Hava Nagila - Israelisk folksång

Spiegel im Spiegel - av Arvo Pärt, estnisk minimalistisk kompositör

My Heart is in the Highlands - samma som ovan

klezmer - ett för mig okänt band, som spelar någon variant av klezmer-musik

Två exempel på sefardisk musik: ett och två

Ahinoam Nini  - jemenitisk-judisk sång

hasidic allsång!

 Kalashnikov - av Goran Bregovich, serbisk musiker

weddings and funerals gas gas - av samme som ovan (en låt som f.ö. spelades som paus-underhållning i senaste Eurovision Song Contest i - Serbien)

O store Gud - gammal svensk psalm (bland många, många andra bra...)

Tack min Gud för allt som varit - ytterligare psalm; tyvärr dåligt exempel, men man kan ändå läsa texten.

(sydafrikanska) Johnny Clegg & Savuka; One Man One Vote, samt I think I know why the dog howls at the moon

Dans på de saligas ängder (en liten blomma ur den klassiska musikens stora trädgård) - av Christoph Gluck

Li Beirut - av Fairouz, libanesisk (maronit) sångerska; otroligt vacker röst. En del av texten lyder enligt följande på engelska:

To Beirut - peace to Beirut with all my heart
And kisses - to the sea and clouds
To the rock of a city that looks like an old sailor's face.
From the soul of her people she makes wine,
From their sweat, she makes bread and jasmine.
So how does her taste become a taste of fire and smoke?

Den salige Seraphim Rose har sagt följande om kultur, så det gäller ju musiken också:

The world´s best culture, properly received,  refines and developes the soul...we can use the best things the world has to offer to go beyond them; everything good in the world, if only we are wise enough to see it, points to God, and to Orthodoxy, and we have to make use of it

Now thats the type of girl I can bring back to mother

A band of a couple of Israeli ex-pats (Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat) who collaborate with a few others (including Tomer Yosef).

Punk Mediterranean Klezmer?

Great stuff, can't wait to catch them in September.  Mike, you in?

Other good stuff of theirs:

• Bulgarian Chicks
• Digital Monkey
• Balcasio

I can't even start to imagine how his family and fellow musicians will ever come to terms with his random and violent murder.

In the days since Michael's death the music community has come together to play and remember Michael with love and warmth and share their grief and disbelief that he could be so suddenly taken from them.

For now though, I'll leave you with a clip of Michael playing with Ros Hawley. Rest in peace Michael.

Bon fra helvete:

Kontroll Pa Kontinentet:

Kaizers Orchestra is an alternative rock group, formed in Norway in 2000. The sextet is well known for their energetic live shows, the interlocking stories found in their lyrics, about the mafia, war, underground resistance groups and mental institutions, as well as their trademark 1940 gas mask. Kaizers Orchestra are notable for being among the first Norwegian bands or artists singing in their native language to become popular in non-Scandinavian Europe. The band explore many different genres of music, the most prominent being gypsy-punk and balkan brass.

Enden Av November:

Bak et Halleluja:

Hevnervals:

Ompa Til Du Dor:

Evig Pint:

Mann mot mann:

Kontroll Pa Kontinentet (clip):

Sigoynerblod:

Links:
http://www.kaizers.no/
http://www.myspace.com/kaizerso
http://kaizers.konzertjunkie.de/
http://www.kaizers.de/x_index.php
http://www.freewebs.com/kaizersinst/

there was so much good love in the room tonight, and so many people that I really care about. i was so glad, specifically, that albert and laura and robin and greg and nirvan and levi and patrick and dennis and david and andrea and nick and christine were all there to hear the new evangenitals tunes, and soooooo friggin' happy that they all seemed to like them so much. it seems "i'm sad" is the new unassuming hit song. you can look forward to hearing more of that at upcoming shows -- somewhere in the middle, right before we start rockin' to the end.

