Re: klez go classical (was: Buena Vista Social Club)

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

>gotta drop my dreigroschen into this; it's a pet peeve....(this is all 
>somehow inspired by alicia svigals' klezmer manifesto in i think an issue of 
>_judaism_ a year or two ago-- anyone have a copy, or the proper citation? 
>i've lost mine)

I know I have the article cited on the klezmer shack--running at the
moment and don't have time to call up the articles page

http://www.klezmershack.com/contacts/klezwords.html

>one of the most troubling parts of the current incarnation of klezmer music, 
>to me, is exactly this-- the classical-ization of the genre.

certainly an issue, but I don't know if that's what you are 
addressing here.

>seems to me that one of the few things capable of killing klezmer as a 
>living artform/cultural element is the archival approach that's so often 
>taken to the music.  don't misunderstand me, i love brave old world and the 
>other groups who take a classical or archival approach to the songs they 
>play

Whoa! you've already lost me. Brave Old World performing music
in an archival fashion? Surely you have not been listening to
their music? They are certainly guilty of working with folk
elements and trying to create a concert music based on same
(and they are very clear that this is what they are doing), 
but they have expressed no interest in recording "new" or
"cleaned up" versions of any traditional music. Their interest
is in building on tradition and in creating something, 
appropriate to a formal concert hall, that is new.

In the many ways that have have diverged from tradition, they
are very much up there with the Klezmatics in terms of 
inventiveness, power, and pushing the edges.

Is there a movement among some musicians to make klezmer-derived
music that classical music fans will appreciate? Sure. Does this
even represent the mainstream of klezmer? Not in my observation.
Does it detract from other edges of performing and recording
klezmer music? I'm trying to imagine how a diversifying audience,
and teaching an audience to expect a growing diversity of klezmer
music is bad. I don't believe that it is.

(Josh, I believe, was addressing some other issues, and certainly,
the failure of many people to hear what is happening, or to appreciate
what is happening, when musicians do something other than squeaky
clean music with expected behavor, is silly, if more common than we
would like. But neither does he need my paraphrasing.)

ari


Ari Davidow
ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/

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