Rockin' the Shtetl Looks at the Renaissance of Klezmer Music & Yiddish World Beat Dance Party Brings Klezmer Band to MASS MoCA

[Seth <rogovoy...>]

Rockin' the Shtetl Looks at the Renaissance of Klezmer Music

(North Adams, Mass.) For centuries klezmer music has been the soundtrack of
celebration for Jewish communities in Europe and America.  Today, the
bittersweet sounds of clarinet- and violin-driven klezmer are performed on
the world's greatest concert stages, in the hippest urban jazz and rock
clubs, in coffeehouses, and at folk festivals.  How Klezmer traveled from
old world shtetls to New World nightclubs is the subject of a music talk by
author and Berkshire Eagle music critic Seth Rogovoy entitled "Rockin' the
Shtetl: The Essential Klezmer," at 5 pm on Saturday, August 12.

Author of "The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and
Soul Music," Rogovoy  uses examples from a century's worth of recorded
klezmer to  trace the evolution of klezmer music from its origins as a
ritual dance music to its popularization in the early 20th century as a
nostalgic evocation of a lost world, through its triumphant breakthrough to
the masses in the Swing era to today's thriving, contemporary klezmer
revival.  The Library Journal calls Rogovoy a "passionate aficionado of
klezmer music [who] carefully and lovingly chronicles klezmer with a
journalist's eye for detail."

Along the way the audience will meet characters such as Stempenyu, the
legendary violinist whose music wove a magical spell throughout the Old
World .  They will hear snippets by great immigrant-era clarinetists like
Dave Tarras and Naftule "Nifty" Brandwein, whose antics on the bandstand -
he was known to play with his pants around his ankles - nearly overshadowed
his soulful genius.  The truth about the supposed klezmer connections to
Benny Goodman and George Gershwin will be revealed.  The Phoenix-like tale
of the klezmer revival will be recounted through the music of Andy Statman,
the Klezmorim, and the Klezmer Conservatory Band.  The roles of Garrison
Keillor, classical violinist Itzhak Perlman and African-American jazz
clarinetist Don Byron will be revealed.

Seth Rogovoy has written for the Berkshire Eagle since 1986 interviewing
hundreds of performers, including Billy Joel, Melissa Etheridge, Ani
DiFranco, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Sonny Rollins, David Byrne, Randy
Newman, Suzanne Vega, Dave Brubeck, and Jerry Seinfeld.  Seth's music
journalism has appeared in national and regional magazines including Sing
Out!, Moment, Leak CD, and Berkshire Magazine, and in newspapers including
Newsday, the Boston Phoenix, the Forward, Pakn Treger, the Bennington
Banner, and the Woodstock Times.    Seth also hosts "Rockin' the Shtetl," a
weekly radio show focusing on klezmer and Jewish music.

Rockin' the Shtetl is free with museum admission.  Tickets are available
through the MASS MoCA Box Office at 87 Marshall St. in North Adams from 10
am until 6 pm daily.  Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling
413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased online at
www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in
the United States, is located at 87 Marshall Street in North Adams on a
13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.


Yiddish World Beat Dance Party Brings  Klezmer Band to MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.) MASS MoCA's Courtyard D will house a rollicking Yiddish
dance party when Klezperanto fills the dance floor with dynamic
Klezmer-based music on Saturday, August 12, at 7:30 pm. With an all-star
line-up from the helm of the Klezmer revival playing irresistible dance
grooves with true Yiddish soul, Klezperanto is unique in both the new Jewish
and world music scenes.    Eve Cameron, the dance instructor arranged by
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival will offer a half-hour lesson to start the
night.

Klezperanto is a six-piece instrumental band which "re-grooves" traditional
Klezmer and Mediterranean tunes.  Their diverse repertoire incorporates
original zydeco, rockabilly, New Orleans funk, samba, and Yiddish tunes, as
well as Romanian surf music, and some very non-standard jazz standards.
Klezperanto has been performing for enthusiastic audiences throughout
greater Boston and New York - most notably at Celebrate Brooklyn.  Of a
recent performance in Northampton, VMAG, said  "The disparate elements of
klezmer, jazz and rock combine in such a way that I falter at describing
their sound... The unifying theme of this gumbo is the incessant desire to
dance that it creates."

Klezperanto's leader, Ilene Stahl, has been the featured clarinet soloist
with the Klezmer Conservatory Band for more than a dozen years, during which
she has performed extensively throughout the United States internationally
playing at festivals and concerts and appearing on radio and television
broadcasts.  Most recently, she has been involved with the Klezmer
Conservatory Band's collaboration with Itzhak Perlman for the PBS Great
Performances program In the Fiddler's House and on two recordings and an
on-going concert tour of the same name.

In addition to Stahl, Klezperanto includes Klezmer Conservatory Band
veterans Evan Harlan on accordion, Mark Hamilton on trombone and Grant Smith
playing drumsand  Mike Bullock on the bass.  Rounding out the band is
Boston native Brandon Seabrook on banjo, guitar, and mandolin.

Tickets to the Yiddish World Beat Dance Party are $12 for adults and $6 for
kids. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office at 87 Marshall
St. in North Adams from 10 am until 6 pm daily.  Tickets can also be charged
by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased online
at www.massmoca.org. In case of inclement weather, the Yiddish World Beat
Dance Party will be moved inside.

Also, at 5 pm on Saturday, August 12, MASS MoCA presents Rockin' the Shtetl:
The Essential Klezmer, a music talk by Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle music
critic and author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish
Roots and Soul Music.  Rockin' the Shtetl is free with museum admission.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in
the United States, is located at 87 Marshall Street in North Adams on a
13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

Lenora L. Farrington
Marketing Assistant
MASS MoCA
87 Marshall St.
North Adams, MA 01247
(413)664-4481 ext. 8111
lenoraf (at) massmoca(dot)org
http://www.massmoca.org/performing_arts/index.html


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