May you sell out! Lorele
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http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030110/et31.shtml
(They don't credit Lorele for co-authoring the liner notes, but I hope she is kvelling!)
Klezmer band blends tango, jazz, Broadway
DAN PINE
Bulletin Correspondent Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
Yo Yo Ma did it. Wynton Marsalis did it. And now, the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, like the aforementioned classical music superstars, has blended thorough musical scholarship with an unabashed joy of performing on their new Shanachie Records CD release "Old Roots, New World."
In its 13 sensational tracks, the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band amply demonstrates that sometimes the smartest kids in the class can also have the most fun.
Based out of Skokie, Ill., (a town famous for standing up to a neo-Nazi march some decades back) the band is a large ensemble, rotating some 17 players on the new album, all under the leadership of lead singer/founder Lori Lippitz.
The band credits actor Theodore Bikel with coining the album's title. It is indeed fitting, as Maxwell Street mined a vast treasure trove of early 20th century klezmer recordings, as well as traditional tunes, in selecting its latest musical offering. Throw in a pair of striking original compositions, and the band has come up with a must-own CD for serious klezmer addicts.
As much a pleasure as this album is to hear, so too is reading the liner notes, which detail each song's history and provide Yiddish lyrics in translation. Clearly, the band is into history, lovingly rendering ancient shtetl tunes as well as rearranging klezmer classics from the early days of 78 recordings.
The album kicks off with "Lebedike Honga," a raucous dance piece of Romanian Jewish origin. A Yiddish version of the Hustle, the track maximizes the band's brassy, large-scale sound.
Revealing the unmistakable link between klezmer, Yiddish theater and the Broadway musical, "Shpil de Fidl, Shpil/Yidl mitn Fidl" pairs two songs made famous by the legendary Molly Picon. The band does Molly proud on this spirited medley, sung by Lippitz with just the right amount of shmaltz (if with a less-than-flawless Yiddish accent).
"Leah's Saraband" is a ravishing original by violinist Alex Koffman. Composed for Lori Lippitz's wedding, it evokes a sensual wedding-night spirit, drawing on the varied colors of the classical orchestra. "Chusn Lalleh Mazel Tov" ("Congratulations, Bride and Groom") provides an uproarious twin piece.
There's a lamentable tendency in the general public to view klezmer as little more than the soundtrack to the annual Chabad telethon. The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band counters such ignorance on tracks like "Frilling," a luscious ghetto tango spiced up by Bibi Marcell's jazz-flavored vocals, and "Oy Abram," a passionate, even sexy, tune from 1912.
Tracks like "Zol Zayn Gelebt," "Galitzaner vs. Litvak," and the fugal "Undzer Toyrele" embody the crashing, almost circus-like quality to some klezmer styles. Others, like Picon's big band-flavored "Abi Gezunt" and the familiar "Chiribim" accentuate the lively ingrained humor in Jewish music.
Throughout, the band shines musically, thanks largely to the fabulous arrangements of violinist Koffman, the unheralded star of the band. Koffman is so versatile, so gifted, he could easily head to Hollywood tomorrow to make it as a big-time film composer. But then, what a void he'd leave behind.
The album ends with the 17-minute-long "Klezmer Rhapsody," a serious orchestral composition by Ilya Levinson, featuring Koffman as violin soloist and conductor Ralph Wilder pulling out all the stops.
It's a beautiful, complex piece that owes much to the greatest Jewish American rhapsodist, George Gershwin. Alternating a whimsical up-tempo motif with a more melancholy refrain, the piece weaves together different strands, echoing various klezmer idioms along the way. It may be lengthy, but this tour de force makes for profitable listening, as does the entire album.
Some klezmer bands primarily look forward, others mostly backward. On "Old Roots, New World," the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band takes the omnidirectional approach, which is good news for klezmer fans everywhere.
"Old Roots, New World" by Maxwell Street Klezmer Band (Shanachie Records, $17.98).
-- You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me; Vol.1: Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 & postage. Email me for more info.
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