" /> the KlezmerShack: March 2010 Archives

« February 2010 | Main | April 2010 »

March 29, 2010

Moishe Oysher has fun with "Khad Gadya"

Found by Lori Lippitz of Maxwell St. Klezmer:

Have a sweet Passover and don't o.d. on the matzo brei.

March 28, 2010

Summer Klezmer Workshop, LeMans, France, Jul 25 - Aug 1 2010

Musique Ensemble 20thSummer Klezmer music workshop from July 25 to August 1, 2010.
250 km around Paris (France) near Le Mans. Open to non-professional musicians with fairly to very good level.

Group rehearsal, improvisation and with sheet music. Concert
in the near village at the end of the week.

Cost 550 € (food, lodging and music courses).
All details on our web site www.musique-ensemble.com

Yiddish Summer Weimar 2010 now online

yiddishkeit at Yiddish Summer Weimar 2010

Alan Bern announces the Yiddish Summer Weimar program, with several week-long workshops running from July 4 through Aug 2, 2010:

The website for Yiddish Summer Weimar 2010 is now online:

www.yiddishsummer.eu

Celebrating our 10th anniversary, this summer's overall topic is yidishkayt. The advanced vocal workshop topic is unaccompanied Yiddish folksong repertoire & style, led by Michael Alpert, Ethel Raim and Itzik Gottesman. The advanced klezmer workshop topic is non-dance repertoire & style, led by Zev Feldman, Josh Horowitz, Cookie Siegelstein, Stu Brotman, Steven Greenman, Michael Winograd, and others. We'll also conduct a 3-day seminar for professional Yiddish dance teachers & musicians led by Zev, Sue Foy, Christian Dawid and Jake Shulman-Ment, aimed at developing a unified dance/dance music culture based on the more gestural style of dancing practiced by Zev. For more information about these workshops and others, I invite you to check out the website. Best wishes to all, Alan Bern

Review of new Moshe Berlin CD

CD coverReview of the new Moussa Berlin CD, just in time for Pesakh, "זמירות וניחוחות מבית אבא" ("Psalms and scents from the house of father"). Review is in Hebrew:

ניחוחות וזמירות מבית אביו של מוסא ברלין, March 2, 2010.

March 24, 2010

Kafrissen on rebooting the Barry Sisters

Rokhl Kafrissen has an interesting piece on Reboot's recent rerelease of a late Barry Sisters recording in the latest issue of Jewish Currents to which I hope all KlezmerShack readers are subscribed. Take a look at Yiddish American Music: “Camp” or For Real?. Enjoy!

March 22, 2010

KlezKanada 2010, Aug 16-22 - Registration now open!

KlezKanada logo

Register now for KlezKanada 2010!
August 16th to 22nd
www.klezkanada.org

KlezKanada is preparing for its 15th year! We are in the midst of finalizing our 2010 faculty and creating a week of world-class programming. Each year we present an incredibly talented faculty and exciting new programming while still ensuring the atmosphere you love. This year is no exception—our program highlights this year are truly not to be missed!

Register now online

  • KlezKanada hosts the multi-award winning Other Europeans Project. Featuring acclaimed musicians from seven countries, this international ensemble explores the relationship, both historical and contemporary, between Jewish and Roma music.
  • The beloved Yiddish folksong duo Efim Chorney and Susan Ghergus returns to KlezKanada.
  • Our featured lecture program this year explores the rich culture and history of Jews in Canada.
  • KlezKanada is delighted to continue a major educational collaboration with the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. The Discovery Project mobilizes young people to seek out and document the kinds of Jewish cultural treasures about which they are most passionate.

Our unique youth programs continue to attract individuals from all over the world. We are happy to announce that The KlezKanada Youth Scholarship Program, The David Stein Memorial Filmmaking Scholarships and The KlezKanada Fellowship Program all continue this year.

The registration form and the scholarship application form for 2010 are now available on our website. Space is limited so please avoid disappointment by registering early! In addition, please arrange your travel plans to fit within the shuttle times provided online.

We (which includes the proprietor of this website) look forward to welcoming you at KlezKanada this summer!

