Re: Klezmer and sephardic music

[Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>]

Joshua Horowitz <horowitz (at) styria(dot)com> wrote:

> The Constantinople connection is the first place I'd look for the pot of
> tunes used by both Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The Moskowitz tune Chasen
> Senem (cymbalom) is none other than the Ladino song Mi demandas, which
> in turn uses a Turkish folk melody. Moskowitz played at a hotel in
> Constantinople for a few years, so its possible that's where he picked
> it up.There are probably a lot of similar tunes like that, having as
> their connecting point Constantinople. Josh
> 
That's an interesting connection. He was from Galati, Romania, which 
is in southern Moldavia, and around 1900 there probably was a Greek 
mercantile community there that might also provide a connection . 
Incidentally, my friend Nicolae Feraru's grandfather (who would have 
been contemporary with Moskowitz) lived in Galati and played the 
clarinet. He may be an example of an early Gypsy clarinetist there,
possibly indicating Jewish-Gypsy interaction. Incidentally, the 
Jewish cemetery in Bucharest is half Sephardic, half Ashkenazic. Some 
of the Sephardic stones seemed to indicate a lot of family connections 
with Salonica.

Josh, do you know anything about the "Matus Gypsy Ensemble" that 
Moskowitz played with when he came to America, according to the liner 
notes on his Romany 10" LP?

Paul Gifford







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