different Jewish musics

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

I haven't had time in the week and a half since the event to 
write at all about the festival of Jewish culture that the
Ethnic Arts Center and Brighton Beach YMHA organized in 
Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, but it really deserves mention.

In the first place, there was the usual wonderful and familiar
Ashkenazic music. Michael Alpert (also the festival producer?)
and Itzik-Leib Wallach performed with two musicians who
emigrated from the Soviet Union a few years ago, and who 
both seemed to share pre-Holocaust memories and melodies. 
It is exciting to realize that there =are= still musicians
with those repertoires. It is even more exciting to realize
that they are now passing them on to musicians here. What we
think of as "traditional Ashkenazic Jewish wedding music" may
change and deepen over the next few years. (I could also mention
the neat work being done in Europe, itself by folks such as Josh
Horowitz of Budowitz, Bob Cohen of Di Naye Kapelye, Joel Rubin &
Rita Ottens, and many others--but that's a different story.) There 
were also other Western Russian Jewish singers, some accompanied by
bookboxes in the "professional karaoke" that has become increasingly
popular, and a lovely opportunity to dance at the end of the show.

But what stunned me was the diversity of non-Ashkenazic
Jewish tradition from the former Soviet Union. In the case
of this festival, this included Shashmaqam, a music and 
dance troupe from Bukhara, and a similar ensemble from the
Central Asian mountains. I've passed my program on to a 
friend, but was amazed and pleased to hear the music and
see also how many members of their respective communities
joined in the dancing. I am coming to feel that the culture
that dances together, will have continuity--something that
also comes to mind as I reflect the lack of response to a
recent post to this list requesting videos or instruction
on Eastern European Jewish wedding dances ("klezmer" dance).

Every so often, an event occurs to remind me of how diverse
Jewish cultures are--as diverse as the world. I want to thank
everyone involved for bringing so many people together to a
community-focused, community-involving, SRO event (and I'm 
not even mentioning the cooking shootout that occurred upstairs!).
Itzik-Leib may speak more to this if he can find time between
finishing his book and getting married....


ari

Ari Davidow
The klezmer shack: http://www.well.com/user/ari/klez/
owner: jewish-music mailing list
e-mail: ari (at) ivritype(dot)com