Klezmer Magic at the Tonic: Klezmer Madness 6/2/02

[elliott_simon <elliott_simon...>]

Ari...for the shack as well...mucho gracias....elliott



Klezmer Magic at the Tonic: Klezmer Madness 6/2/02
Reviewed by: Elliott W. Simon
elliott_simon (at) dca(dot)net

Sunday morning, get there early around 10 am. Cruise the streets: Rivington,
Orchard, Stanton, and Delancey. Peruse the vendors on Orchard and strike a 
bargain.
Look at some of the nine historic synagogues within walking distance. Visit
the Tenement Museum. Go to the ?Streitz? matzoh store. Get something to eat;
the new brunch on Essex or the nova and onion omelet at Ratner?s and if Klezmer
Madness is playing the Tonic, get in line by noon to hear the band warming up.


David Krakauer?s Klezmer Madness kicked off their next European tour by rocking
the Tonic once again with a tight program that showcased the band?s royal jazz
pedigree. The musicians merged old and new and created a klezmer sound that
took the audience on a journey to the musical edges of the genre and back again.
This incarnation of KM featured Kevin Norton (drums), Mark Stewart (guitar),
Will Holshouser (accordion), and Conrad Korsch (bass).

The Tonic klezmer brunch is a special place where the audience is filled with
mothers and fathers their mothers and fathers and their grandchildren. Throw
into this mix the occasional visit by downtown jazz musicians, assorted freaks
and punks and there are all the ingredients for a unique musical experience.
I am struck by the grandmother in her eighties who is in line after me ?David
shouldn?t be playing so much now, he will tire himself out for the show?  No
way grandma. When it all works, as it did this day, it is klezmer magic. Let?s
start with a medley of tunes in Bflat. Krakauer rips freilachs with astonishing
speed and breath control. I am an avowed Nicki Parrott fan and am ready to be
disappointed by the ?new? bass player. I?m not.  Among other credits, Conrad
Korsch is featured on the Broadway cast recording of ?Swing? and is one of the
best up and coming bassists in New York City. I later find out that he played
with KM on their last tour of Europe. I close my eyes and feel the beat that
Conrad is laying down with Kevin and Will. How does David get these musicians
to sound so good together? The sound is electric. I open my eyes and see Mark
Stewart rubbing his guitar and doing strange things to it with saliva and the
crowd is rocking. I look back at the bar and, could it be? Nicki Parrott is
pogoing to the sound with her sister Lisa.

Moskowitz?s Gypsy Bulgar mixed with the theme from James Bond took the crowd
back to the Lower East Side of 60 years ago with a new twist. A somewhat 
impromptu
guitar and clarinet doina duet followed. Mark Stewart laid down the palette
and David Krakauer mesmerized the audience with his improvising. Old and new
again as we are treated to a pair of terkish; the familiar terkish tantz and
Krakauer?s terkish tribute to jazz clarinet legend Sydney Bechet. A new bulgar
is world premiered and is one of the highlights of the day. With a working title
of  ?A Portrait of Klezmer Madness?, Will Holshouser stepped to the fore as
he took us through every key the band plays in. For Kosatzke/Der Ziser off 
?Twelve
Tribes?, guitar strings fly around the stage and Krakauer pelvic thrusts his
way through clarinet playing that is summoned from somewhere only he has been.
I have visions of when this is over he is taken back to that place to be brought
out again for the next show. Love Song for Lemberg/Lvov mixed its beautiful
melody with avant- noiz in a retelling of David?s visit to his grandfather?s
birthplace. Nicki Parrott stops dancing and joins the band onstage for a final
doina with David on bass clarinet. The set ends all too soon with two more 
bulgars
and the SRO crowd is spent. Is a live album at the Tonic a possibility?



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