewish or Israeli themed films on Aug 8th. Both shows are in LA. See their 2010 events page for more info.

Zinovy Goro, founding member of the LA Jewish Symphony, discusses klezmer music


LA Jewish Symphony on JLTV Education Program 2009

By the way...is it just me does the JLTV suit that introduces the JLTV spot make you claw your ears off. What a putz. Noreen Green of the LAJS wasn't much better "What is the Jewish Experience...but the Human Experience." Sigh. The most interesting thing about is that...we're just like everyone else. whoopie.

I'm being snarky, but I'm glad to know the the LA JS exists and hope to see them play sometime soon. I'm actually quite impressed that their "Cinema Judaica" concert focuses on films with Jewish themes AND skips "Schindler's List". Here's the run-down....

"Jerry Goldsmith's music from Masada, Elmer Bernstein's Ten Commandments Suite, and selections from films with Jewish themes by Steven Schwartz (Prince of Egypt) and Charles Fox's Victory at Entebbe Suite with Israeli-born pianist Andy Feldbau. The program will include World Music artist and composer Yuval Ron, featuring his music from West Bank Story, which won the 2006 Oscar for Best Live Action Short."

That's a great list. Go LAJS!

Upcoming Michigan Jewish Music Events

Hi folks...Spring is upon us. My dogwood is flowering, the kids are talking more about camp than school, and bands are touring. It's a great time for Jewish music on the North Coast.

Here are a couple of concerts that I know of coming up in May. If you know of others, let me know!

Kosha Dillz plays Union Station in Traverse City, Detroit, and Mt. Pleasant on May 5, 6, and 7.

Kosha Dillz is a hot Jewish hip-hop musician. His latest album Beverly Dillz, has been described as "uptempo, synthesized introduction to a spiritual fast life of the Hollywood underground via Garden State perspective, sprinkled with a touch of unorthodox "kosher" heritage and culture." For information on his tour stops or about his albums and mixtapes, see his myspace page.

Daniel Kahn plays the Detroit Folk Festival and Craft Fair on May 15th (or 16th?)

Michigan's own Daniel Kahn will be back from Germany to visit family and to play the 1st Annual Detroit Folk Festival and Craft Fair. Kahn plays a wicked Yiddish punk cabaret, evoking the salons pre-war Vienna and Berlin singing about parasitic capitalist bosses and Russian army draftees. I saw him wow a crowd of 400 in the fall and can't wait to see him again. Sorry I don't know which slot in the two day fest he's playing, but check in on the Festival website. They promise more info soon.

Uncle Moishe and the Mitzvah Men will hit the Detroit 'burbs on May 16

Uncle Moishe has been a mainstay of Orthodox children's music for decades, with a whole of series of popular CD's, video's, and concerts around the world. I don't have much info on the concert, but you can get contact info on the Detroit PlanIt Jewish website.

Heartland Klezmorim play the Detroit JCC on May 27

Lansing's own Heartland Klezmorim will be playing at the JCC in West Bloomfield on May 27 at noon. HK plays a loose and brassy klezmer that's always great fun.

The Shonde's hit Ann Arbor's B-Side on May 30.

The Shondes are one of my favorite punk bands, mixing diaspora Jewish and queer identify politics into "a twisted carnival film noir come true." Their riot-grrl growling is driven by typewriter drumming and lifted by a swirling violin, lush, lovely, and barbed. Oh, and they're some of the sweetest folks I've met and I owe Temim a corned beef sandwich and a donut.

The Ann Arbor B-Side is an all ages club. So bring your all-ages to the show. And to get warmed up, grab a copy of their brand new disc.

Update: The Red Sea Pedestrians play pretty much everywhere

I goofed and forgot to include the touring schedule of The Red Sea Pedestrians, Kalamazoo's own klezmer-tinged roots rock band. My bad. The RSP is a family favorite and was in heavy rotation in the car for a month after seeing them live last summer.

"The Red Sea Pedestrians are a one-of-a-kind, full-blown, instrument-swapping fusion between tradition and the here-and-now. We’re talkin’ high-energy world-beat grooves, hypnotic laments from the earth, songs of celebration and wonder: a warped and beautiful blend of Klezmer, Greek, Gypsy, Celtic, Jazz and American Roots, all filtered through the band’s original vision"

Here's their handy-dandy touring schedule widget with all their summer adventures listed. They'll be playing near you at least once. Promise.