i've been thinking of opening sets with "bad town" lately, just to kick the barn doors open and establish ourselves clearly. WE ARE HERE! we used to start all the sets off slow and easy and work our way up to the shit-kickin', but i'm thinking it may be best if we just cut to the chase and squeeze the slow in the middle somewhere. i'm really enjoying playing with henry bermudez and david hurlin... they bring such great energy and enormous talent to everything they touch. it's an honor and a privilege to share the stage with them, and ESPECIALLY to have them playing with tunes that i wrote. ridiculous.

i wish we could have played more songs tonight... the show was running late, though, and i had promised to play the new stuff. i had really wanted to do "it takes a long time" for nirvan and levi, and the new version of "the hole" -- klezmer style. ah, well. that's what future shows are for, i suppose. as for now, i need sleep. i've got a long drive to Bakerfield in the a.m. with the Cash'd Out boys where we'll be playing some sort of a "soccer fundraiser" event... With all of Cash'd Out piling into one automobile, i am actually looking forward to the drive. :-)

Loving you, through it all,
Reverend Juli of the Evangenitals

Review: Klezmachine
Klezfactor

One of the most interesting groups on the scene today is Klezfactor, the Neo-Klezmer band led by composer/Reed player/Producer Mike Anklewicz. Their new release, Klezmachine, continues the klez/jazz/funk sound that first grabbed my attention when I heard their first album, The Golem Of Bathurst Manor. The music is smooth, rich in harmonies and textures, and is unforgettable. All but one of these tracks was penned by Anklewicz, and he has certainly made his mark on the World Music community. The performances are outstanding, giving free reign to the band members to bring their own personalities and experiences to the table with ample time given for improvisation. I loved all the songs on the album, each one making its own statement and contributing to the project as a whole.

The title track, Klezmachine, shows us right from the beginning that Anklewicz’ contemporary vision is rooted in the Klezmer tradition. By starting the song as a thin, scratchy 78 RPM recording sound, we see the beginnings of recorded Klezmer music. Then, they gracefully transition to a clean contemporary-sounding entrance of the rhythm section, followed by the band joining in on the main theme. It’s a gimmick to be sure, but it is not overdone, and I think is a great way of paying homage to the early recordings that we all love while pushing the envelope of today’s music. Well done Klezfactor!

A favorite is Bulgarian Dance (Kopanitsa), a great tune that is lively and has a fabulous bass line that drives the whole way through. The band comes in with the Bulgarian melody, then opens up for solos from Clarinet and Violin. The Piano soon joins in on the bass line, and by the end everyone plays it in unison. The song has a nice additional touch. The band claps the bass line at the beginning and end of the song. It lends a different element to the song, and gets us into the Bulgarian rhythm that keeps looping through our mind long after the song ends.

There are a pair of Waltzes that add some nice colors to the album. Golden Medine is a fast waltz the has a nice flowing melody, with some great harmonies, and nice solos from Guitar and Clarinet. Waltz For Ronit is a slow waltz and is an extended solo vehicle for Anklewicz’ beautiful Alto Sax. I liked the lovely accompaniment from the rhythm section and some nice touches from the Violin and Cello.

Rumanian Rhythm is a jazzy Latin-influenced Rumanian tune that is a nice blend of sounds and textures, and features a Piano solo by Ali Berkok.

Klezfactor has always done well with the Jazz/Funk side of their personality, and again they do not disappoint. The band really cranks it up a notch with The Jewce (Manischewitz) and Gonif. I really like the heavier rhythm section combined with a light Piano and the great Clarinet/Sax/Violin work.

A nod to Sephardic/Yemenite tradition comes from Dundah Meditation and Dror Yikra, starting out with Dumbek and layers of long tone rich harmonies from the band as Anklewicz soars above with a beautiful sax solo that serves as a prelude to Limore Twena’s distinctive vocal, accompanied so well by Oud, Strings, and Sax.

