Re: Klezmer Forest& Trees

[moshe denburg <denburg...>]

Fred,

You wrote:
 
>       Also, you say that it is a good thing that 
>there is confusion among the public due to innacurate terminology because 
>itis a byproduct of, and thus an indicator of, artistic ferment. I look 
>at it and think to myself (FALSE ADVERTIZING trying to capitalize on the 
>cachet of the word "klezmer"). I cite as an example the group "The 
>Original Klezmer Jazz Band" whose recording has 99% vaudeville shtick or 
>dixieland jazz, with no virtually discernible Klezmer content.

Now you may have taken my words out of context. Fistly, I think we agree
about certain important things:
a) It _would_ be better if we got everybody to call a spade a spade, Klezmer
Klezmer, and Mizrahi (Mid-Eastern Jewish Music) Mizrahi.
b) That there is a great temptation to make career headway with a term in
popular parlance.

But please Fred, don't ask for the impossible. To be rid of the *false
advertising* that you allude to is simply not in the hands of artists, by
and large. This is because, as I have tried to point out by using my own
experience as an example, this falseness is rather market and ignorance
driven. We all have an artistic and intellectual stake in clarifying these
terms, but it really takes _time_ to do so cogently. As any concert
promoter/manager/booking agent worth his/her salt has told us on a great
variety of inopportune occasions, today's concert *has* to be billed with
epithets that *catch everybody's attention*;(or haven't you heard it said in
just so many words?). ;-)

You extrapolate from my post that I am in favour of letting the public
remain in a state of confusion about these matters. Truly, my words went as
follows: 

> Whether or not this can, or should, be rectified I do not know. But it is
> probably a sign of a healthy creative ferment that the terms are somewhat in
> limbo; and though, as artists, we can take some steps to educate others, it
> is, IMHO, not so wise to 'nail down' these terms too fastidiously.

So, am I saying that confusion  is a *good* thing? I was just pointing out
that, if the situation is not completely rectifiable in the forseeable
future, then there is still a silver lining in this 'cloud', since
intellectualization is not always the best source of artistic inspiration.

Again, it is not I who wishes to benefit from an incorrect usage of the term
'Klezmer'; in fact it would give me great relief if people began to see that
there are many excellent forms of Jewish Musical expression of which Klezmer
is one.  I think it would enhance what we are all attempting to do.

Moshe Denburg