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Concert Music - Our repertoire: CLICK HERE The Music Whether one is intimate with Jewish music or a newcomer, klezmer music opens the door to a world rich with energy and emotion. The klezmorim of Eastern Europe (Jewish folk musicians who played for celebrations) drew upon both the lyrical, haunting melodies of cantors and the boisterous dances of the Russians, Rumanians, Poles, and other surrounding cultures to create a unique and evocative style of their own. The melodies of the Chassidim (Jews whose prayers incorporated melody and ecstatic dance) form the basis of the klezmer's instrumental repertoire. Forced from Russia by tyranny and poverty, Jewish immigrants poured into the "goldene medineh" (the golden land) from the 1880's until the gates were closed to immigrantion in the 1920's. "Here they found jazz and other world music cultures. For a few decades, an American klezmer style flourished. You could hear the influences of the Greek and Balkan and Eastern European melodies left behind, but this Americanishe version was also influenced by music from America--especially jazz. Parallel to klezmer was the Yiddish theater, and the golden age of Jewish cantors, and the Yiddish folk traditions." (Ari Davidow, Klezmer Musicologist). 42nd Street became home to the glory days of the Yiddish theater, where singers like Moishe Oysher, Mollie Picon and Aaron Lebedeff vied for the attention of the Yiddish-speaking crowds. Then our parents and grandparents became 'good Americans,' and by the Sixties, "klezmer was...an unimaginative arrangement of 'Sunrise, Sunset' played at Jewish weddings and old folks homes....The klezmer revival of the Seventies changed that." (Davidow). With the destruction of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and disappearance of the shtetl (Jewish ghetto), the soulful sound of the klezmer was all but lost and forgotten. Then, in the late 1970's, young Jewish musicians in America were drawn to re-discover the music of their Eastern European heritage, preserved on antique recordings rescued from "grandma's attic." In addition to instrumental music, the revival of klezmer has also come to include folk melodies and the colorful comic songs of the Yiddish theater. Today, dozens of professional klezmer bands and many more amateur klezmer music enthusiasts are part of this revival, playing all styles, from the plaintive strains of traditional Eastern European folklore to avant-garde jazz and rock improvisations on klezmer themes. Maxwell Street Klezmer Band retains the soul of the Old World in its interpretation of klezmer while adding its own creativity, spirit and humor to create a performance that is expressive, entertaining and uplifting. For more information about klezmer music and klezmer bands worldwide, we suggest the KlezmerShack.com RETURN TO TOP | ||||||
© 1983-2007 Maxwell Street Klezmer Band - All Rights Reserved. 4025 Harvard Terrace  Skokie, IL 60076 USAPhone: (847) 675-4800Fax: (847) 675-4880info@KlezmerBand.com |