Re: Belgrad Blues and Jewish Music

[Joe Kurland <ganeydn...>]

Ari wrote:
>This is not a trivial subject, and should be discussed in forums
>other than jewish-music. Like many participants on this list, I have
>been to many parts of the former Yugoslavia and have friends scattered
>throughout the area. But this is very much NOT the place to discuss
>the events unfolding there, or elsewhere, EXCEPT AS DIRECTLY RELEVANT
>TO JEWISH MUSIC.
>
Dear Ari,
I take that as in invitation to announce this a little earlier than I had
planned.

         The Wholesale Klezmer Band will perform
       a concert of Yiddish songs, stories and music
  (originally inspired by the non-sectarian medical and
peacemaking activities of the Jewish Community of Sarajevo
                    during the war in Bosnia)
                       for the benefit of the
           Boston Group Against Ethnic Cleansing

            Sunday, May 30th at 2 :00 p.m.
  at the Sanctuary of Congregation Kehillath Israel
              384 Harvard Street, Brookline.

Proceeds to be used for children of Bosnia refugees camps
         and partly for Kosovo refugees in Macedonia

Translations of the songs, in Yiddish and Hebrew,
will be  provided at the concert.

Tickets $12 at the door and $10 in advance. Children
under 12 admitted free. The tickets will also be on sale
in store "Babushka Deli", 62 Washington
Street, Brighton, corner of  Commonwealth Ave.,
or sent by mail.The checks should be sent to BGAEC,
10 Kenmore Street.,Suite103, Boston, MA 02215.
For additional information call: (617)247-1883 or 738-9325

?????????????????????????????????????

TAKING A MUSICAL STAND
AGAINST ETHNIC CLEANSING

How does a Jew respond to genocide in the post-Holocaust world?

³Ziser Tate, Dear God,² we say, ³You are so busy making pretty lights for
us, and you have sanctified us with your commandments that we should repair
your broken world.² We Jews are accustomed to complaining to God.  But,
with a little reflection, our argument with God changes to a blessing,
³Blessed are you, Dear God, who has made pretty lights for us, and you have
sanctified us by your commandments and commanded us to repair your world.²
After all, how does God make the world right but by the hands of humans,
God¹s partners in creation?

During the war in Bosnia, the Wholesale Klezmer Band was inspired by the
Jewish Community of Sarajevo, to develop a concert to benefit their
non-sectarian medical relief and peacemaking activities.  The concert
features Tfile far a Tsebrokhener Velt (Prayer for a Broken World) which is
quoted above.  With our music, we hope to inspire people to take a stand
against ³ethnic cleansing,² genocide, and oppression everywhere.

The members of the Wholesale Klezmer Band believe that being Jewish does
not mean indulging in self-pity as the victims of persecution throughout
the ages. Rather, it means that we identify with all victims of oppression,
as we are commanded in the Torah, ³You shall not oppress a stranger, for
you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of
Egypt.²

Yet for all the seriousness of its subject, our concert doesn¹t present its
subject without hope or humor. One song addresses reconciliation between
the Jews and Arabs, using the tradition of midrash, or an original story
based on a Torah story. A recitation of the dark-humored verse, ³The Spear
and the Needle,² carry through with the band¹s attempt to bridge cultural
differences.  An instrumental setting of Hineni (Here I Am) expresses how
as musicians we stand before our audiences and attempt to draw both them
and ourselves nearer to God, and how as human beings we all need to stand
and take responsibility for tikkun olam, the repair of the world.²
Finally, this musical program ends with music to lift peoples spirits, and
rouse them to dance reminding ourselves that in order to work towards
fixing what is wrong with this imperfect world, we must also experience
joy.

With ethnic cleansing showing itself once again in Kosovo, the Wholesale
Klezmer Band is ready to offer this special concert material in support of
humanitarian efforts to help people displaced by the war there. You can
find more information about The Wholesale Klezmer Band and about the Tfile
concert on our website at:
        http://www.crocker.com/~ganeydn/tfile.html

The music and stories from this concert have been compiled into an album on
CD and tape cassette called Tfile far a Tsebrokhener Velt (Prayer for a
Broken World) (1996). If your synagogue or organization would consider
presenting such a concert, please request a copy from Joe Kurland, The
Wholesale Klezmer Band, 389 Adamsville Road, Colrain, MA 01340,
413-624-3204.  email: ganeydn (at) crocker(dot)com

Since its inception in 1982, the Wholesale Klezmer Band has performed
throughout the Northeast, shared the stages with Pete Seeger, Peter Paul
and Mary, Tom Paxton, and Sweet Honey in the Rock ... and played at Bill
Clinton¹s 1993 presidential inaugural. In a review of the group¹s first
album, ³Shmir Me,² (1992) the folk magazine Dirty Linen said, ³It is the
balance they achieve between social understanding and social satire that
marks The Wholesale Klezmer Band as a truly great klezmer band.² Other
albums include ³Yidn fun Amol² (1997), and ³Hineni: Original Klezmer Music
by Sherry Mayrent,² (1995) and ³Zogn a Nign Original Klezmer Music by
Sherry Mayrent (1991).
For information about the Wholesale Klezmer Band, contact:

Joe Kurland
The Wholesale Klezmer Band
389 Adamsville Road
Colrain, MA 01340
413-624-3204
email: ganeydn (at) crocker(dot)com
http://www.crocker.com/~ganeydn


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