Those of you who like mainstream jazz will certainly go for Greenhouse Effect with a nice 5/4 swing feel, Electric Bass, and some outstanding solo Piano again from Berkok. The ending is cool, as the band drops out leaving only the Sax and Violin. Wonderful!

New Age fans will want to check out Chalom and the triplet background that moves around the rhythm section in this interesting waltz. Then we are treated to a nice Bass solo from Michael Smith, as well as a Violin solo from Ben Plotnick.

The last track, Shepping Nakhes, brings us ful circle back to the more traditional Klezmer melodies (but keeping the Electric Bass and Electric Guitar). Anklewicz on Clarinet and Plotnick on Violin make a great duo and show that they have a firm grasp of Klezmer.

The album sounds terrific. The engineering and mixing by Jim Morgan are great. The instruments are nicely balanced and even the smallest cymbal hits can be heard clearly.

My preview copy had no liner notes to speak of, only a two-page CD insert that lists the tracks and credits. I am told that the full release will have more complete liner notes and artwork.

A very exciting extra from the Klezfactor website is the Making of Klezmachine Podcast. What a great idea! Anklewicz and Ali Berkok take us behind the scenes of the recording, mixing, and editing that was used to make the album. I especially enjoyed the way that they deconstructed Dror Yikra to show how a song is built up from the basic tracks with overdubs and alternate takes. This is fascinating listening. Nice job Mike!

Anklewicz pours his soul into this music and the album. He has surrounded himself with sidemen who share his vision and passion. It is a great gift to us, the listeners. I highly recommend Klezmachine. I’ll be keeping it in my music rotation for a long time.

Keith Wolzinger
Klezmer Podcast

Klezmachine
Klezfactor
2008 Mike Anklewicz

Track listing:

1 Klezmachine
2 Goldene Medine
3 Bulgarian Dance (Kopanitsa)
4 Waltz for Ronit
5 The Jewce (Manischewitz)
6 Dunash Meditation
7 Dror Yikra
8 Chalom
9 Greenhouse Effect
10 Rumanian Rhythm
11 Gonif
12 Shepping Nakhes

Play time: 58 min.

Links:
Klezfactor
MySpace
CBC Radio
Making Of Klezmachine Podcast

Killing Joke by Killing Joke. (eMusic just had their more recent stuff) I have an unhealthy nostalgic obsession with music that I would have listened to as a teenager if only I'd had a brain and a spine. Killing Joke are particularly poignant because I remember in the 10th grade a dude saying "Steve, you gotta go see Killing Joke at the Keystone Berkeley," to which I probably replied "get serious, man, they have short hair." (I didn't even have enough sense to enjoy the Subhumans show that I saw) And I love the anecdote that they got heavy into occult shit and convinced themselves that the apocalypse was coming so they moved to Iceland.

Zemir Atick by the Urban Tunélls Klezmer Band. Total blind impulse grab. Good stuff, kinda mellower than my favorite contemporary klezmer, but energetic and unimpeachably executed. Samples at link.

C-Mon & Kypski began as the hiphop/turntable act of long time friends Simon Akkermans (C-Mon) and Dutch turntable champion Thomas Elbers (Kypski). The pair released their debut album “Vinyl Voodoo” in 2003. Shortly thereafter, the duo decided to expand into a full band, adding Daniel Rose on guitars and Jori Collignon ..s.

More here:
http://www.C-Monandkypski.nl
http://myspace.com/cmonandkypski
http://youtube.com/cmonkypski

In Bremen ging in diesen Tagen die Ausstellung Klezmer - Hejmisch & Hip mit dem Untertitel Musik als kulturelle Ausdruckform im Wandel der Zeit zu Ende. Diese Wanderausstellung gibt historische und aktuelle Informationen in Bild, Text und Ton und präsentiert anschaulich die vielfältige weltweite Diskussion zum Thema. Der Blick über den Zaun zum schillernden Feld der Weltmusik ist dabei ein wichtiger Aspekt - ebenso wie die Frage nach der besonderen Bedeutung dieser Musik im jüdischen Selbstverständnis und im deutsch-jüdischen Verhältnis. Leihgeber ist die Stadt Gelsenkirchen / Referat in Kooperation mit der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.

