July Klezbos/MetroKlezmer/Yiddish Celluloid - out & about!

[SICULAR <SICULAR...>]

July with Metropolitan Klezmer, Isle of Klezbos,

and Outing the Archives of Yiddish Film!  
Live music & transgressive scholarly multimedia...

Shows in NYC, Amherst MA, Long Island & the Catskills

(even a couple of free events later on this month):


Monday, July 7 & Wednesday, July 9
at the National Yiddish Book Center:

Eve Sicular will present her video-clips/lecture 

"THE CELLULOID CLOSET OF YIDDISH FILM" 

on queer subtexts in classic Yiddish cinema,

(including excerpts from The Dybbuk, Yidl mitn Fidl,

Overture to Glory, and Americaner Shadkhn & more)

over two afternoon workshop sessions 

during the NYBC's five-day conference,

JEWISH STORIES ON THE SILVER SCREEN.

NYBC is located on the campus of Hampshire College 

Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building

1021 West Street

Amherst, MA  

For more conference info, directions etc.: 

www.yiddishbookcenter.org

413-256-4900

For lecture details & description, see:

http://metropolitanklezmer.com/celluloid.html


Thursday, July 10

Metropolitan Klezmer

Sullivan County Community College

2pm & 8pm shows

Full 8-piece band, encountering the heart of the 
Borscht Belt in high-tech air conditioned splendor!

Loch Sheldrake NY

Info: 845-434-5750 or www.sullivan.suny.edu


Wednesday, July 16

Metropolitan Klezmer

Rock Hall Museum
8:00 PM ~ FREE, outdoors & open to the public!!
199 Broadway Lawrence (Five Towns, L.I.) NY

Full 8-piece band

Sponsored by the Town of Hempstead Department of Parks & Rec. 

Bring your lawn chairs!  Have a picnic!  On the lovely grounds of 
a delightful public historic mansion by the water.

(Note: in case of inclement weather, this concert would be cancelled.)

Info: 516-292-9000, 516-239-1157
www.liglobal.com/t_i/attractions/museums/rockhall/rockfinal.html


Thursday, July 17 

Isle of Klezbos

Abe Lebewohl Park, East Village, NYC

12:30pm-1:30pm  FREE!  Outdoors!  Rain or shine!!

(Klezbos' last NYC gig before our 8/15 Michigan Womyn's Festival show)

Second Avenue at E. 10th Street 

Lunchtime concert series stage in front of St. Mark's Church

For more Info: 212-777-3240

sponsored by the Third St Music School Settlement
with goodies from the 2nd Avenue Deli after the show


~~Both new CDs at cdbaby.com, amazon.com, sternsmusic.com (UK), 

& lots of stores! Listening posts: Tower/World Music, 4th St @ Lafayette NYC
Airing all over the place too... Details:  metropolitanklezmer.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On SURPRISING FINDS [Metropolitan Klezmer]:


"The eight-member local Metro Klezmer incorporate tuba, violin, 

and ney flute, and their new album ranges from an 11-minute tango 

to the one-minute Der Dishwasher. They also claim a jump-blues influence." 

- Village Voice (Chuck Eddy)


"A cosmopolitan sound, integrated at the roots, so that the music sounds 

like vivid, solid klezmer rather than fusion.  [Several] energetic MK tracks 

are live, but the recording is so good, and conversely the production so 

true, that it is hard to tell... One full-length 'produced' item from the 

original band is a perky [Ot Azoy Neyt a Shnayder] which carries a sense 
of many threads intertwining. Recommended for danceaholics and 
partygoers from anywhere...but especially those who like those 
Eastern sounds!"  

- Judith Gennett, GreenMan Reviews / KPSU-FM, Portland OR


On GREETINGS FROM THE ISLE OF KLEZBOS:


"A nifty, all-female klezmer group led by drummer Eve Sicular.

Its latest album, Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos (Rhythm Media),

gathers obscure tunes from forgotten Yiddish movies, 19th-century

lullabies and genre-defying originals." - TIME OUT New York


"Six oft-fetching klezmer ladies whose instruments include 

flugelhorn and accordion and whose recent album draws on 

meringues and Brazilian acoustica as well as 1916 Rumanian 

horras and Ukrainian songs 'suitable for dancing with a bottle 

on one's head.'"

- Village Voice (Chuck Eddy)


More on "SURPRISING FINDS" [Metropolitan Klezmer]:


"Long one of New York City's tightest klezmer dance bands, 

[Metropolitan Klezmer] uses its new CD to explore more deeply 

into Yiddish and (especially) Jewish Socialist roots, and to emphasize 

their own continuity with tradition.... [The] title, Surprising Finds, is 

also the album's theme. There are other old recordings, 

including a couple of songs by Philip Karpel, the grandfather of Metropolitan 

Klezmer vocalist Deorah. Opening with a clip from the movie Uncle Moses 

to which they append their own modern version of the same, the band mixes 

lovely Yiddish theatre vocals, incredible instrumentals, both thoughtful and 

dynamic, and even manages an incredible Balkan brass rearrangement of 

Pick a Pocket or Two. The liner notes are especially illuminating in this 

case, as we learn a bit of closeted Jews and gays (or both, as one person 

in this case) in the entertainment industry in the '60s. Metropolitan Klezmer 

has achieved something very special with this album. They can't get much 

better musically. Instead, they have dug more deeply into history, bringing 

back live fragments, recreating others, and even, as with Pam Fleming's 

lovely Dreaming Wizard, creating their own tradition. In the process, 

the band makes us more aware of the cultural struggles and diversity 

of Jews (especially labor struggles of migrants to the United States 

and England, but not limited to then, and not limited to labor issues) 

in the last century. Despite the focus on the West, there is a lovely 

suite here in tribute to the Soviet Yiddish Theatre. Not many realize 

that in the decades following the Soviet revolution there existed a vibrant 

avant garde Yiddish Theatre, until destroyed by Stalin's paranoia. The 

point isn't just to present older music (and some new tunes) that we might 

not yet know, but to use that as an excuse to make us aware of our own 

history. That the band can do this and still strengthen their reputation 

as one of the premier Klezmer bands performing today, is an additional 

testament as to the skill and excitement they bring to their music. Indeed, 

several tracks here were recorded live, in a small club in NYC--one even 

features Howie Leess, member of the original band, now retired to 

Rochester NY, but here recorded in 1994. Special mention should also be 

given to careful and copious liner notes, and to excellent typography in 

integrating the Yiddish with transliteration and English. This is the way to 

do it. This is my favorite Metropolitan Klezmer album yet, something I have 

said about each of the earlier albums, but here say even louder. If you are 

new to the band's sound, start here. Then work your way back. You'll enjoy.  

- Ari Davidow, KlezmerShack


hope to see you soon!
    Eve
=================
- e v e  s i c u l a r  -
drummer/bandleader
ISLE OF KLEZBOS & 
METROPOLITAN KLEZMER
151 First Ave #145, NYC 10003
tel:  212.475.4544
fax:  212.677.6304
www.metropolitanklezmer.com

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+