Re: defining Klezmer (everybody wants to get into the act!)

[apikoyros <apikoyros...>]

Josh, if  you'd scrolled down in my original posting, you'd have
read what I was reacting to. Here are your words again below.  

BTW, some musicians do play "just about any kind of music 
and call it klezmer," and that may or may not be OK depending...
I'd hate to have someone unfamiliar with the Yiddish language, 
not to mention Yiddish folk and "art" music, khazones (that's 
cantorial music), etc. tell me what's "in" and what's "out" with 
regard to klezmer and Jewish music. Someone would have to 
be much better acquainted with the genre to begin to try to do that
well. 

My original comment was:
"If you wanna sing the blues, it helps to start with some respect for 
African-American experience."  

Here are the words Josh Huppert wrote:
>Since I speak neither Yiddish nor Hebrew, and I can't read one letter of
that 
>alphabet, I am at a small disadvantage here, but I can't resist the 
>temptation to bring up this subject which has been bugging me for a long
time.

>If Yiddish is a distinct and legitimate language, then we should define
the 
>Yiddish word "klezmer" according to its meaning in Yiddish. BTW,
"klezmer" is 
>now a word in English, too, and the English meaning differs from the
Yiddish 
>meaning.

>In my opinion, defining the Yiddish word by giving Hebrew roots implies
that 
>Yiddish is not really a language, just a dialect of German with a few 
>mispronounced Hebrew words thrown in. It also leads to a lot of
unnecessary 
>confusion about what the word means.

>This relates directly to the recent discussion here about "Israeli
klezmer 
>music." If Israelis think that "klezmer" is just the way us Gringos say
"klei 
>zemer," naturally they can play just about any kind of music and call it

>"klezmer"--it fits the Hebrew definition.

>In fact, I recently met an Israeli-American woman who said "So you are
the 
>klei zemer."
>She is a very nice woman, and her intentions were good. She just didn't 
>realize that "klezmer" and "klei zemer" are different words, in
different 
>languages.

>While I'm at it, a musician from Cleveland, Ohio explained to me last
year 
>the difference between language and a dialect:
>A language is a dialect with an army.

>On Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:50:38 EST Huppert23 (at) aol(dot)com writes:
> In a message dated 2/21/00 9:57:48 AM, apikoyros (at) juno(dot)com writes:
> << I hope the attitudes toward Yiddish he conveyed don't color his
playing.   >>
> 
> I may be having some computer problems. Perhaps my messages are 
> going out 
> garbled or incomplete. Would you please quote the paragraph in which 
> I dissed  Yiddish?
> Josh Huppert 
 

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