Re: Criticism of "The New Klezmorim"

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

You know, there are several video's about klezmer and new Jewish music, 
starting (I think) with Michal Goldman's "A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of 
Eden" from at least ten years ago, which focused on Kapelye and the Klezmer 
Conservatory Band, and most recently (in my limited collection) to a TV special 
done by Claudia Heuermann a couple of years ago focussing not on klezmer, but 
on the Radical Jewish Culture Scene ("A Sabbath in Paradise"). Henry is also 
seen in "The Fiddler's House," the video by Josh Waletzky about Yitzhak Perlman 
meeting several revival bands and performing together (quick, facile summary, I 
know).

Surely the klezmer revival is so far more than one person (and even more 
surely, wouldn't we all now choose different sets of "more than one person" 
were we to descend to that level). To judge a film about a klezmer gathering 
that has never been affiliated with Mr. Sapoznik by the fact that he isn't 
mentioned, may be going to an extreme. 

Now, a film about =KLEZKAMP=, that annual marvel that just ended, and which was 
co-founded by Henry, who, along with Adrienne Cooper and others continues to be 
a vital presence and personification of the camp to many people--well, his 
presence in such a film would be vital! 

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing this new video. Anyone who thinks 
that Brave Old World, Hankus Netsky, and Zalmen Mlotek haven't played major 
roles in whatever it is that sprang from the klezmer revival, and don't have 
much to say, probably =needs= to see the video :-).

And I hope that there will be lots of videos still to come.

ari

At 01:09 PM 12/31/00 -0500, you wrote:
>In reply to a message from Hank Shuster of Brooklyn, New York:
>Any filmmaker who produces a documentary about a large subject knows he or
>she can only address a segment of that universe. This is true for all the
>reasons documentarians are familiar with: time, money, shooting venues and
>opportunities. My video program was intended to give the unitiated viewer a
>brief introduction to the current generation of Kezmer musicians and
>Yiddish singers using the venue of KlezKanada and its wonderful resources.
>Notwithstanding its limitations (which it shares with all hour long films),
>nearly all viewers, contrary to Mr. Shuster, find The New Klezmorim to be a
>compelling introduction to the new Jewish music. Aside from interesting
>interviews about the origins and appeal of the music, the video program
>contains some wonderful performances by the finest performers the world of
>Yiddish music has to offer today.
>I have nothing against Henry Sapoznik; he just wasn't at KlezKanada when I
>was shooting. It's unfortunate that his fans judge everything through the
>prism of his celebrity even when such a judgement is completely irrelevant.
>David Kaufman
>73501(dot)3677 (at) compuserve(dot)com
>
>---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+
>