the KlezmerShack

Once again, it's Bandcamp Friday. This is the day to make purchases from Bandcamp, the first Friday of the month, because all of the proceeds go 100% to the musicians. With the High Holidays, the only new recording I've had time to listen to seriously this month is the amazing new Polina Shepherd release, "Such a Blue Night," a wonderful excursion into art song (and a mind-blowing wedding suite) that features Shepherd on voice and piano, her husband Merlin on clarinet, and the Klezmatic's Lorin Sklamberg on vocal harmonies.

But, I also wanted to call attention to that bi-annual gathering of what's new and wonderful in Jewish Music: the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto. As Eric Stein, the festival's artistic director notes, it may be time to change the name, given the breadth of music that the festival encompasses. For instance (going alphabetically):

• Neta Elkayam, an Israeli singer currently based in New Orleans with her husband, who has written wonderful new Arabic songs, heavily influenced by both her current New Orleans jazz scene and her Moroccan roots, and inspired by oral histories of French Jews she heard that were recorded in 1965 in a French transit camp: Arénas, 2026 (reviewed 1-Sep-2026)
• Lily Henley, an American bluegrass musician with Ladino-speaking ancestry who has been performing traditional Ladino songs, as well as composing her own new ones, sometimes to bluegrass music. She is also one of my favorite current performers. We arrived from Boston seconds before she came onto the Ashkenaz stage and were swept away (not for the first time): Oras Dezaoradas, 2022 (review 10-Sep-2022)
• The Klezmatics, recently released what may be their best and most timely release ever: We were made for these times, 2026 (reviewed 11-Jun-2026). They are performing like a band on fire—catch them on their current tour if you can.
• Michael Winograd, has re-assembled his "Honorable Mentshn" and, like The Klezmatics, they are on fire. You can get a taste of how great they sound from his live performance of the Dave Tarras/Sam Musiker classic, Michael Winograd plays TANZ! Live in New York City, 2025 (reviewed 1-Jun-2026).

There was lots more good music at Ashkenaz. This is just what I've had a chance to hear and write about.