klezmer in the news

[Bert Stratton <yiddcup...>]

In the latest New Republic, May 1, 2000, there's a book review by Ruth
Wisse of Henry Sapoznik's "Klezmer!".  

Ms. Wisse also reviews Jacob Adler's "A Life on the Stage: A Memoir."
That's Jacob Adler's auto bio, written in 1917 in Yiddish.  The English
translation came out last year.  All kinds of interesting stuff about
Russia, circa 1880, from a modern-guy's point of view.  Adler, a
boulevardier, with cane and top hat, roams amongst the yokels, who often
look like fiddlers on roofs.  

Back to "Klezmer!" . . . Ms. Wisse concludes the author isn't religious
enough; she says, "(Sapoznik) does not see that the true Jewish
counterculture in America has always been Judaism itself."

Ms. Wisse describes the author as "still hopelessly stuck with the idea of
klezmer as a countercultural show of resistance."

Ms. Wisse's fight card: Judaism vs. klezmer.  What a mismatch! The fact
"Klezmer!" is the first history of klez -- and well-written too --  she
doesn't mention that. 

Bert Stratton
http://www.yiddishecup.com    

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