CD reviews of Joshua Waletzky and Klezamir

[Seth Rogovoy <rogovoy...>]

These CD reviews written by me will appear approximately as-is in the "Texts
and Tunes" column in the issue of the Berkshire Jewish Voice dated July 12,
2001:

Joshua Waletzky, "Crossing the Shadows" (www.crossingtheshadows.com): “I
lift my foot/But it doesn’t want to dance,” is the first couplet heard on
this wonderful album of new Yiddish songs. The ambivalence expressed in
those lines – the conflict between the desire to celebrate creation in the
face of so much horror and cruelty -- informs the entirety of this song
cycle, 14 selections in all, written and performed by
singer-songwriter/pianist Joshua Waletzky with accompaniment by violinist
Deborah Strauss and mandolinist/guitarist Jeff Warschauer.

It’s a tribute to Waletzky’s talents as a writer and performer that the
heavy weight of recent Jewish history is borne by his vivid poetry and his
muscular melodies that straddle the nether region between folk and art song.
The mood of the cycle varies from the klezmer-fueled celebration of “Tantsn
kales (Brides are dancing)” to the poignant balladry of “Der nisnboym (The
nut tree)” to the soulful ecstasy of “Shabes-koydesh (Holy Sabbath).”
Waletzky, who has a parallel career as a filmmaker, composes with flair –
even an instrumental like “Der tats (The cymbal)” is full of drama and
dynamics, as are his piano playing and his earthy vocals. Strauss and
Warschauer, two leading lights of the klezmer renaissance, lend their vocal
harmonies and Old World instrumental flavor to Warschauer’s Yiddish
compositions.

If Stephen Sondheim wrote in the language and musical idiom of his
forebears, he would be Joshua Waletzky.

Klezamir, "Der Bloyfoygl of Happiness" (www.klezamir.com): For over a
decade, the Pioneer Valley, Mass.-based klezmer ensemble Klezamir has been a
favorite on the regional scene. But with the group’s new album, Der
Bloyfoygl of Happiness (The Bluebird fun freyd), its third recording, the
group threatens to break through into the major leagues of contemporary
klezmer bands.

The most obvious difference is the addition of vocalist Felicia Shpall,
whose combined background in theater and cantorial music is heard to great
soulful and dramatic effect on classic Yiddish theater tunes like “Oy mame
bin ikh farlibt” and “Mayn yidishe meydele” and folk songs like “Di
sapozhkelekh.” Her rendition of Sholom Secunda’s “Got fun Avrom” is
delectably over the top, like a mini-klezmer opera.

The group also shines on a few original tunes, including leader/flutist Amy
Rose’s “Salonica,” a showcase for her klezmer flute playing in a
Balkan-style 7/8 meter which expands into a dizzying, rocking ensemble
number, and her tango-fueled composition “Vayter, vayter,” spotlighting
clarinetist Jim Armenti. Armenti himself coins some Andy Statman-like
klezgrass on “Der memfisdiker tsimes (Memphis Stew),” and his title track
concludes with some David Krakauer-style klezmer madness. He also wields his
electric, six-string guitar -- an instrument not always suited to Old
World-rooted klezmer -- with delicacy, using it to paint suggestive colors
on the “Rumenisher Hora,” and to push the Serbian folk dance “Nishki cochek”
into Dick Dale territory.

--------------
Seth Rogovoy
author of "The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and
Soul"

“An informative and entertaining guide….Seth Rogovoy lucidly explains what’s
culturally significant about klezmer; better yet, he captures the music’s
fun.” – jazz critic Francis Davis, author of "Bebop And Nothingness" and
"The History Of The Blues."

"Mazel tov, you're a genius!" -- Phoebe Legere, queen of downtown cabaret

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