Re: Jewish/Irish music

[Shirona <shirona...>]

Gideon - are you aware of the Israeli group "Esta"?  They also work with
Irish melodies and instruments (bag pipes, penny whistle) mixed with
Klezmer, Middle Eastern, Jazz and Rock.  They're phenomenal.

Shirona
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Singer, Songwriter and Teacher of Jewish Music
 Visit my website at    www.shirona.com
Listen to my music at www.mp3.com/shirona
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----- Original Message -----
From: <GAronoff (at) aol(dot)com>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Jewish/Irish music


> A few years back I wrote an article for the Washington Jewish Week and
> Jewishfamily.com on Irish-Jewish musical collaboration.  It featured Andy
> Statman, De Dannan, The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band and Whirligig.
> I've included a copy of the article below.
>
> The newest band that I'm aware of to work with Jewish and Irish material
is
> the Carlebach Chevra jam band SoulFarm who played a half dozen or more
> excellent Celtic tunes in their show at last years' District of Colombia
JCC
> Music Festival.
>
> Gideon
> IRISH-JEWISH CONNECTIONS - A ST. PATRICK'S DAY FEATURE
> By:  Gideon Aronoff
> ********************************************
> Medieval Irish chronicles record that the Jews and the Irish share a
common
> ancestor in Noah and even met during biblical times. The Leabhar Gabhala,
> written between the 10th and 12th centuries B.C.E., tells of Gaedel,
ancient
> ancestor of the Irish, who was bitten by a snake when residing in Egypt.
> Seeking help, Gaedel went to Moses who not only cured the snakebite, but
also
> offered to take him and his people to the promised land of Israel.  While
> Gaedel declined this offer, he led his people on a parallel exodus,
> ultimately conquering and settling Ireland, their promised land.
>
> Mark Scowcroft, an Associate Professor of English at the Catholic
University
> of America, has written widely on the Leabhar Gabhala ("Invasion Book" in
Old
> Irish).  Professor Scowcroft will be the featured speaker at a St.
Patrick's
> Day program "Common Ground -- The Irish: A Lost Tribe of Israel?" to be
held
> at the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center on Wednesday, March
17,
> at 7:30 p.m. According to Professor Scowcroft, the Leabhar Gabhala is
crucial
> to Irish culture because the text's Christian authors needed to give their
> people a creation story free of pagan mythology.  "While it is invented
> history, it was important to link Irish history to that of the bible,"
> Professor Scowcroft reflects.
>
> Much more recently than the days of the Leabhar Gabhala, and more firmly
> grounded in historical truth, Jewish and Irish folk musicians have
> collaborated for many years. One of the most successful of these
encounters
> has been the work of Klezmer Revival pioneer Andy Statman with traditional
> Irish fiddler Frankie Gavin and his band De Dannan.  Their common record
> label originally brought Mr. Statman, a Klezmer clarinet and mandolin
> virtuoso, and De Dannan together in the early 1980s for what Mr. Statman
says
> was a very natural musical experience.
>
> The strong partnership that developed between Mr. Statman and Mr. Gavin
led
> to numerous joint concert appearances of Irish and Klezmer music.  De
Dannan
> recorded several Klezmer instrumentals learned from Mr. Statman including
his
> signature tune 'The Flatbush Waltz,' their version of which Mr. Statman
says
> is played when Irish Airlines planes land in Shannon, Ireland.  De
Dannan's
> Irish style Klezmer pieces appear on their albums "Ballroom" and "1/2 Set
In
> Harlem," both released by Green Linnet Records.
>
> "De Dannan are master musicians," Mr. Statman asserts, but he still voices
> concern over fusion of the musical styles.  "Each music has its own
> particular essence, so it is easy for it to become a novelty that loses
the
> depth of both traditions.  You really must know what you are doing."
>
> While Mr. Statman is quick to point out that he is not an Irish musician,
> Jewish fiddle player Lisa Gutkin fully embraces this musical identity.
Ms.
> Gutkin, a prominent performer of her local New York-style of Irish music,
> says that she began playing Irish music in the early 1980s, and now it is
