FW: Klezmer! - Fact or Fiction?

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

KLEZMER! -- FACT OR FICTION?

A public statement by Josh Waletzky


As the history of the Klezmer Revitalization begins to emerge in print,
it is clear that most readers and reviewers will not be in a position 
to judge the accuracy of the first accounts.  Without an authoritative
record to consult, counterfactual or misleading statements are bound
to be apparent to only a tiny number of individuals, often without the
time, inclination, or appropriate forum to publicize corrections.
"Klezmer!  Jewish Music from Old World to Our World", written by my 
old friend and colleague Henry Sapoznik, contains a highly skewed
description of the Klezmer Revitalization, in which the interests of
self-promotion seem continually to trump the interests of accuracy and
completeness.  The corrections below, drawn from personal knowledge,
are intended as a modest beginning.

A number of reviewers and klezmer cognoscenti have commented on
"Klezmer!"'s deficiencies, including passages seemingly aimed merely at
settling old scores.  Most recently, Allan Kozinn noted the awkwardness
of Sapoznik's attempt to depict a broad development through the narrow
lens of one's own involvement.

But none of the reviewers has been in a position to know that in
addition to distorting his history by over-emphasizing the projects he
was involved in (abandoning the forest for the tree, as Kozinn would
have it), Sapoznik has distorted his accounts of these projects
themselves by over-emphasizing, and at times overstating, his
individual role.

For example, while Kapelye and the Klezmer Conservatory Band played
arguably equally important roles in the Revitalization, the KCB is
given relatively short shrift simply because Sapoznik never played
in it.  That much might occur to any reader.  What few readers will
suspect, however, is that Sapoznik's account of Kapelye's founding
is also distorted.  For instance, Sapoznik makes it appear that the
early repertoire of Kapelye was the fulfillment of a credo he had
developed before the band was launched.

As the first person Sapoznik approached with the idea of founding a
klezmer band, I remember things quite differently.  The band's early
repertoire, which integrated vocal and instrumental traditions, was
more the product of my approach and repertoire and that of Michael
Alpert, than that of Sapoznik.  The continuing validity of Yiddish
music and the creative interplay between vocal and instrumental
traditions was, and remains, my musical mantra. In fact, this
integrated approach to the repertoire had been embodied in the
soundtrack I had already compiled for the documentary film "Image
Before My Eyes".  (I had hired Sapoznik to do research for that film
before Kapelye got off the ground.)  And this was the approach
Kapelye adopted.

More egregious, because it includes fabricated details, is Sapoznik's
account of the scoring of the documentary film "Partisans of Vilna".
This credit would seem to be the basis for press references to Sapoznik
as a film scorer and as a composer.  But Sapoznik's claim to have "done
the music" for the film is patently untrue.

Sapoznik's contribution to the score (which was not composed at all,
but compiled from existing songs) was, in fact, significantly less than
is suggested by his actual credit on the film: "Music Consultant and
Research".  As Director and Editor of the film, the score was completely
my responsibility, from design to execution.  Sapoznik was consulted,
along with a number of other archivists, to locate recordings of songs
I had selected.  He also recommended arranger Pete Sokolow and acted as
liaison with the studio where supplemental recordings (such as Lauren
Brody's accordion track or Janet Leuchter's vocal) were made.

In order to substantiate his claim to having "done the music" for the
film, Sapoznik provides the following description: "we had constructed
exact-timing musical cuts to fit precisely into the film sequence."
The "we" refers to Sapoznik and Waletzky.  But Sapoznik was simply not
present, in body or spirit, when I fit the film scenes and the music
together.  Nor had he anything at all to do with choosing the musical
selections, figuring out where and how to use them, etc.  Sapoznik's
claim to have made a significant, let alone predominant, contribution
to the creation of the score is pure invention.

Sapoznik's account of the making of the Grammy-nominated album based on
the film "Partisans of Vilna" is also skewed. Sapoznik's role, as
co-producer, had to do with the production and business side of the
album.  My role, as co-producer, had to do with the creative concept:
selecting the repertoire, writing or supervising the musical
arrangements, rehearsing the performers (including Sapoznik) -
functioning as the record's musical director.

It is ludicrous for Sapoznik to write that he "invited Josh Waletzky to
co-produce" as if there was another way to go!  The sound track Bruce
Kaplan of Flying Fish fell in love with upon seeing the film was in
every sense my work.  Moreover, I would say that while Sapoznik's
musical taste and inclination were amply reflected in "Levine and His
Flying Machine" and other Kapelye albums recorded after I left the band,
his taste and inclination are correspondingly absent in the "Partisans
of Vilna" album.  The latter's repertory and style are simply not in his
bailiwick; they were, and are, at the center of mine.  Sapoznik's use
of "we" and "our" in describing the creative concept of the album is
completely unwarranted and outrageous.

In over-reaching to include himself as co-author of the album's
artistic vision, Sapoznik makes embarrassing mistakes.  He repeats the
common misstatement that the partisan hymn "Zog nit keynmol" was written
in the Warsaw Ghetto.  In fact, it was written in a labor camp outside
Vilna (an entire scene in the film is devoted to the song's genesis).
This misstatement contravenes one of the aims of the film: to show how
Warsaw, while the site of the most glorious Jewish uprising, was not
the be-all and end-all of Jewish resistance against the Nazis.

Sapoznik refers to the "whispered a cappella singing of Jews in hiding"
as one of the guides to the album's performance style.  This bit of
sentimental PR-speak misses an important message of the album and the
film it was based on: there were Jews who challenged their fate, not
with whispers but with armed resistance - "with blood and not with
pencil-lead," as Hirsh Glik put it.  Whether in the Ghetto Theater, in
defiance of the leader of the Judenrat; or at reveille in their forest
partisan camps; the full-voice singing of these songs was an emblem of
a defiant, if doomed, youthful resistance.

Had Sapoznik "done the music" for the film, or been my partner in the
artistic direction of the album, he would not have made these mistakes.


Unfortunately, I do not seem to have been singled out for the type of
treatment described above.  There are many, many individuals without
whose talents, time and resources, the enterprises so close to
Sapoznik's heart like Kapelye, KlezKamp, the "Partisans of Vilna" record,
etc. would not have been possible or, indeed, conceivable.  Sadly, his
book, whether dismissive or praising of these (past and present)
colleagues, gives no real insight into, or even honest description of,
their vital contributions.  His attempts to claim credit for himself
where credit is not due reveal a profound disrespect for the collective
nature of the tradition he champions in Klezmer!

Lamentably, in ignoring, minimizing or distorting the roles played by
other groups and individuals, Sapoznik has offered a multi-layered and
fully extended exemplification of the Yiddish saying: "a halber emes iz
a gantser lign" - A half-truth is a complete lie.

Josh Waletzky,
New York City
September, 2000

[This statement may be forwarded.]

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