Re: Willie epstein

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

At 03:09 PM 7/18/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>I just recieved  an E-mail froma friend in Florida, that Willie Epstein of 
>the Epstein Brothers passed away. He was 80years old.
>Atragic Loss.

This is such sad news. I was so looking forward to seeing him and Julie at 
KlezKanada this coming month. I've only known Willie for a few years. I met him 
at the premier of the Epstein Brothers movie (A Tickle in the Heart), in San 
Francisco, back in '96. We got to talking after the movie and wound up at the 
party and talking more. The rest of the people there were mostly movie folks, 
and klezmer, especially, the smooth, incredibly seductive version that the 
Epstein Brothers play, was far from their minds. It was one of the most 
exciting afternoons I would spend, being able to monopolize his time and talk 
about him, the band's music, their retirement to Florida, and rediscovery, and 
now the movie. I had just written a review of one of the albums that the 
brothers' albums, and Willie was excited that I could download it right off the 
internet and show it to him.

Willie was a class act all the way. His horn playing was a wonder. When the 
Epstein Brothers play the old classics, whether you know the music or not, your 
feet begin tapping and the world feels right. Listening to the Epstein Brothers 
is a lot like listening to Alberta Hunter in her later years, or the Chicago 
Blues AllStars or Flory Jagoda--these are people who have been making 
incredible music for so long that everything extraneous has been stripped away 
but the essence, the universal path. 

I treasure seeing the band live--last time, at Ashkenaz '97, and listening
to Willie introduce songs that his older brother Max had introduced before him. 
I treasure remembering Willie sitting back stage and telling stories.

His older brother Max hasn't been playing the last few years, and another 
brother, Isadore ("Chizik"), passed away several years ago. This leaves just 
Julie, and a host of klezmer grandkids inspired by the band and its music, to 
carry on the tradition.

Damn, I miss him.

ari

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