Re: romancing the shtetl, another long reply

[yakov (koby) <kchodosh...>]

On Sun, 07 Jan 2001 10:31:54 -0500, you wrote:

>What a great question, the answers to which could easily reach talmudic
>proportions.

Talmudic!! haha :)

>We all draw our own lines for, say, how progressive can we go in fusion with
>other styles, without losing sight of the tradition? Or, how much
>ornementation is the 'correct' amount? There is no 'right' answer.

We can get a hint from, of all places, your message: "If it sounds good, it is 
good." You said it.

I am only seventeen, so maybe I'm overly simplistic with all this, BUT it seems 
obvious to me that endless worrying about "authenticity" can only lead to 
insanity. At KlezKamp, in the Dveykus class, when someone asked Frank London 
about the "original" tunes, where they come from, their names etc., sometimes 
he knew a little but usually he didn't. At one point he told us about a very 
traditional, very old-school Hassidic tune, then started to sing it. It was the 
French national anthem.* So, really, it's impossible to perfectly pin down 
localities and origins and etc. for music. Not to mention authenticity of 
anything else -- religion, law, etc. Who can say what the authors of the 14th 
Amendment *really* meant by it?

So, if it sounds cool to mix klezmer with drum-n'-bass (Oi-Va-Voy), or mix 
klezmer with latin jazz (Klezperanto), or string together different pieces of 
klezmer songs and play the whole thing in swing (Pete Sokolow and the Original 
Klezmer Jazz Band, not to mention all the dozens of old groups who did that), 
why not do it? Anyway, that's my answer :)

>What smacks of too much schtick to me, won't seem that way to someone else.

I think this sentence sums up your entire view on the subject. Annnnnnd.... I 
agree with it! Waddya know :)

>There are klezmer CDs that I won't purchase...

INFIDEL! ;)

>because, for whatever reason, that artists' music doesn't
>speak to me, and there are artists' whose recordings I anxiously await upon
>first hearing of their potential releases.

Well, of course.

>I think finding the place where the line is drawn is a lifelong musical
>quest to which the artist should commit to explore, and it's wonderful that
>we all have the opportunity to discuss this with each other on this list, to
>inform our own decisions on this issue.

Yeah, this group, and the klezmer kommunity in general, is really amazing. 
Stuff like this list, and KlezKamp just doesn't *happen* in other musical 
genres... they're too big! I'm sure the community has its share of b.s., but 
really, most klezmers are some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

>I look forward to meeting you in person at some klez event or another in the
>future, both to discuss this further, and to play some music.

Great, cool! I'm listening to your MP3 ("Fiskeleh") -- of course, I'm more of a 
brass man myself, but it really sounds great! :)

>BTW, you are quite correct that romancing has a different meaning than
>romanticization. What can I say?, other than I liked the way it looked as a
>headline... :-)

You weren't the only one... other people said "romancing" too... haha well 
we're musicians, not English teachers (or presidents-elect)

thanks for reading down this far! ;)


* According to Frank, half the Hassidim answer the obvious question with 
"What's France?" and the other half says it was originally a tribute to 
Napoleon's pro-Jewish policies.

yakov.
trombonist, "Kap'n Klezmer and the Klez Kadets"
http://www.kobyland.com
cartoon network mp3s, art spiegelman, funny quotes 

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