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

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

I am, I am!  You deserve this lovely review!  And the reviewer should 
print the entire thing again, with the correct vocalist attribution for 
the Molly Picon songs.  ;-)

May you sell out!
Lorele

MaxwellSt (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030110/et31.shtml
>
> (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).
>
>

-- 
You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me; Vol.1: 
Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 & postage. Email me for 
more info.
 




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