7:30 pm- 12am
$15 suggested donation $10 for students
With: ‘Khevre,’ ‘Rocky Hora Dybbuk Orchestra,’ ‘Smackin’ the Brass,’
‘Jumbo Knish Factory,’ ‘Harvard Folk Band,’ and more!
This past summer I spent a week in Canada with friends and fellow musicians
studying Klezmer music. The homeland of Eastern European Jewry was wiped
out in the 1930s and 1940s, and evidence of its culture was killed. But
like the history of its people, Jewish culture and arts fought to remain
alive. Its music, Klezmer music, is still vibrant today, flourishing around
the world. At this retreat in Canada, knows as Klezkanada, students like
myself were fortunate to study with the living masters of Klezmer music.
Members of world famous ensembles like the Klezmatics, Brave Old World and
the Klezmer Conservatory Band taught there, amongst other legendary
musicians. The draw of this cultural phenomenon brings musicians of all
sorts, from all over the world to a single campsite. From this melting pot
of tradition, comes 6 nights of amazing music, and the fusing of ideas
between artists who would have, otherwise, never met.
Daniel Kahn, an actor/singer/accordions, violinist Cameron Freer and I were
one of these conglomerates. Daniel asked us one night, “what do you hear
when I play this scale?” He played. At first I just thought, ‘oh the
Freygish scale’, the most common mode in Klezmer music. But then he played
this exotic sounding scale while howling and laughing ‘evil-y’, while I had
begun to understand where he was going with this. This music, to ears
unfamiliar with Klezmer, sounds like something one would hear in a haunted
house; the sounds one would hear on Halloween! That very night, with Daniel
singing and playing accordion, Cameron on his violin, and myself on a
synthetic church organ, came the birth of the “Rocky Hora Dybbuk Orchestra.”
We played one tune that night, “Dona, Dona,” a famous Yiddish folk song,
with howls and screams, to an amazed audience. “This is one of the most
exciting things to happen to Klezmer Music,” said program organizer Michael
Alpert. When we were finished, we were applauded wildly. In a revelation
later that night, we all agreed that we needed to do a Halloween Show.
On Sunday, October 31st, The “Rocky Hora Dybbuk Orchestra,” along with 4
other bands, will perform at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Cambridge. Headlining
the evening as well, will be “Khevre,” a band based in Boston who has been
gaining much popularity. At their last performance in September, also at
the Zeitgeist Gallery, fans were huddled on the sidewalk, because of the
packed venue inside. “[Khevre has] an energy, and a delight in playing
together, [with] specific wonderful compositions and amazing talent, that
makes one feel the way [they] would have felt to be watching the Jefferson
Airplane on the tiny Matrix stage back in 1966 in San Francisco,” one
critic, Ari Davidow, said in a review that can be found at
www.klezmershack.com.
Also on the bill will be the “Jumbo Knish Factory,” hailing from Tufts
University, lead by Michael Mclaughlin of ‘Naftule’s Dream;’ The “Harvard
Folk Band,” will play a soft set of Jewish and Roma material; “Smackin’ the
Brass,” a 16 piece Balkan style brass band from the New England
Conservatory, along with special guest performers.
KHEVRE
michael winograd - clarinet, bass clarinet
dana sandler - vocals
eylem basaldi - violin
carmen staaf - piano/accordion
jorge roeder - bass
richie barshay - drums
KHEVRE, the New Jewish Band from Boston has been breaking musical barriers throughout the country at their performances. “Khevre,” says Jewish Music critic Ari Davidow, “is
redefining the edges of new Yiddish music. “While based in the Jewish tradition, Khevre bends musical genres to craft a refreshingly unique sound. “These musicians have truly brought this music up to date,” says Hankus Netsky, founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band.
Admission will be $15 for the night, or $10 for students. All proceeds will
help benefit the Zeitgeist Gallery, a venue who has been very supportive to
young artists throughout Boston and Cambridge. The show will start at 7:30,
and doors will open at 7:15. I’d recommend arriving early; seating is
limited.