From klezmer to cantorial, a round-up of music holiday listening

by Ed Silverman

Hanukka is fast approaching, which means some of us are still looking for gifts and some of us may even have a little vacation time to relax and discover new music. All of which provides us with a welcome excuse to highlight some of the latest — and best — new albums to be released over the past few months.

This round-up, however, won’t include the latest collection of Hanukka favorites. There are already plenty of those available. Rather, a wide variety of recordings have popped up recently, from cantorial to klezmer to show tunes with a Jewish tinge, that may have passed under your radar screen. So here are a few albums worth hearing.

Perhaps the most distinguished klezmer ensemble is The Klezmer Conservatory Band, which has been playing for about 20 years and has released the most consistently satisfying body of traditional klezmer of any group during this period. On its latest release, A Taste of Paradise, the band delivers another fine selection of songs and melodies that hark back to the old days. In fact, the band always displays a refined expertise when it comes to unearthing and interpreting vintage klezmer. And as usual, the menu includes love songs and dances, all delivered with humor and tenderness.

With Judy Bressler again handling most of the vocals, we’re treated to a stirring version of “Sholem Tants,” a dance of peace that was written in 1949 and became a popular tune among Holocaust survivors. Then there’s the tongue-in-cheek drinking song “A Glezele Yash” or “A Glass of Wine.” One verse in particular is a thigh slapper: “What do I care about my mother-in-law or my wife? I know just how to deal with them. With the first sip of wine, they simply disappear!”

The band switches gears on “Bessarabian Breakdown,” a 1921 tune in which a second rendition is played in hip-hop style. There are also fine interpretations of Chaim Towber’s anthemic “Seize the Moment,” a rousing live-for-today number, and “Sabbath Prayer,” a beautiful instrumental from Fiddler on the Roof.

On a more experimental plane, clarinetist extraordinaire Margot Leverett has formed a superb new group called The Klezmer Mountain Boys. She and the boys cleverly combine klezmer with bluegrass, a concept that’s actually not so far-fetched. Some expert musicians have been tapped, including mandolin whiz Barry Mitterhoff and bassist Marty Confurius. The results are astonishing. Leverett and her band essentially graft the two forms of music onto one another for several numbers, such as “Cluck Old Hen” and “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz & Volich.” The finest example, though, is “Kentucky Dance Medley: Bill Monroe meets Sid Beckerman.” This number expertly weaves back and forth between the two musical genres, providing a seamless and highly enjoyable fusion that sounds completely natural. It’s a wonder the juxtaposition — heard only in some gifted dabbling by Andy Statman, who helped jump-start the klezmer renaissance a quarter of a century ago — hadn’t been fully exploited earlier.

Besides some musical similarities, the two forms elicit comparable emotions, even though klezmer is a wandering music and bluegrass has always been so firmly rooted in the American South. The liner notes are right on the money in expressing the hope that this disc will open new markets for bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe in Haifa and for klezmer king Dave Tarras in Kentucky.

In a similar vein, CeiliZemer blends klezmer with Gaelic sounds on Shalom, Ireland. The music was originally recorded for a documentary about Ireland’s Jewish community by members of two different California-based groups — the Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band, who mixed old-time sounds with klezmer on a 1999 release, and Fergus, a traditional Irish band. Members of each united for this project, an exercise not really that much of a stretch as might at first appear. Unlike the Klezmer Mountain Boys, CeiliZemer doesn’t try to combine seemingly disparate musical forms. Instead, they alternate styles from track to track, with the occasional blend, such as on “Planxty Ginsberg,” which is described as a Jew-rish waltz — and sounds like one, too.

Those looking for avant-garde klezmer, however, should try Kruzenshtern & Parohod, immigrants from Russia who have just released their first Israeli album, The Craft of Primitive Klezmer. Let’s be clear — this one really rocks. It is a klezmer release, but this trio — yes, three, despite the name — offers a panoply of sounds. At times, they veer off into what sounds like a blues-rock jam and then circle back to a traditional Bulgar. From there, they vamp like there’s no tomorrow, creating what can only be called psychedelic klezmer. This may explain the mushrooms on the album cover. Although this kind of adventurousness may not be for everyone, this is one of the most interesting and pleasing new releases to emerge in quite some time.

On a completely different note, the exquisite soundtrack from the Cantors: A Faith in Song video is a must for anyone who appreciates cantorial music. Recorded at the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, Benzion Miller of Boro Park, Brooklyn, Alberto Mizrahi of Chicago, and Naftali Hershtik of Jerusalem join musical forces to create, by turns, soothing and stirring music that, perhaps, could only be duplicated during the most intense moments in synagogue. The trio belts out loving versions of “Avinu Malkeinu,” “Mayn Yiddishe Mama,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Kol Nidre,” “Kaddish,” “Tzena Tzena,” “Tumbalalaika,” and “Heveinu Shalom Aleichem,” along with a Sephardi medley and a few others. Clearly, this work has an operatic feel, so it should come as no surprise that the production company behind this project is the same one that produced The Irish Tenors. This release bears repeated listening and deserves to take its place among the top recordings of Jewish music over the past quarter century.

Eclectic palates will enjoy The Hidden Gate: Jewish Music Around the World, a double-CD collection of 26 tracks featuring many of the cutting-edge klezmer acts from the United States, including The Klezmatics, Brave Old World, and Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars. But there are many treats here from outside our borders, from Canada’s Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band to Brazil’s Banda Klezmer. Disc One is the more interesting, with the emphasis on Sephardi and Mizrahi sounds, such as those produced by Greek singer Savina Yannatou, a rousing number from Ofra Haza, the Israeli pop icon who died in 2000 at 41; Israel’s Yair Dalal, and the Orchestre Anadou D’Israel. These artists play music that may sound very different to Western ears but is still intensely Jewish. But here’s the most fascinating thing about this album — the track from the Rusape Jews of Zimbabwe, who sing “Kuvhurwa kwe Ark,” or “Opening the Ark.” The two-minute song has a call-and-response feel whose plaintive emotion is highly compelling. The inclusion of this number makes the collection all the more worthwhile for anyone who wants to experience Jewish sounds from far-flung corners of the world.

And lest anyone think schmaltz is out, it’s not. Just take a listen to Say Oy Vey, a parody of Cabaret created by Hollywood director Michael Lange. Subtitled “A Tale of Bridge, Romance and Prune Danish,” the story line and songs hark back to the heyday of Broadway musicals. And the players do a fine job recreating that sound and feel. It’s truly silly and very much the sort of thing that is likely to elicit sentimental chuckles from older listeners. Here’s a hint: It helps to have an appreciation for Borscht Belt-style entertainment .

And finally, for jazzheads who are partial to new musicians with an Israeli sensibility, Issi Rozen and Gilad Barkan both recently released solo albums that combine original compositions with numbers by Duke Elllington, Bill Evans, and Charlie Parker. These couldn’t be considered Jewish albums — not even close. But both musicians, who are based in Boston, play spirited, inventive jazz and add a little Israeli flavor now and then.

Ed Silverman is a writer at The Star-Ledger in Newark.