Zu dieser Ausstellung wurde ein umfangreiches wie auch fantastisches Rahmenprogramm entwickelt, das von Tanz- u. Instrumental-Workshops, über wissenswerte Vorträge, einem sehr interessanten Kinofilm über die berühmten Epstein-Brüder bis hin zu grandiosen Konzerten reichte. Abschluss bildete die legendäre 10. Bremer Klezmer Nacht in der Kulturkirche St. Stephani. Hier verführte der unverwechselbare und große Interpret des jiddischen Liedes Karsten Troyke aus Berlin mit seiner einzigartigen Stimme, und unterstützt vom fantastischen Trio Scho und dem gefühlvollen Klarinettisten Jan Hemerschmidt, die begeisterten Zuhörer und Zuschauer in die Welt des Klezmers - mal tanzend fröhlich, denn trauernd melancholisch.

Die Bremer Gruppe Klezgoyim trug ebenfalls mit ihrer Instrumental-Musik - mal ernst nachdenklich, aber dann wieder fröhlich - zum Gelingen des Abends bei. Insbesondere das große Finale aller Musiker auf der Bühne sorgte für pure Spielfreude bei den Musikern, die überschwappte aufs Publikum, und ich wage zu behaupten, bis in manches Herz des Klezmer-Begeisterten, der mit einer Träne im Auge und mit einer Seele voll Glückseligkeit in einer lauen Sommernacht den Heimweg antrat.

Doch was verbirgt sich überhaupt hinter dem Begriff Klezmer? Ursprünglich bezog sich der Begriff klezmer (Plural klezmorim) auf die Musiker. Die Klezmermusik ist eine traditionelle jüdische Fest- und Feiermusik, entstanden im Lebensumfeld der Juden Osteuropas. Ihre Wurzeln in der mittelalterlichen Tradition der aschkenasischen Juden, die Weiterentwicklungen durch die jüdischen Einwanderer in den USA und Israel im 20. Jh. und das weltweite Revival seit rund 20 Jahren lassen diese Musik in vielerlei Hinsicht zu einem spannenden Feld musikhistorischer Betrachtungen werden.

Mich persönlich fasziniert die Musik des Klezmers auf vielerlei Hinsicht. Zum einen ist es toll, dass sich eine solche Musikrichtung über Jahrhunderte halten konnte, doch nicht nur das, sondern auch, dass es in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu einem Revival dieser Musik kam. Ob im 16. oder im 21. Jahrhundert - Klezmer hat an Gefühl und Leidenschaft nichts eingebüßt.

Die Schnelllebigkeit und Wertelosigkeit der heutigen Zeit geht ja bekanntlich auch am Musikwesen nicht vorbei. Eine Kunst, an den Casting-Shows heutzutage vorbei zu kommen. Was zählt ist die Quote und das Geld. Klezmer dagegen transportiert Emotionen, ja sogar kleine Geschichten. Werte wie Trauer, Freude, Liebe oder Leid werden musikalisch hochgehalten. Die Steigerung vom Hören dieser Musik ist selber spielen. Als Klarinettist darf ich sagen, es ist ein Gefühl von Reinigung der Seele; seiner eigenen, aber auch die der Zuhörer.Das bedeutet für mich Klezmer.

Darum ist dies eine positive Nachricht der Kategorie „Ganz persönlich".

