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Area klezmer band movin' up
Ensemble, which plays revived form of Jewish folk music, gets Chautauqua gig
![Jim Anderson]()
MICHAEL FAGANS
Feel the music Dance leader Jim Anderson claps and sways with the klezmer sound, common at Jewish events.
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By Doug Mandelaro
Democrat and Chronicle
(Aug. 13, 1999) -- The 12 Corners Klezmer Band was formed with a mission: revive a unique musical form that was nearly lost in the havoc of war and genocide in Europe, and hopefully pass the baton to a new generation.
The 5-year-old band's infectious klezmer sound -- music at once joyful, spiritual, mournful, nostalgic and jazzy -- quickly became a fixture at area bar mitzvahs, weddings and community gatherings. And in keeping with their educational goal, band members routinely invited children to come up, lift the heavy instruments and learn to play klezmer or dance to its beat.
Now the band is hitting the big time. On Aug. 25, the group will perform klezmer, Israeli and Hasidic music for thousands at the famous Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater. The appearance comes on the heels of the group's first compact disc, dedicated to local survivors of the Holocaust.
For Rochester fans who might not make the trek to Chautauqua, the band is offering a special sneak preview at 7 p.m. Monday at Temple B'rith Kodesh.
In old times, klezmer music was very much a part of Jewish life -- in welcoming the Sabbath, at Torah dedications, holiday celebrations and, of course, weddings. Like Yiddish, the language of many Eastern European Jews, klezmer has recently been revived by a generation of Jews eager to preserve the past.
"Our music is a living, Jewish history and geography lesson," says band leader Rob Mendel of Brighton, a social worker with the City School District.
"Melodies were associated with specific communities and cities in Eastern Europe, where our people lived for so many centuries. When we play these tunes for dancing and teach authentic dances to children at bar/bat mitzvahs, we are linking them to their great-grandparents."
Besides Mendel on clarinet, band members are vocalist Bonnie Abrams, violinist Glenna Chance, accordionist Zeljko "Zack" Kuvizic, cellist Roey Mendel and banjo player Pete Rushefsky, with dance leader Jim Anderson. Drummer Sean Michael Sullivan performed on the recording, and percussionist Paul Cywinski will sit in at Chautauqua.
Band members all have other professions, yet commit to hours of practice and gigs in what Mendel calls "a real labor of love."
Rushefsky, for example, a Rochester native who works in health-care administration in Buffalo, sometimes drives to Rochester several times a week for practices and performances.
"For me, music has been a big part of my life and Judaism is a big part of my life. This lets me take the best of two traditions and create a blend that has been unbelievable," he says.
Rushefsky adapted the banjo, more an American invention, to klezmer. The music's ability to change and evolve is one of the beauties of the form, he says. For instance, klezmer acquired elements of jazz when it was transported to America.
Like Mendel, Rushefsky is excited about playing at Chautauqua and perhaps even bigger venues. But that is not the main reason he is committed to the band.
"I think fame is not the object, but both the continuing revitalization of the music and the meaning it gives to people," he says. "It keeps the music alive for those who are no longer with us."
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