David Krakauer and Klezmer Madness at Tonic, 4/23/00

[Seth <rogovoy...>]

Hevre: I've always known I've loved David Krakauer's music, but seeing him
with the current lineup of his band, Klezmer Madness, this past Sunday at
Tonic in New York City gave me an entirely new perspective on Krakauer and
his work.

Many of us are familiar with Krakauer's work as clarinetist with the
Klezmatics until 1996, and with the two subsequent recordings under his own
name, "Klezmer Madness" and "Klezmer, N.Y.," on the Tzadik label. We know
him to be a virtuoso player (he is a celebrated performer in the classical
world, and he can also be heard performing with the Kronos Quartet on "The
Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind," a sort of classical/klezmer fusion
piece by Osvaldo Golijov) with a colorful tone and as a witty, intelligent
arranger and composer.

I had seen Krakauer about four or five years ago when Klezmer Madness was in
its early stages and he was performing in a trio format. It was a wonderful
performance, and in large part was responsible for hooking me into the
music, but it didn't quite prepare me for what I witnessed this past Sunday.

Performing as a sextet, with an electric guitarist, Ted Reichmann on
accordion, Pablo Aslan and a tall, leggy redhead in go-go boots doubling on
bass (I'm sorry but I didn't catch her name, and if you'd like I'll provide
colorful descriptions of the male musicians also), a drummer, and Krakauer,
the band packed a lot of power and potential, which it made great use of it
throughout the first set (I had to catch a bus back to the Berkshires so
couldn't stay for the second set).

I was familiar with several of the tunes from Krakauer's solo albums --
plus, in honor of the Passover holiday, he played and SANG a version of
"Chad Gadya" done with a kind of New Orleans second-line rhythm, or was it a
Bo Diddley beat, or both? Not sure, but it rocked, and I can't wait for next
year's seder -- I'll be sure to begin the song tapping out the Bo Diddley
beat for everyone to sing to!

The whole show rocked, in fact, but it did so without gimmickry. As you know
Krakauer is a careful student of the music, and like his erstwhile bandmates
in the Klezmatics, he is able to tweak the music just-so so that it both
stays true to its origins while making total sense to the modern listener
(the same thing Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein did when they transferred
the music from Old World shtetls to American bandstands in the '20s and
'30s).

What particularly struck the crowd was Krakauer's stamina. While other
players had their moments, this was pretty much an all-Krakauer concert, and
I've never seen a musician blow so hard for so long in any music. Typically
the leader of a jazz ensemble will state the theme and then each player will
have a go at it while the leader sits out. Not in this case. Krakauer just
gets up there and plays and plays and plays. He also jumps around, bends and
dances; he's a joy to watch. Great fun, powerful stuff.

Tonic is a raw, gritty place, that utterly comes alive when the crowd fills
in and the music starts. This past Sunday children mingled with high school
kids, bohemians, punks, yuppies, Frummies, and grandparent-types. They were
serving cream cheese and lox on matzoh and matzo ball soup. The place is
very accessible, with the subway literally around the corner, on Delancey
Street, a major Lower East Side thoroughfare. There's also a free municipal
parking lot right across Delancey! And the Williamsburg Bridge is just a few
blocks away, if you're coming from or want to escape to Brooklyn. There's
still a bit of old-world flavor in the surrounding blocks; there was an
open-air pedestrian market a couple blocks away on Orchard Street, and Essex
Street, with Guss's Pickles and a row of religious articles shops and
sofrim, is just a few blocks away.

Krakauer and his band return on Sunday, June 18th. I hope to see many of you
there!

Seth Rogovoy
author of "The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and
Soul"
coming in mid-May from Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
http://www.algonquin.com/catalog/pagemaker.cgi?1-56512-244-5

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+