> nearly the only music she performs.  Ms. Gutkin leads the traditional
Irish
> band An Cre and the Celtic-World Music group Whirligig, whose debut CD,
"The
> Wheel," was released by Quarktet.
>
> "Many of my fans are intrigued by my being Jewish," Ms. Gutkin observes.
> Though her identity has not hurt her career, Ms. Gutkin adds that "no one
> would ever refer to someone as being a Catholic or Protestant musician,
but
> I'm always being introduced as 'the Jewish fiddle player.' "
>
> Throughout her career, however, one of the most severe critics of her
choice
> of Irish music has been Ms. Gutkin's grandfather who would ask why she
didn't
> play her own Jewish music.  Recently, she has taken steps in this
direction,
> serving as substitute fiddle player in the avant-garde Klezmer band the
> Klezmatics, where she says she learned that "not all Klezmer is schmaltzy
and
> overstated."
>
> As for fusion between Klezmer and Irish music, Ms. Gutkin's views echo
those
> of Mr. Statman.  "The subtle differences are what make the musical styles
so
> interesting, so it's important not to cloud over these differences.
Fusion
> can be thrilling, but you shouldn't say something is straight Klezmer and
> then add ornamentation from Irish music," Ms. Gutkin added.
>
> With backgrounds in Irish and American folk music, and a passion for
Klezmer,
> Sacramento California's Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band seems to have
> accepted this challenge, and has produced music that melds Jewish and
Irish
> sounds into a diverse and pleasing mix.  On their debut recording, "The
> Flower of Berezin," released last December, the Freilachmakers appear
> respectful of tradition while allowing themselves the freedom to create a
new
> modern American style of Klezmer.
>
> Their CD features many familiar Klezmer tunes, like "The Odessa Bulgar,"
> "Leibedik un Freilach" and "Der Heyser Bulgar," played with a folksy yet
> hard-edged sound driven by Lou Ann Weiss' string bass and Andy Rubin's
> clawhammer style banjo, a staple of traditional Appalachian music.  Over
> these propulsive rhythms, the banjo, Dave Kidd's fiddle, David Rosenfeld's
> guitar, and Elaine Fingerett's accordion trade hot licks from Jewish and
> non-Jewish musical sources.  "The Flower of Berezin" also features elegant
> performances of two classic Yiddish songs - Hirsh Glik's song of the
Jewish
> partisans, "Shtil di Nacht," and Herman Yablokoff's tale of an orphan
forced
> to sell cigarettes on the street, "Papirosn."
>
> While much of the CD remains close to the Jewish tradition, the influence
of
> Irish and the related Appalachian music, is a constant counterpoint to the
> Klezmer style.  "Fusion just happens," Mr. Rubin notes.  "Musicians bring
> their own experiences to the music and so, as a clawhammer banjo player, I
> bring the emotional undertones of Appalachia."
>
> One fascinating example of this fusion is the segue from "Papirosn" into
the
> American dance tune "Ragtime Annie," an upbeat reply to the somber tone of
> Yablokoff's song.  But the most blatant attempts at melding styles on the
CD
> are the two original tunes written by Mr. Rubin in memory of his
> grandparents, immigrants from Belarus.  In "The Flower of Berezin" and
"The
> Minsker Corporal's Waltz" Mr. Rubin starts with traditional Irish tunes,
"The
> Flowers of Antrim" and "Rosin the Beau," and then reworks the music using
> Klezmer stylings and ornamentation.  The result is clear fusion - not
Irish
> anymore and not completely Klezmer - but ultimately moving and emotionally
> compelling expressions of an American Jewish artist.
>
> So, as in the days of Moses and Gaedel, meaningful contacts continue
between
> Jewish and Irish culture.  Mr. Kidd, who says he is committed to the study
of
> traditional Klezmer and is working to remove the Irish ornamentations in
his
> fiddle playing, observes that the Freilachmakers' Klezmer fusion, like the
> Jewish music played by De Dannan, is extremely popular with Irish music
fans
> and so opens up Klezmer music to a new audience.   He underscores the
> importance of this relationship by admitting that several of the classic
> Klezmer tunes in the Freilachmakers' repertoire were not learned directly
> from Jewish sources, but from recordings by De Dannan.
>
>
>


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