Linktipp: Wikipedia

Linktipp: Martin Kratsch, Klarinettist der Gruppe Klezgoyim

Poza Bablem, muszę przyznać, mój kontakt z kulturą żydowską nie jest tak duży - Kabała, Isaak Bashevis Singer, hip hop klezmerka Socalled, wszystkie wcielenia Johna Zorna i okolic. Mieszkałem w mieście, w którym przed wojną było jedna trzecia mieszkańcow była narodowosci żydowskiej, a w którego okolicach tłum zamordował kilku żydowskich kupców.

Pomijając ciemne strony i skupiając się na muzyce. Klezmerskie granie to dobre granie. Kto nie słyszał, niech zajrzy:

tutaj po pełny album Red Hot Chatchkas (Family album)

Sporo nagrań M'Chayech

I loved the subject of today's Global Hit:  Abraham Inc.

It's the funk-klezmer fusion project whose core is clarinetist David Krakauer, trombone player Fred Wesley, and rapper DJ SoCalled.

Abraham Inc. and its combination of black and Jewish traditions also reminded me of the scene I encountered in Kingston, Jamaica back in January, another unexpected juxtaposition of black and Jewish culture.

In a Kingston slum just behind the Red Stripe brewery is a potter's field that is also the site of a Jewish cemetery that dates to the mid-1600s.  Its history is fascinating.  You can see a repeat of a slideshow here from a dedication of the cemetery from early February 2008 that originally was featured on www.theworld.org.

Enter The Afro-Semitic Experience on June 5th as part of the Washington Jewish Music Festival to narrow that gulf, if only a little. Led for nearly a decade by Warren Byrd and David Chevan, TASE not only talks the talk, but walks the walk by responding to racism and anti-Semitism with its unique fusion of Gospel, Klezmer, Jazz, Niggunim, Spirituals, Swing and straight-up Funk. Granted, the premise seems tailor-made to produce cheap warm fuzzies of racial tolerance--but TASE brings the chops that imbues their polyglot sound with artistic validity that is impossible to deny.

The only way to become a believer is to take a listen for yourself. The track below is "Nefesh" from This Is the Afro-Semitic Experience.

[audio http://16thstreetj.wordpress.com/files/2008/04/05-nefesh.mp3]

Tickets are on sale May 1 for the Washington Jewish Music Festival. The Festival begins June 1 with the Capital Celebration of Israel @ 60 on the National Mall featuring Regina Spektor, Mandy Patinkin and Mashina.
 

I recently attended the second in a series of lectures given by Jordan Klapman on the Jewish contribution to Tin Pan Alley. I regret missing the first in the series and hope to make it for the 3rd. Some notable points from this lecture:

1) It is easy to detect clear Klezmer influences in the music of the period. For example, Klapman played a recording of the Eddie Cantor classic "Lena From Palestina" which has clear origins in the Klezmer standard "Noch a Bisl" (A Little More). Other examples are "And the Angels Sing" recorded by Benny Goodman which owes its origins to "Der Shtiler Bulgar" (A Quiet Bulgar).

2) Prior to 1920 and the advent of records and radio, songs were sold as sheet music. People would purchase the songs and learn to perform them themselves. With the advent of records, sheet music sales declined markedly, and with the advent of radio, even more so.

3) Radio originally refused to pay artists for airing their works. They claimed they were transmitting 'ether' (an antiquated term for radio waves). It took ASCAP 7 years of legal proceedings to force radio to pay royalties to ASCAP members. This has strong parallels to file sharing technologies which claim innocence by the defence "we're transmitting bits."

4) With the decimation of the sheet music market, music was reduced to a pulp industry. The emphasis was on quantity over quality in the hopes that one song would meet with fame. The advent of radio further exacerbated this problem in that now audiences could tire of music much more rapidly than before. Thus composers were forced to produce more in order to keep themselves in the public eye.

On a completely different note, I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to like music that sets a soundscape - music you can just sit back and listen to with your eyes closed, and take in. It helps if it has lyrics that are somehow meaningful to me or mystical in nature.

