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Shalom! ...and welcome to our press kit.
We are the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band of Chicago. We look forward to putting on a wonderful show for you! What follows are materials that tell you more about us and the music that we play. If you are interested in a hard (paper) copy of these materials, just call our office at 847.675.4800.
Thank you for your interest!
Sincerely,
Lori Lippitz
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The Maxwell Street Marketplace
The Maxwell Street marketplace was to Chicago what the Lower East Side was to New York. At the turn of the century, when the first major wave of Russian Jewish immigrants settled in America, Chicago's Maxwell Street became famous for its open-air Sunday marketplace crowded with Jewish pushcart-peddlers - an institution which has survived in the hands of fresh waves of immigration. The band was named in tribute to the spirit of Chicago's early immigrants.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, founded in 1983, brings a kaleidoscope of colors and moods and an old-fashioned spirit of fun to their performance of traditional Jewish music. The combination of dance music, folk songs, theatre medleys and jazzy Yiddish pop music from the 1930's to the 1950's creates a rich, multi-dimensional experience of the lost world of Eastern European Jewish culture, combined with vignettes of America as seen through immigrant eyes. Audiences of all backgrounds are delighted by Maxwell Street's high-energy performances that glow with warmth and humor.
Our Performances have been staged across America and Europe. In 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2002, the band performed concerts across Europe including in Germany, London, Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Enschede and The Hague. In 1998, the band gave their debut performance at Carnegie Hall and at New York's Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. Maxwell Street has appeared on the PBS programme "World Stage Chicago" in 1995, and was featured again on Public Television's "Artbeat Chicago" in March 1999. One of their songs was featured in an episode of ABC's "Saving Grace." Maxwell Street has been featured annually on Network Chicago's (PBS) "Do It Yourself Hanukkah" television special. In 2004, Maxwell Street's 2002 CD "Old Roots, New World" was voted "Best Jewish/Hebrew/Klezmer Album" by the indie Just Plain Folks 2004 music awards.
Our Recordings
- 2002 Old Roots, New World (Shanachie Entertainment)
- 2000 Sweet Early Years (Klezmer Music Foundation, Inc.)
- 1997 The MATZOrena (cassette single) (KlezDance Productions)
- 1996 You Should Be So Lucky! (Shanachie Entertainment)
- 1994 The European recording Jiddisches Lied & Klezmer 4th Internationales Festival
- 1986 Maxwell St. Days (Global Village Music)
- 2007-2008 8 Nights of Joy - A Hannukah Celebration with Rabbi Joe Blak and The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band (to be released)
Radio & TV Highlights
- 2002 Music for soundtrack: ABC Network Television: State of Grace
- 2001 1-Hour Special: Do It Yourself Hanukkah, WTTW Public Television
- 2000 Live concert filming: Wild Chicago, WTTW Public Television
- 1999 1/2 hour special: Artbeat Chicago, WTTW Public Television
- 1996 Two interviews w/live music on Aaron Freeman's Metropolis, WBEZ (NPR)
- 1995 World Stage Chicago, WTTW Public Television
- 1993 WGN/Ch. 9 TV, Chicago's Very Own
- 1984 '85 Interviews with music: The Studs Terkel Show, WFMT/FM
Touring Highlights Click Here
The Musicians
- Lori Lippitz, Band Leader, Vocals
- Kimber Leigh Nussbaum, Vocals
- Alex Koffman, Musical Director, Violin, Vocals
- Donald Jacobs/Ralph Wilder/Jeff Jeziorski, Clarinet
- Shelley Yoelin, Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
- Ivo Braun, Trumpet
- Audrey Morrison/Dana Legg, Trombone
- Gail Mangurten, Piano
- Jim Cox/David Rothstein, Bass
- Mark Ponarovsky, Percussion
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Skokie, IL 60076 USA