Re: Jazz Klezmer Weekend at Bard College

[Emily Darrow <darrow...>]

Bard College is located in northern Dutchess County, just 2 hours north 
of NYC by car or 1.5 hours by train (Amtrak to Rhinecliff). The website 
(http://www.bard.edu/aboutbard/visiting/) gives clear directions and 
also information on where to stay. Here is a copy of the driving directions:

By Automobile
 From southern Connecticut, follow I-84 to the Taconic State Parkway, 
take the Taconic north to the Red Hook/Route 199 exit, drive west on 
Route 199 through the village of Red Hook to Route 9G, turn right onto 
Route 9G, and drive north 1.6 miles.
 From northern Connecticut, take Route 44 to Route 199 at Millerton, 
drive west on Route 199, and proceed as from southern Connecticut.
 From Massachusetts and northern New England, take the Massachusetts 
Turnpike to Exit B-2 (Taconic Parkway), take the Taconic south to the 
Red Hook/Route 199 exit, and proceed as from southern Connecticut.
 From New York City, New Jersey, and points south, take the New York 
State Thruway to Exit 19 (Kingston), take Route 209 (changes to Route 
199 at the Hudson River) over the Rhinecliff Bridge to Route 9G at the 
second light, turn left onto Route 9G, and drive north 3.5 miles.
 From Albany, take the New York State Thruway to Exit 19 and proceed as 
from New York City.

Hope to see you at the performance of Naftule's Dream and Shirim on 
April 13 and 14 at Bard.
Best-
Emily

Mel Korn wrote:

>Can someone tell me where Bard is in relation to I 87. It sounds like a
>weekend that would make the drive from Toronto worthwhile. The added bonus
>would be to see Donald Fagen & Walter Beckers Old School!
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>[mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org]On Behalf Of Emily Darrow
>Sent: March 8, 2002 5:22 PM
>To: World music from a Jewish slant
>Subject: Jazz Klezmer Weekend at Bard College
>
>THE JAZZ AT BARD SERIES PRESENTS A JAZZ AND KLEZMER WEEKEND WITH
>PERFORMANCES BY NAFTULE'S DREAM AND SHIRIM ON APRIL 13 AND APRIL 14
>
>The weekend at Bard College will also offer a screening of the
>documentary The New Klezmorim
>
>ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.--The Jazz at Bard series presents a jazz and
>klezmer weekend featuring concerts by Naftule's Dream, a jazz-klezmer
>band, and the band's traditional klezmer incarnation, Shirim, on
>Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 14, at Bard College. Admission to
>each concert is $15, or $10 for Bard faculty and staff, as well as
>non-Bard students and senior citizens. Bard students will be admitted
>free. The weekend also offers a free screening of the documentary The
>New Klezmorim: Voices Inside the Revival of Yiddish Music.
>
>Organized by two Bard alumnae, Raissa St. Pierre '87 and Sheila Moloney
>'84, the Jazz at Bard series is an ongoing effort to bring
>internationally recognized jazz performers to the Hudson Valley region.
>St. Pierre says that the choice of presenting performances by both the
>jazz-klezmer band, Naftule's Dream, and the traditional klezmer group,
>Shirim, was made so the series could continue to offer multidimensional
>programs that explore the connections between jazz and music of other
>genres and cultures.
>
>On Saturday, April 13, at 8:00 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the
>Bertelsmann Campus Center, there will be a performance by Naftule's
>Dream, whose sound is "without a doubt the most startlingly original,
>audacious music I've heard," according to Bill Milkowski of Jazz Times.
>The group emerged as a major force in the radical Jewish music movement
>out of New York City in the 1990s and continues to break new ground with
>its unique blend of modern classical, freely improvised rock fusion, and
>Jewish roots music. The six musicians weave fiery improvisation into
>complex arrangements in a style reminiscent of Charles Mingus and Henry
>Threadgill. The American Reporter describes their music as "what you
>might hear were Ornette Coleman to play a Jewish wedding."
>
>Based in Boston, Naftule's Dream has performed internationally,
>including at the Berlin Jazz Festival, Ashkenaz Festival of New Yiddish
>Culture in Toronto, Montreal Jazz Festival, Chicago World Music
>Festival, Bell-Atlantic Jazz Festival, New York Jazz Festival, as well
>as in clubs throughout the United States and Europe. They have been
>awarded an Arts International Fund grant for United States artists for
>tour support. Their three recordings--Job; Smash, Clap!; and Search for
>the Golden Dreydl--are released on John Zorn's radical Jewish culture
>label, Tzadik. Naftule's Dream is named for Naftule Brandwein, a klezmer
>clarinetist from the 1920s to '50s. The musicians formed this group in
>order to create a new sound without alienating the traditional klezmer
>audience of their other band, Shirim.
>
>On Sunday, April 14, at 1:00 p.m. in Bard Hall, the band members' more
>traditional klezmer group, Shirim, will perform and give an informal
>talk on klezmer and Jewish music. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times
>writes of their style that it is "great ecumenical fun. Tchaikovsky
>rocks, and so do klezmer versions of Mahler, Satie, and other classical
>composers." Shirim performs classic klezmer music combined with
>ingenious arrangements of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Enesco. The group's
>holiday special with Ellen Kushner, The Golden Dreydl: A Klezmer
>Nutcracker, has become an annual program on National Public Radio.
>Shirim is also featured on the soundtrack of Woody Allen's film
>Deconstructing Harry. Their recordings include Oy! It's Good; Klezmer
>Nutcracker; and Of Angels and Horseradish.
>
>The members of both the Naftule's Dream and Shirim are clarinetist Glenn
>Dickson, trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, pianist and accordionist Michael
>McLaughlin, electric guitarist (Naftule's Dream) and banjoist (Shirim)
>Brandon Seebrook, tubist Jim Gray, and drummer Eric Rosenthal.
>
>On Sunday, April 14, at 4:00 p.m. in Preston Hall, there will be a free
>screening of the documentary The New Klezmorim: Voices Inside the
>Revival of Yiddish Music. This film by David Kaufman is a celebration of
>what has been called the most important popular Jewish cultural
>phenomenon of recent times: the revival of klezmer and Yiddish music.
>Leading figures in today's jazz and klezmer music scene are featured in
>concert, and there are extensive interviews with performers and devotees
>of the music.
>
>The weekend programs are presented by the Jazz at Bard series and the
>Jewish Studies Program at Bard, and are cosponsored by Alison Wines and
>Vineyards of Red Hook. For further information, to purchase tickets, or
>for reservations, call 845-876-7666 or e-mail stpierre (at) bard(dot)edu(dot)
>Reservations and advance ticket purchase for the concerts are recommended.
>
>
>
>