The clip I'm going to share with you today fills all of those categories. The group is A Groyse Metsie, described by their website as playing Jewish progressive Klezmer music. This song lyrics are very much based in the Kabbalah, which is essentially the mystical branch of the Jewish religion.

And I have been interested in the Kabbalah for a while, though I haven't really studied it that seriously. I'm likely to approach it from more of a Wiccan, and ultimately, Discordian approach anyways.

"All right, this is the path between the sphere Hod, and Netzach. I will now meditate on it with the following mantra: 'SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! Lovely SPAM!'"

Ahem. Enough of that for the moment. Here is the song I wanted to share, which is far more serious in nature[1] then the proceeding, "You Set My Soul Free Ki Hilazta":

A Groyse Metsie - "You Set My Soul Free Ki Hilazta"

[1] I'm a Discordian, so being too serious about religion is against my religion[2].

[2] Or to be more precise, expressing my religious beliefs without enough levity is against my religion. God is joy. And there is much joy in laughter. And there is much laughter to be found in the Three Stooges. :)

Escribir con entusiasmo creyente un post en apología a la Emuná (la palabra hebrea para fe) nunca estuvo en mis planes pues 'soy ateo gracias a Di's' pero ¡Oy Gevalt!, me declaro ahora adicto a Emunah, la banda que remece el circuito británico de la world music. Su repertorio de hiphop y psyco-klezmer me hace gozar cuándo sacude las tradiciones judías con su con su fusión de melodías del mundo: rock, breaks, voces y bases drum & bass.

El nacimiento de está nueva fe sucede luego de noctámbulas conversaciones en una casa del norte de Londres el año 2002, cuándo dos amigos convierten el dormitorio de uno de ellos en el templo sacro donde hoy desvarían seis iniciados en la música radical judía. Se trata de una ‘fe' cuyos demiurgos proceden de diversos orígenes étnicos, eso incluye creyentes judíos, israelíes agnósticos e inmigrantes rusos.

Pero como buena fe que se precie de tal, lo que está removiendo Emunah en los pubs britanicos sobrepasa la mera practica del klezmer world music; son parte importante de la actual revolución contracultural judía. Aquella que empezó en Nueva York a principios de los 90' como el entusiasta intento de crear una nueva identidad judía, de estructura más radical, menos culpable y con nuevos sentidos de diversión. Ese mismo movimiento contracultural que edita Heeb Magazine, JLifestyle o The anarchist ortodhox, y que tanta falta hacen en nuestras mostrencas kehilot chilenas y andinas.

Emunah entusiasma porque no sólo suena bien sino que suena irremediablemente judío, adictivamente hip-popero y garantizadamente libre; como ocurre con su versión tardo-industrial del tradicional salmo Essai Einai, o el anómalo tango-beat, que sonará delicioso al publico trasandino de YOK (judaísmo a tu manera), la agrupación de amigos porteños que hastiados de proseguir con los kvetchjed (quejidos) de la argentinidad judía, está más preocupada de generar contenidos sin entramparse en evaluaciones y juicios de valor sobre la (im)pertinencia de sus actividades.

Esta reinvención del judaísmo por intermedio de la música tiene dos responsables:

Darren Turze, quien viene de cantar de su shul de infancia, pasando por rock'n'rolleros niggunim hasta comparecer en el espacio musical con su propuesta de Klezbass fusión. Por estos días se afana con el diseño de la música para la película documental ‘Children of the Ghetto', un film sobre el barrio de Spitalfields, East London. Donde por doscientos años, cristianos, judíos y musulmanes han vivido y trabajado pegados el uno al otro. También le entusiasma el curso que dicta en Limmud de introducción al mundo de la música judía contemporánea. El único requisito que Darren pone es asistir con la mente abierta y escuchar música judía junto con rock, hip hop, drum'n'bass y electro.

