Klarinet Archive - Posting 000113.txt from 2004/09

From: Jeremy A Schiffer <schiffer@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Klezmer info
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 22:50:35 -0400


On Sat, 4 Sep 2004, fred jacobowitz wrote:

> Andy,
> A good place to start is the old recordings of the master: Dave
> Tarras, Naftule Brandwein, the old bands such as Harry Kandel's Band,
> etc. Then you can listen to the more modern people playing in the old
> style: Chicago Klezmer Ens., Joel Rubin, Machaya Klezmer Band, Alicia
> Svigals (NOT with the Klezmatics), to name a few.

A good place to find this stuff, if your local record store doesn't stock
it, is http://www.tara.com.

The first thing any aspiring klezmer musician own is The Compleat Klezmer.
I hope this link is static...
http://www.tara.com/index.asp?FID=3101&ACT=4&ID_Prd={814001F5-D760-4C3E-B5FC-BCE80C13E009}&RND=969877
It comes with a CD of the tunes that are written out, which form some of
the most essential-to-know tunes should you ever want to play with others.

> Klezmer is THE WEDDING MUSIC/PARTY MUSIC OF THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN
> ASHKENAZI JEWS. Klezmer is a style just like Dixieland or Baroque music.
> It CAN be learned if you are intuitive but usually it must be taught by
> the practitioner. Klez-kamp is indeed a great place to learn it. It can
> be played on ANY kind of clarinet but the old guys (and a fair amount of
> newer guys/gals) use a C clarinet for the bright, shrill tone. I myself
> can't afford a C so I just use my trusty Bb.

Very few players use anything but a Bb. Andy Statman has Dave Tarras's old
instruments and a few others use C, but nearly everyone plays on Bb.

>Sometimes you have to play
> in unusual keys but usually it's only a few sharps or flats.

I think you're being a little generous here... Standard performance keys
are (concert) D and E, so you spend a lot of time in F# major, but you
learn the patterns quickly. Then, of course, there is the Tarras Bb minor
bulgar, which can wrench even the most proficient of fingers.

> There is a fair amount of printed music but all of it has little or
> no ornamentation written in. Performance practice is EVERYTHING, just
> like in early music, etc.

More than that, the written music can't begin to provide an accurate
portrayal of the music as it sounds. Some of the rhythms must be heard to
be understood, as they are not captured accurately by western notation.
Similarly, there is no accurate way to notate the ornamentations. The only
thing that written music is good for is to serve as a reminder of what the
basic tune is, kind of like a lead sheet in jazz. You'd never play what's
on the page, exactly as written.

> There are alot of folx who play the tunes but have no concept of the
> style or are not interested in the style but want to create their own
> sound/style. These folx are NOT klezmer musicians any more than Placido
> Domingo is a broadway singer in his recording of West Side Story. Let me
> reiteate: Klezmer is a specific style, not a catch-all phrase denoting
> Jewish Music. Think of it like this: If you speak pidgeon-english with a
> heavy foreign accent and use non-english syntax (like Yoda), you are not
> a real English speaker any more than a person playing Klezmer music
> without the right style is a Klezmer Musician. You might be understood
> by English speakers but you wouldn't be respected as a English-speaker.

But this definition seems to lead one to believe that if you're not deeply
steeped in Eastern European Yiddish traditions, then you can never become
a proficient klezmer player. I don't know if you were meaning to say that,
but that's definitely what I infer here. This could not be further from
the truth. Many of the top players had no exposure to the Yiddish world
before embarking on their klezmer journey, and many aren't even Jewish
(though some have converted). You definitely have to work (listen) harder
if you didn't grow up listening to cantorial melodies, but that doesn't
mean that fluency can never be gained.

By the way, everyone should check out Mr. Jacobowitz's band's website.
He's got great chops and a fabulous sound.

-jeremy
http://klezmer.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org