Klarinet Archive - Posting 000742.txt from 1995/05

From: John Baetens <JSBtens@-----.COM>
Subj: more klezmer
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 21:53:03 -0400

Oy vey!

I have been Klezmerized!

I recently accompanied my teenaged daughter to the local music
store she frequents to buy her off-the-wall alternative music that
other stores don't carry.
Much to my surprise, they had a whole section of Klezmer music.
I selected a CD that had samples from different groups, and I put
it on in the car on the way to work the next day. I didn't know what
to expect, but I was really surprised when I heard what sounded
to me like Alternative Rock. Two lame guitars, a limp-wristed
drummer, and a tone-deaf singer. It turned out that they made a
mistake at the factory and put the wrong CD in the box, with the
wrong label! I never heard of this happening before.
Anyway, I traded it in for a CD by the Klezmer Conservatory Band,
with Don Byron on clarinet. What a lot of fun! Though this is my
first taste of Klezmer, I have a feeling that some of the cuts on
this CD are more traditional than others. Some tunes seem heavily
influenced by American music, such as Dixieland (especially the
clarinet counter melodies) and early Jazz(muted trumpets). But I don't look
at this as a bastardization of a musical form, but rather
as an evolutionary process. What was once a form of Jewish
folk music is now a form of Jewish-American contemporary music.
And what an unusual language Yiddish is! I can't imagine singing
a hearty song in Yiddish without having to expectorate every few
measures. Anyway, I think I like it.