Forgive me for posting a really nice review! (Maxwell Street)

[MaxwellSt <MaxwellSt...>]

<A 
HREF="http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030110/et31.shtml";>http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030110/et31.shtml</A>

(They don't credit Lorele for co-authoring the liner notes, but I hope she is 
kvelling!)

Klezmer band blends tango, jazz, Broadway

DAN PINE

Bulletin Correspondent
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California

Yo Yo Ma did it. Wynton Marsalis did it. And now, the Maxwell Street Klezmer 
Band, like the aforementioned classical music superstars, has blended 
thorough musical scholarship with an unabashed joy of performing on their new 
Shanachie Records CD release "Old Roots, New World."

In its 13 sensational tracks, the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band amply 
demonstrates that sometimes the smartest kids in the class can also have the 
most fun.

Based out of Skokie, Ill., (a town famous for standing up to a neo-Nazi march 
some decades back) the band is a large ensemble, rotating some 17 players on 
the new album, all under the leadership of lead singer/founder Lori Lippitz.

The band credits actor Theodore Bikel with coining the album's title. It is 
indeed fitting, as Maxwell Street mined a vast treasure trove of early 20th 
century klezmer recordings, as well as traditional tunes, in selecting its 
latest musical offering. Throw in a pair of striking original compositions, 
and the band has come up with a must-own CD for serious klezmer addicts.

As much a pleasure as this album is to hear, so too is reading the liner 
notes, which detail each song's history and provide Yiddish lyrics in 
translation. Clearly, the band is into history, lovingly rendering ancient 
shtetl tunes as well as rearranging klezmer classics from the early days of 
78 recordings. 

The album kicks off with "Lebedike Honga," a raucous dance piece of Romanian 
Jewish origin. A Yiddish version of the Hustle, the track maximizes the 
band's brassy, large-scale sound.

Revealing the unmistakable link between klezmer, Yiddish theater and the 
Broadway musical, "Shpil de Fidl, Shpil/Yidl mitn Fidl" pairs two songs made 
famous by the legendary Molly Picon. The band does Molly proud on this 
spirited medley, sung by Lippitz with just the right amount of shmaltz (if 
with a less-than-flawless Yiddish accent). 

"Leah's Saraband" is a ravishing original by violinist Alex Koffman. Composed 
for Lori Lippitz's wedding, it evokes a sensual wedding-night spirit, drawing 
on the varied colors of the classical orchestra. "Chusn Lalleh Mazel Tov" 
("Congratulations, Bride and Groom") provides an uproarious twin piece.

There's a lamentable tendency in the general public to view klezmer as little 
more than the soundtrack to the annual Chabad telethon. The Maxwell Street 
Klezmer Band counters such ignorance on tracks like "Frilling," a luscious 
ghetto tango spiced up by Bibi Marcell's jazz-flavored vocals, and "Oy 
Abram," a passionate, even sexy, tune from 1912. 

Tracks like "Zol Zayn Gelebt," "Galitzaner vs. Litvak," and the fugal "Undzer 
Toyrele" embody the crashing, almost circus-like quality to some klezmer 
styles. Others, like Picon's big band-flavored "Abi Gezunt" and the familiar 
"Chiribim" accentuate the lively ingrained humor in Jewish music.

Throughout, the band shines musically, thanks largely to the fabulous 
arrangements of violinist Koffman, the unheralded star of the band. Koffman 
is so versatile, so gifted, he could easily head to Hollywood tomorrow to 
make it as a big-time film composer. But then, what a void he'd leave behind.

The album ends with the 17-minute-long "Klezmer Rhapsody," a serious 
orchestral composition by Ilya Levinson, featuring Koffman as violin soloist 
and conductor Ralph Wilder pulling out all the stops. 

It's a beautiful, complex piece that owes much to the greatest Jewish 
American rhapsodist, George Gershwin. Alternating a whimsical up-tempo motif 
with a more melancholy refrain, the piece weaves together different strands, 
echoing various klezmer idioms along the way. It may be lengthy, but this 
tour de force makes for profitable listening, as does the entire album.

Some klezmer bands primarily look forward, others mostly backward. On "Old 
Roots, New World," the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band takes the omnidirectional 
approach, which is good news for klezmer fans everywhere. 



"Old Roots, New World" by Maxwell Street Klezmer Band (Shanachie Records, 
$17.98).