El otro socio es Dan Silverstein, quien con su reconocida capacidad de escritura creativa y college en Ciencias Políticas en la universidad de Pembroke, logra hacer de Emunah un experimento sólido. En la actualidad administra PsychoSemitic, una serie de nocturnas experiencias en clubes que une a las personas por medio de DJs, arte en vivo y baile. La próxima cita es el 6 de abril en el bar 93 Feet East, un carrete No-alcohólico (por respeto a las costumbres islámicas), donde estará Y-Love, Jake Break & dj driver, una genial agrupación de hip hop newyorkino que juega a crear mundos cabalísticos con el uso del inglés, hebreo, árabe, latín, idisch y arameo.

Según su propia definición suenan como: "Some scratchin, some more bass...flavours from klezmer to bhangra, hip hop, reggae, breaks and drumn'bass fused with sounds from around the world." Y sólo como referencia, los ‘menahels' de esta nueva tribu reconocen a profetas como: LTJ Bukem, Bob Dylan, Sasha, Bjork, Ella Fitzgerald, Leonard Cohen, Reprazent, Rakim, Massive Attack, Shlomo Carlebach, Young, Orbital, Jimi Hendrix, The Roots y Johnny Cash.

La cofradía musical está compuesta por los siguientes revoltosos tzadikim: Darren Turze (guitarras), Dan Silverstein (lírica), Vika Evdokimenko (voz), Marc Specter (bajo), Beats Boy (drums), Meg Hamilton (violín) e Ibrahim Sha'ath (voz).

En definitiva, si estás aburrido de raperos que riman como boricuas o flaites copiones del gansta-rap, es el momento de la Emunah, escríbeles tu kvetch a mailto:info@emunahmusic.com

Sunset from Manhattan Bridge via subway, en route to gig

Getting a call on a Sunday morning to play at Webster Hall the same evening would seem like a rare thing. But somehow the day began to acquire its own unusualness. It was unseasonably warm and sunny, to begin with, and I got all caught up in the historicity of it for me. Besides, Hugo Chavez was deploying troops on the border with Columbia, further driving up the prices of oil (and cocaine). And mother Russia was holding an election.

above, L to R: myself, Tim Monaghan, Alicia Jo Rabins, Annette Ezekiel, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, Aaron Diskin

So the various members of Golem, who had spread themselves out for a hitherto quiet weekend, hurriedly drove, flew, and paddled back to the city for a show with Leningrad, an energetic, 17-or-so-piece ska/rock band from-- as you might guess-- St. Petersburg.

Me, I took the R train (rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge, see above).

Leningrad at work. The band drew a very enthusiastic crowd, mostly seeming to be Russian or Russian ex-pats. A barrier was erected in front of the stage prior to their set.

"Полный Пиздец"

"Charalatan-ka"

"Bublichki"

Links:
Hilda Bronstein
ARC Music

Klezmer, ce n’est pas un personnage, mythique, philosophe ou être pensant. Ce n’est pas une créature judaïque, statut d’argile qui n’obéit qu’à celui qui connaît son nom. C’est une musique déracinée, indéracinable dans le cœur de Joann Sfar qui déride et prolonge la magie même quand il n’est plus temps. Celle des orchestres itinérants juifs ashkénazes, assimilable au jazz manouche, dissociable du reste et fait pour tous. Un emblème, un cri pour une bande dessinée décidément décisive, immanquable, bouleversante.

J’en fais des tonnes ?

Klezmer, c’est pour l’instant trois tomes : I. « Conquête de l’Est », II. “Bonne anniversaire Scylla”, III. « Tous des voleurs ». A venir « Kishinev des fous ». Mais je ne vous parlerai que de « Conquête de l’Est » , sorti en 2005 chez Gallimard Jeunesse.

Jeunesse ?

L’enfance, oui mais sans restriction. Un conte à pile ou face qui ne laisse pas place au lisse ni aux races. Un bonbon acide où les juifs ne sont pas ni les plus, ni les moins méchants.

Je vous explique…

…pourquoi pas après tout.