New klezmer inspiration youtube playlist!
/I have been encouraged to put klezmer youtubes I have enjoyed on a playlist for easy listening and viewing and have done this! I'll be adding to it monthly. Feel free to check it out below.
I'll be writing my thoughts and discoveries about everything klezmer. Feel free to add comments. Thanks!
Klezmer concerts in Seattle December 2016
/Klez Chaos is excited to be performing at Seattle Center's Armory as part of Winterfest. We'll be playing Sunday, December 18th at 12:30 pm. Free!
The Klezmatics will be performing Sunday night December 18th at Mercer Island's Stroum Jewish Community Center. These world class klezmer musicians put on quite a show. Info and tickets here: http://sjcc.org/cultural-arts/music/#klezmatics
Marvelous website with klezmer links
/I have discovered a wonderful resource on the KlezCalifornia website. http://www.klezcalifornia.org/resources/style Some of the links I have on my page also. This list is wonderfully comprehensive with resources for many instruments, among other things. A favorite I found here is Dave Tarras, playing a one-concert in 1978 when he was 81. There are many treasures here.
Sneak Preview of "I Missed My Train"
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Friday July 15th -- It all starts at 7pm at the Seattle Film Institute -- 3210 16th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119
In addition to a sneak peak screening we will also be featuring...
A performance by actor David Natale
Music by Klezmer Fun Der Tog (Bernice Maslan, Barry Pollack, and Michael Falcone)
Refreshments by Leah's Catering
Young Ernst is rescued by the resistance in this storyboard rendering by artist Clayton Ballard.
I Missed My Train, a documentary currently in production, focuses on one man’s journey revisiting his experiences as a hidden child during the Holocaust. The film follows retired businessman Ernst Van Gelderen as he recounts key events of his early years during WW II. Along the way his personal memories are juxtaposed against the historical context of those times provided by several renowned European experts. Ernst’s powerful memories from one of the most traumatic time periods in history will leave you questioning the meaning of fate, your definition of family, and how much the world has actually changed.
Klezmer music in unexpected places
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Tonight I had the good fortune to attend a musical program at Seatle's Swedish Center featuring Semmy Stahlhammer, First Concertmaster at the Stockholm Royal Opera, faculty member at the Stockholm Royal Music College, and solo artist on 20 CD recordings. In addition to classical and chamber music, he honors his Polish Jewish heritage with Stahlhammer Klezmer, a trio with accordion and cello. Who knew there was Klezmer music in Sweden? What a fabulous evening of music! I've just started reading his book Code Name Barber, which tells his father's story of life in Poland, then escaping as a teenager in German work camps, as a Polish partisan, in the Red Army, and finally ending up in Sweden with two of his brothers.
Yiddish Tango: Papirosin
/Periodically I find interesting youtubes of Klezmer music. Looking for tangos, I stumbled across our old favorite Papirosin, done very tastefully as a tango. To me, the singer Zully Goldfarb is reminiscent of Edith Piaf with her pathos.
Klezmer music with a mariachi band!
/We know klezmer music is played the world over. Here Moshe Mendelson is accompanied by his mariachi band as he sings Romanie Romanie. Check out his other youtubes as well.
Klezmer Contra dance tonight, December 24th, 2015!
/Eighteen of us will be playing lively klezmer music for a contra dance at Lake City Community Center in Seattle tonight at 8 pm. Here we are rehearsing.
Baladino: exciting Ladino folk rock concert Saturday, November 21, 2015
/Baladino, hailing from Berlin and TelAviv, will be presenting contemporary Mediterranean folk rock, Ladino melodies and electronic grooves at the Stroum JCC on Mercer Island this Saturday night. They make traditional Sephardic melodies come alive with rock improvisation, stunning vocals, and more. You'll enjoy the show. TIckets are available at www.sjcc.org for $20-25. This is co-presented by UW Jewish & Sephardic Studies, don't miss the new faces of Ladino world music – old souls and new sounds.
Wandering Muse: Jewish musicians from around the globe
/A new website launched in October: WanderingMuse.net is an online audiovisual archive and community of Jewish musicians from around the globe. This is a wonderfully rich website. Check out this trailer for the movie entitled Wandering Muse about Jewish music and the people who play it. Those of us who have been to klezmer camps will see some familiar faces.
Synchronicity
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Just after last month's klezmer jam, I received an email from a man who visited Seattle from Miami. He had seen an excellent klezmer duo at the Pike Place Market and purchased their CD and wondered if I knew who they were so he could send them some photos. I wouldn't have known them, except that they participated in the klezmer jam the previous night. So, this blurb is dedicated to Ken from Miami, and Evan and Theodora in Seattle.
Klezmer music & Simchat Torah
/Last night I played with the KlezKidz at Temple Beth Am for Simchat Torah, a joyous celebration of the completion of the annual reading of the Torah. People danced in the seven hakafot or circles to our music with Torah scrolls. Klezmer music fits in great at all simchas (happy occasions)!
The KlezKidz is a wonderful multi-generational klezmer band directed by Wendy Marcus with arrangements by Shawn Weaver. Here we are playing for Hanukah 2007 at University Village. If you look closely you might recognize a few people in the band.
Klezmer music and Yiddish dancing
/Klezmer music and Yiddish dancing go together to maximize the enjoyment of both. I recently had the good fortune to take Steve Weintraub's workshop at Klez Kanada on leading Yiddish dancing, then I got to lead Yiddish dancing at the wedding of two friends. What fun! Sorry the picture is not more clear, but you can't miss the smiles on the faces.
New Klezmer blog!
/The world of klezmer in general and klezmer on line is a rich one. Pick almost any tune or song and search for it and you'll find numerous references and youtubes. Recently I became interested in Abi Gesint and found lots of great references, including this youtube featuring Molly Picon. Click here to see a nice history of the song from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music (another great resource).