"Yiddish Sources" website relaunched

From Gerben Zaagsma

I am pleased to announce the launch of the new version of Yiddish Sources today. You can visit the website here:

yiddish-sources.com

Yiddish Sources aims to be a comprehensive source of information for those who are interested in using Yiddish materials in their research. The information is arranged in three main sections: reference, research and events. A new addition is the Yiddish Studies Bibliography, an online bibliography which lists relevant scholarly literature in the field of Yiddish Studies.

Yiddish Sources and the Yiddish Studies Bibliography will be continuously updated. It is easy to stay updated on new content by subscribing to RSS feeds or follow Yiddish Sources on Twitter and Facebook.

Registered users can bookmark entries and also leave comments. Feedback and suggestions are very much appreciated. Please forward this announcement to anyone you think might be interested.

Jeremiah Lockwood - Forward's "Artist in Res" - Nigun Project

Jeremiah Lockwood, best known for his work in The Sway Machinery and Balkan Beat Box is this year's Artist in Residence at the Forward. In an article this week he describes, and provides a haunting recording, of his "Nigun Project," a fusion of African singing and nign.

The Nigun Project, by Jeremiah Lockwood, Mar 15, 2010

March 21, 2010

SoCalled documentary now available

See blog.nfb.ca/socalled for further information

The “Socalled” Movie is a documentary film about klezmer hip-hop artist Josh Dolgin—aka Socalled. Featuring Katie Moore, Fred Wesley, C-Rayz Walz, David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz, Arkady Gendler, Benjamin Steiger Levine, D-Shade, Gonzales and Irving Fields. The movie is a kaleidoscopic portrait, offering 18 entertaining short films about Socalled’s creative process.

March 20, 2010

Mardi Gras Day, French Quarter, New Orleans, German Goldenshteyn tune

How far behind is the KlezmerShack in reading correspondence? By us, it's still Mardi Gras in New Orleans, as you can see from this video supplied by the always-amazing Mark Rubin standing in with Panorama Jazz Band. We may let ourselves remain stuck in Mardi Gras for a while.

International Jewish Music Festival, the Netherlands, Oct 28-31, 2010

festival logoAmsterdam will once again host the world's most exciting and innovative Jewish Music Festival: October 28-31, 2010. In addition to our unique competition, you can enjoy workshops, master classes, jam sessions, and the Jewish cultural marketplace.

Details as they are available: www.ijmf.org. You can also sign up for the organization's mailing list.

A snapshot of Jewish music in Cuba

From Vancouver, CA Jewish Music correspondent Ethan Minovitz:

Last December, I was with the Cuba-America Jewish Mission (the only Canadian among 45 Americans). One of my donations to the library at the "Patronato" (the Jewish community center in Havana) was an Oxford Community Press fake book (with accompanying CD) for klezmer trio.

I hope this means Cuba will have its own klezmer band some day. The closest we got to Jewish music was the head of Caibarien's only Jewish family... he played a solo of Hatikvah on his sax! A member of our tour group loaded the video onto YouTube.

On the last night of the tour, we taught a restaurant trio (there's always an instrumental trio in a restaurant in Cuba) how to play Hava Nagilah. What the musicians lacked in ability, they more than made up for in enthusiasm... some German and Dutch tourists looked very quizzically at us all dancing the hora.

March 19, 2010

Review of Klezmatics in Somerville, MA

Attending my long-standing March "must-see" Balkan night last weekend, I not only missed the last events of the Boston Jewish Music Festival, but also missed one of my favorite bands in the world—

It was still a terrific show. I brought my 10 year old son, who had a blast. Despite the loss of someone apparently close to them all, they performed with humor and energy. It was not quite up to the MFA show of a couple of years back, but it was still among the best performances I have seen.

Two of the highlights of the concert were "Ki Loy Nue" and a rousing version of "Ale Brider." Joshua Nelson did a funny and original piece called "I Want to Be a More Observant Jew" during the encore. If there was a featured player during the evening, it was Matt Darriau, who played alto sax most of the time and soloed with Joshua Nelson on two different pieces. He was on. As I wrote before—it was a terrific concert—the melodies are still running though my head, and the energy from Saturday night still puts a spring in my step.