Re: Greek/Klezmer connections

[Moshe Denburg <denburg...>]

Dear Tim,

Definitely the best person I know of to ask is Dr. Martin Schwartz at the
University of California, Berkeley. I haven't been in contact with him for
several years but when I visited him some years ago he had recorded proof of
the Klezmer/Greek connection, even proof that certain Klezmer pieces were
taken into the Greek repertoire.

Anyway, this is all I remember, and I do not have his contact numbers. But
perhaps you could find his e-mail address through U of C Berkeley, or maybe
someone else on the list could point you in the right direction.

- Moshe Denburg

>Does anyone on the list know much about the linkages between Klezmer music and
>Greek music? Obviously there are some, even to the extent of melodies common to
>both. For example I note that Dave Tarras recorded the same piece under a
Yiddish
>title and a Greek title (presumably to appeal to both immigrant markets). Some
>other tunes, especially hasapikos (I think)  from northern Greece, also have
>features in common with Klezmer tunes.
>Why would this be? Because of a greater population of Jews in northern
Greece at
>some time (19th century?)?  Under the Ottomans wouldn't the majority of Jews in
>that area have been Sephardic? I also wonder if these tunes in common are the
>result of Greeks taking up Jewish pieces or vice versa, or both, or is it
>impossible to tell?
>
>
>Tim Meyen
>
>
>