July with Metropolitan Klezmer, Isle of Klezbos, and Outing the Archives of Yiddish Film! Live music & transgressive scholarly multimedia...
Shows in NYC, Amherst MA, Long Island & the Catskills (even a couple of free events later on this month): Monday, July 7 & Wednesday, July 9 at the National Yiddish Book Center: Eve Sicular will present her video-clips/lecture "THE CELLULOID CLOSET OF YIDDISH FILM" on queer subtexts in classic Yiddish cinema, (including excerpts from The Dybbuk, Yidl mitn Fidl, Overture to Glory, and Americaner Shadkhn & more) over two afternoon workshop sessions during the NYBC's five-day conference, JEWISH STORIES ON THE SILVER SCREEN. NYBC is located on the campus of Hampshire College Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building 1021 West Street Amherst, MA For more conference info, directions etc.: www.yiddishbookcenter.org 413-256-4900 For lecture details & description, see: http://metropolitanklezmer.com/celluloid.html Thursday, July 10 Metropolitan Klezmer Sullivan County Community College 2pm & 8pm shows Full 8-piece band, encountering the heart of the Borscht Belt in high-tech air conditioned splendor! Loch Sheldrake NY Info: 845-434-5750 or www.sullivan.suny.edu Wednesday, July 16 Metropolitan Klezmer Rock Hall Museum 8:00 PM ~ FREE, outdoors & open to the public!! 199 Broadway Lawrence (Five Towns, L.I.) NY Full 8-piece band Sponsored by the Town of Hempstead Department of Parks & Rec. Bring your lawn chairs! Have a picnic! On the lovely grounds of a delightful public historic mansion by the water. (Note: in case of inclement weather, this concert would be cancelled.) Info: 516-292-9000, 516-239-1157 www.liglobal.com/t_i/attractions/museums/rockhall/rockfinal.html Thursday, July 17 Isle of Klezbos Abe Lebewohl Park, East Village, NYC 12:30pm-1:30pm FREE! Outdoors! Rain or shine!! (Klezbos' last NYC gig before our 8/15 Michigan Womyn's Festival show) Second Avenue at E. 10th Street Lunchtime concert series stage in front of St. Mark's Church For more Info: 212-777-3240 sponsored by the Third St Music School Settlement with goodies from the 2nd Avenue Deli after the show ~~Both new CDs at cdbaby.com, amazon.com, sternsmusic.com (UK), & lots of stores! Listening posts: Tower/World Music, 4th St @ Lafayette NYC Airing all over the place too... Details: metropolitanklezmer.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On SURPRISING FINDS [Metropolitan Klezmer]: "The eight-member local Metro Klezmer incorporate tuba, violin, and ney flute, and their new album ranges from an 11-minute tango to the one-minute Der Dishwasher. They also claim a jump-blues influence." - Village Voice (Chuck Eddy) "A cosmopolitan sound, integrated at the roots, so that the music sounds like vivid, solid klezmer rather than fusion. [Several] energetic MK tracks are live, but the recording is so good, and conversely the production so true, that it is hard to tell... One full-length 'produced' item from the original band is a perky [Ot Azoy Neyt a Shnayder] which carries a sense of many threads intertwining. Recommended for danceaholics and partygoers from anywhere...but especially those who like those Eastern sounds!" - Judith Gennett, GreenMan Reviews�/ KPSU-FM, Portland OR On GREETINGS FROM THE ISLE OF KLEZBOS: "A nifty, all-female klezmer group led by drummer Eve Sicular. Its latest album, Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos (Rhythm Media), gathers obscure tunes from forgotten Yiddish movies, 19th-century lullabies and genre-defying originals." - TIME OUT New York "Six oft-fetching klezmer ladies whose instruments include flugelhorn and accordion and whose recent album draws on meringues and Brazilian acoustica as well as 1916 Rumanian horras and Ukrainian songs 'suitable for dancing with a bottle on one's head.'" - Village Voice (Chuck Eddy) More on "SURPRISING FINDS" [Metropolitan Klezmer]: "Long one of New York City's tightest klezmer dance bands, [Metropolitan Klezmer] uses its new CD to explore more deeply into Yiddish and (especially) Jewish Socialist roots, and to emphasize their own continuity with tradition.... [The] title, Surprising Finds, is also the album's theme. There are other old recordings, including a couple of songs by Philip Karpel, the grandfather of Metropolitan Klezmer vocalist Deorah. Opening with a clip from the movie Uncle Moses to which they append their own modern version of the same, the band mixes lovely Yiddish theatre vocals, incredible instrumentals, both thoughtful and dynamic, and even manages an incredible Balkan brass rearrangement of Pick a Pocket or Two. The liner notes are especially illuminating in this case, as we learn a bit of closeted Jews and gays (or both, as one person in this case) in the entertainment industry in the '60s. Metropolitan Klezmer has achieved something very special with this album. They can't get much better musically. Instead, they have dug more deeply into history, bringing back live fragments, recreating others, and even, as with Pam Fleming's lovely Dreaming Wizard, creating their own tradition. In the process, the band makes us more aware of the cultural struggles and diversity of Jews (especially labor struggles of migrants to the United States and England, but not limited to then, and not limited to labor issues) in the last century. Despite the focus on the West, there is a lovely suite here in tribute to the Soviet Yiddish Theatre. Not many realize that in the decades following the Soviet revolution there existed a vibrant avant garde Yiddish Theatre, until destroyed by Stalin's paranoia. The point isn't just to present older music (and some new tunes) that we might not yet know, but to use that as an excuse to make us aware of our own history. That the band can do this and still strengthen their reputation as one of the premier Klezmer bands performing today, is an additional testament as to the skill and excitement they bring to their music. Indeed, several tracks here were recorded live, in a small club in NYC--one even features Howie Leess, member of the original band, now retired to Rochester NY, but here recorded in 1994. Special mention should also be given to careful and copious liner notes, and to excellent typography in integrating the Yiddish with transliteration and English. This is the way to do it. This is my favorite Metropolitan Klezmer album yet, something I have said about each of the earlier albums, but here say even louder. If you are new to the band's sound, start here. Then work your way back. You'll enjoy. - Ari Davidow, KlezmerShack hope to see you soon! Eve ================= - e v e s i c u l a r - drummer/bandleader ISLE OF KLEZBOS & METROPOLITAN KLEZMER 151 First Ave #145, NYC 10003 tel: 212.475.4544 fax: 212.677.6304 www.metropolitanklezmer.com ---------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash ---------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------
