The Klezmatics
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The Klezmatics | |
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![]() The Klezmatics, early 2000s line-up. | |
Background information | |
Genres | Klezmer |
Years active | 1986 | –present
Website | www |
Members | Matt Darriau, Frank London, , Lorin Sklamberg, Lisa Gutkin, David Licht, Richie Barshay |
Past members | David Krakauer, Margot Leverett, , Alicia Svigals, . |
The Klezmatics are an American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins.[1] They have also recorded pieces in Aramaic and Bavarian.
Personnel[]
Current members include composers Matt Darriau, alto saxophone, clarinet, and kaval, and Frank London, on trumpet and keys, playing bass and tsimbl cimbalom, vocalist Lorin Sklamberg on accordion and piano, Lisa Gutkin on violin and vocals, and David Licht or Richie Barshay on drums.
Past members include David Krakauer, Margot Leverett, and Michael Lowenstern on the clarinet, Alicia Svigals on violin, and David Lindsay on bass. In addition, , Susan McKeown, Joshua Nelson, Chava Alberstein, and have frequently collaborated with the band.
History[]
The group formed in New York's East Village in 1986.[1] They have appeared numerous times on television, including on the PBS Great Performances series, with Itzhak Perlman.
The Klezmatics appeared live, in June 2003, in collaboration with the Jenaer Philharmonie of Jena, Germany. They have also participated in cross-cultural collaborations, notably with the Romani virtuoso Ferus Mustafov, Israeli singers Chava Alberstein and Ehud Banay, American singer Arlo Guthrie, and Moroccan musicians The Master Musicians of Jajouka.
In Berlin, they worked with poet Allen Ginsberg. Trumpeter Frank London composed the score for Pilobolus Dance Theater's work, Davenen, which the band performed. The members come from different musical backgrounds. Drummer Richie Barshay plays jazz with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Violinist Lisa Gutkin came from a predominantly Celtic background before joining the band.
The Klezmatics' 20th anniversary concert took place at New York City's Town Hall on March 5, 2006. That event is included in the documentary chronicling the band's history and significance, The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground (2010).[2] Five years later, they recorded a 25th anniversary CD at the same location.
Recordings[]
The Klezmatics have recorded for Rounder, , Xenophile, Flying Fish, and the now-defunct Jewish Music Group.
Wonder Wheel, released in 2006, showcased lyrics by American folk icon Woody Guthrie, selected by the band from the Woody Guthrie archive. Although the music draws primarily from a wide range of Americana, not klezmer, the album won a Grammy[3] in the category of Best Contemporary World Music Album. Another album of Guthrie material, with music drawn from the band's more usual Yiddish, Eastern European Jewish music roots, Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah, was released the same year. Guthrie's granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, has appeared with them. Other key collaborations include the music to Tony Kushner's adaptation of The Dybbuk, ""A Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds”",[4] [5] in which poetry by several prominent Yiddish poets was set to music, and Brother Moses Smote the Water with Jewish gospel-style singer, Joshua Nelson.[6]
Discography[]
- 1989 – ()
Track # showTitle
- 1990 – Rhythm and Jews ()
- 1995 – Jews with Horns (Flying Fish)
- 1997 – (Xenophile)
Track # Title showNotes
- 1998 – (Xenophile)
- 2002 – (Rounder)
Track # showTitle
- 2004 – (with Joshua Nelson & Kathryn Farmer; )
Track # Title showNotes
- 2006 – Wonder Wheel (Lyrics by Woody Guthrie) (JMG)
- 2006 – Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah (JMG)
- 2008 – : The Best of the First 20 Years ()
- 2011 – (independent release, double album)
Disc # Track # showTitle
- 2016 – Apikorsim (World Village)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 218. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
- ^ "The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground". IMDb. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Brantley, Ben (November 17, 1997). "THEATER REVIEW; A 'Dybbuk' Foresees 'The Martyred Dead'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ "A New Tap on Yiddish Tradition". Los Angeles Times. May 10, 1999.
- ^ Wall, Alix (April 15, 2005). "Klezmer-gospel combo pumps up Pesach". Jweekly.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Klezmatics. |
- The Klezmatics official site
- The Klezmatics discography at Discogs
- Klezmer groups
- Grammy Award winners
- Musical groups established in 1986
- Yiddish culture in New York (state)
- 1986 establishments in New York (state)
- Label Bleu artists
- Flying Fish Records artists