Kol Simcha -- Klezmer @ Carnegie Hall & Elsewhere in U.S.

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The acclaimed Swiss Klezmer band KOL SIMCHA ('Voice of Joy' in Hebrew),
winner of the 1992 Music Award from the European Culture Foundation and
  performers at the recent Conference in Basel commemorating the Centennial
of the first Zionist Convention, will make a brief tour of the U.S. Sept.
21-25.  Since its inception in Basel in 1986, Kol Simcha has captivated
audiences in Israel, Europe and North America with its unique form of
contemporary Klezmer that not only pays tribute to the music's traditional
Eastern European folk roots but also enriches this illustrious heritage with
a modern flair.
  
Kol Simcha will make its debut at New York's Carnegie Hall on Sunday,
September 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets at $35 to $17.50 are available at the Carnegie
Hall box office, 154 W. 57th Street, or by calling CarnegieCharge at
212.247.7800.

The band will perform at the Gershman Y sponsored by the  J.C.C.'s of greater
Philadelphia on Monday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are $15 and $10
for Y members.  Call 215.545.0153 for more information.

The band will perform a free concert co-sponsored by the B'nai B'rith
Klutznick National Jewish Museum at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. on
Wednesday, September 24.  Call 202.735.7900 for more information.

The band will perform at the Sarratt Student Center at Vanderbilt University
in Nashville, TN at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 25th.  Call 615.322.2471
for more information.

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KOL SIMCHA is creating Klezmer music for the New Millenium. Whether
performing in concert or in the recording studio, the ensemble weaves a
fascinating musical tapestry from a diverse assortment of styles. The
quintet's influences range from the sophisticated and spontaneous
improvisations of American jazz and the instrumental virtuosity of Western
classical music, to exotic Mediterranean melodies and sensual Middle Eastern
rhythms. Kol Simcha has adapted Klezmer music's traditional format by pairing
a front line of clarinet and flute with a swinging, tightly-knit rhythm
section of piano, bass and drums. Yet the band's sound never strays far from
its original inspiration...the soulful Yiddish vocal and dance music
conveying the full spectrum of human emotions which flourished at the
turn-of-the-century in the shtetls of Eastern Europe. With a repertoire of
original compositions and traditional works varying from infectious dances
and poignant love songs to exuberant folk melodies and melancholy ballads,
Kol Simcha always engages the mind, tickles the heart and nourishes the
spirit.

Pianist, composer and arranger OLIVIER TRUAN has extensive experience
performing jazz, pop, classical and traditional music and sets the tone for
Kol Simcha's distinctive sound. A magna cum laude graduate of the Berklee
College of Music in Boston, Truan also studied at the Manhattan School of
Music and the Conservatory of Music in Basel, Switzerland. He has toured
throughout Europe and has appeared on several recordings as a pianist with
various modern jazz groups and performed with singer Dee Dee Bridgewater
among other artists. Truan has also composed music for and appeared on a
number of film soundtracks and was music director of a highly successful rock
musical at the State Theatre of Basel.

Clarinetist and saxophonist MICHAEL HEITZLER studied at the Music Academy in
Freiburg, Germany, performed with the Radio Orchestra of Baden-Baden and
toured with the European Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Antal
Dorati. He has led jazz big bands and funk groups and performed with
saxophonist Christoph Lauer and the Klezmatics, among others.

Flutist and composer NIKI REISER graduated from the Berklee College of Music
in Boston where he majored in writing film scores. In addition to
establishing himself as a respected jazz artist performing with Art Lande and
Hermeto Pascoal, among others, he has composed music for a number of European
films. In 1997 his soundtrack for the film Jensiets der Stille (Beyond The
Silence, dir. Caroline Link) received Germany's Federal Film Prize
(i.e.Oscar) for Best Soundtrack and was the first soundtrack in six years to
be awarded the Bavarian Film Prize.

Acoustic bassist DANIEL FRICKER studied at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern and
at the Conservatory of Music in Basel. He has made several recordings with
the Sinfonietta Basel and the Serenata Basel and has toured and recorded with
Lionel Hampton, Tony Scott, Adam Nussbaum and other leading jazz artists.

Saxophonist and drummer DAVID KLEIN was raised in a musical household by his
parents, singer Miriam Klein and trumpeter Oscar Klein who are well-known
European jazz artists. He became the drummer in his mother's quintet when he
was 16 and later studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has
performed and/or recorded with Roland Hanna, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy
Cobham, Kenny Clarke and Victor Bailey, among other jazz artists.