Klezmer audiences revisited

[r l reid <ro...>]

Seems to me a few weeks back we were discussing the "lack of audiences"
for klezmer "even in New York", or maybe especially in New York.

When Jerry Alperstien, the recidivist trumpet player at the Tuesday
night Workmens Circle ensemble, commented that he hoped that we didn't
get "too many people" for today (Sunday's) klezmer concert at the 
Town & Village Synagogue on 14th between 1st and 2nd, we asked how many
it seated.  When he answered 400, I admit I thought him naive to think
we could have a problem.

I've been to Tonic - what, lower east side, Sunday afternoon klezmer?
we'll be lucky to have as much audience as musician, I figured.

Turned out it was SRO for part of it.  It was long, and not everyone
stayed for everything.  But there were points where people headed for
the upstairs gallery thinking there would be space up there, and there
wasn't.  Yep, we filled it up.

But it was interesting, because it wasn't an audience of hipsters, wannabes,
and friends of tha bands (tho certainly there were a number of the latter).

Most of the audience was older folks from the local Jewish War Veterans Post
and people from the shul itself.  Maybe we're publicizing to the wrong
audience.  

Also, do you find that often performers have to wheedle people to dance at
these events - and they don't anyway?  No one said a word about dancing here,
but towards the end of the Columbia Klezmer Band's, about a half dozen of
the older women could sit any longer and started dancing through the
sanctuary, and I don't mean like it was Hava Nagila at a Conservative
bar mitzvah.  No, I mean something that looked a lot like what people
like Zev and Steven try to teach us corrected versions of.

I can't really review the concert because I was in part of it.  The
Strauss Warschuer Duo was fabulous as usual, and this audience was
literate enough to appeciate yiddish folk songs even if they didn't
translate.

The Columbia Klezmer Band gets better every time I hear them. They've
got a serious Belf sound going on the one hand, but at the same time
since they've all got good Ivy League chops, there's also an elegant
chamber quality to it.  Hey, the older folks from the neighborhood thought
these "kids" were great.  Boy do I wish there was a cellist who wanted
to join Fendler and I and turn our flute/tsimbl duo into a 
flute/tsimbl/cello trio.  What a sound!

This may sound odd, but a highlight for me was during "Generation K" - 
Strauss's band for the the 8 to 14 year olds (about) when Our Man In
the Fez, Jeremey Bloom broke a tsimbl stick.  That may sound wierd,
that the breakage of a stick was a high point to me, especially
since you don't exactly run down to the corner music shop for a replacement.

Well, first, I wasn't looking, just listening, and I did not realize he
had lost a stick.  He was covering so well with one hand.  I was sitting
next to Peter, his dad, who DID see it and asked me if I had "a spare".

I have no spares, but I had my one pair, and certainly was not going
to leave a brider hanging so I went down and pushed my left
stick into his left hand while he was playing, and he pulled  through
very professionally.  It also gave me the impetus to accelerate my own
tsimbl stick building plans, since he and I are both buying from Australia,
which has a several month lead time.

It was all in all a great, friendly show, music among friends, like one
huge living room (that you're not allowed to eat in).  Off topic, let
me mention something very much on the minds of our sponsor, the
Stuevesant Post of the Jewish War Veterans.

Forget for a moment what you think about the war in Iraq, George Bush,
John Kerry, the draft, or any affilitated issues.  The specific issue
is that the Feds are closing the VA hospital in lower Manhattan.  This 
means that these veterans - some of whom are quite elderly, frail, and
ill - will need to go to 225 St in the Bronx (it's five flights to the
subway station there) or out to Ft Hamiliton in Brooklyn for services.

I know this is going on all over the country too.

It's all very well to eat turkey on Thanksgiving with your troops, but
we have an obligation to those who served, regardless of what we may
think about this or that war or branch or the service.  If you were
17 in 1944 you didn't get a choice.  If you are from the US, please
write your CongressCritter on this.  How is this conencted?  Well, 
turns out Jewish War vets and thier families are one of the finest
audiences for klezmer in New york - so lets keep them healthy!

roger reid

-- 
r l reid        ro (at) rreid(dot)net


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