Zoë Aqua / In a sea of stars

Klezmer, like Hassidism, is said to have originated in the lands where the Ottoman Empire overlapped with Europe, most specifically, in the lands now known as Romania. Indeed, the territory also became ground zero for Yiddish Theatre, as well, when native son Avrom Goldfaden launched the world's first professional troupe in 1876. Despite the decimation of Jewish communities and Jewish culture during the Holocaust, the region remains a potent center of traditional Eastern European Klezmer (and Romanian folk music. Starting with Bob Cohen and Josh Horowitz, back in the Seventies, a few special American musicians have cut their teeth there. Most recently fiddler/educator Zoë Aqua spent three years in Romania on a Fullbright grant to study Transylvanian folk music. Enchanted by some local synagogues, she got together with three musicians from the local Cluj folk revival scene and recorded this album. The music is wonderful. Indeed, it is impossible to criticize an album that begins with a nine-minute medley, "Suita Românească", of wondrously energetic, tuneful dance music, starting with a tune inspired by one of German Goldenshteyn's originals (he, himself, having been born in Romania) and continues in a traditional Romanian/klezmer vein. Eastern European Jewish roots music, re-imagined, wonderfully, for a new generation.

That this music was recorded in concert at two local synagogues increases the sense of wonder. While such concerts might never have been played pre-Holocaust when Jews abounded and used the shuln for prayer and study, it is easy to imagine that the modern inhabitants revel as much in such a concert as this, as, say, American synagogues now often now host such events. The reality seems to be that davening spaces make for wonderful accoustics and wonderful music. A few of these pieces are from Aqua's first album, "In Vald Arayn" (Miners Nign, Grodner Gan-Eydn, etc), albeit changed over time, or re-energized by her ensemble. All are her own compositions, based on the music around her and what she has learned as a klezmer over the years, composed around the world.

The virtuosity and energy of the band cannot be over-stated. Like the best of all live recordings, playing the music in the right setting with a good audience, with an excellent band, carries a special excitement and energy. Listening to "Betty's Creek Dobriden," a slow dance, hearing (or imagining) hints of the Appalachia where it was composed, with the two guitars and the cimbalom is one of many highlights, and reminds me of a visit decades ago to a Hungarian táncház (dance house). The "Terkisher pentru Efta Botoca" is not only perfectly rendered with fiddles and cimbalom, but it is a reminder that Aqua's occasional Brooklyn bandmate Ira Khonen Temple's "New Shoes" also starts off with those lovely Terkisher processional chords (but, without the cimbalom and the amazing violin explorations).

The album concludes, as so many klezmer concert sets do, with a set of bulgars, "Welcome to the Welcome." This one will be on my listening rotation for a long, long time.

Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 16-Jul-2026.

Songs

1. Suită românească: Goldenshteyn Învârtita, Bapolyer Hârțag, Sîrba Tinerilor, 2am Doina 9:25
2. Khosidl and Hârțag 6:04
3. Shvartz-royt fantaziye: Miner’s Nign (Széki csárdás) and the Kosher Porka 4:59
4. Betty’s Creek Dobriden 3:55
5. Heaven’s Vault (lassú) 2:52
6. Grodner gan-eydn (zhok) 2:45
7. Terkisher pentru Efta Botoca 3:38
8. Wetland Bătuta 2:37
9. A kukave fun vald (doina) 2:51
10. Reina’s March and March for Gyula 3:30
11. Welcome to the Welcome (bulgars) 4:06

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 recorded June 20, 2024 at the Decebal Street Synagogue in Satu Mare, Romania.

Tracks 1, 6, 7, 9, 11 recorded June 23, 2024 at the Vijnitzer Klaus Synagogue in Sighetu Maramației, Romania.

All compositions: Zoë Aqua. All rights reserved.

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