Real Music & Real Estate . . .

Yiddishe Cup’s bandleader, Bert Stratton, is Klezmer Guy.
 

He knows about the band biz and – check this out – the real estate biz, too.
 

You may not care about the real estate biz. Hey, you may not care about the band biz. (See you.)
 

This is a blog with a gamy twist. It features tenants with snakes and skunks, and musicians with smoked fish in their pockets.
 

Stratton has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.


 
 

YIDDISHE CUP
AND THE KLONDIKES

by Bert Stratton

Ben & Jerry’s was supposed to hand out free ice cream at last year’s Yiddishe Cup concert in University Heights, Ohio.  But Ben & Jerry’s didn’t show up.  They received no reminder call from the city, supposedly.

Why would a private business, like Ben & Jerry’s, need a reminder call from the government?  Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

The University Heights mayor borrowed Yiddishe Cup’s microphone and told the crowd, “Get your tomatoes ready.  We’ve had a snafu.  There’s no ice cream tonight!”

Nobody booed.  There was no ice cream riot.  Klezmer crowds are polite.  The Russians have assimilated.

Maybe the city will pass out Klondike bars tomorrow night (for the 2011 Yiddishe Cup concert).  Easier to deal with — Klondikes.  And they’re kosher.  Just dole out a few cartons of Klondikes, like in years past.

Ice cream hondling (negotiating) is tough — on the band.   Last year’s show was our best because listeners weren’t continually streaming back and forth from the ice cream stand.  There was no ice cream stand.

I told the guys in the band to stop making ice cream references.  I said, “We might not be asked back if you keep talking about ice cream.”

Yiddishe Cup’s pianist, Alan Douglass, told the audience how happy he was they hadn’t left.  He said, “You mean you came to hear us?  You really like us!”  Let it go, Alan.

Tomorrow at University Heights, see Yiddishe Cup and the Klondikes.  That’s my prediction.

—-

Yiddishe Cup plays 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thurs. Aug. 25) at Wiley Middle School auditorium, 2181 Miramar Blvd., University Hts., Ohio.  The concert is in the air-conditioned auditorium, rather than on the lawn, due to outside construction.  Free admission.  Might be ice cream.  Might not, too.  Call 216-932-7800 for more info.

You’ll hear the premiere of Yiddishe Cup’s song  “Warrensville and Cedar Road,”  written especially for the Wiley concert.

Here’s a clip of Yiddishe Cup at the Wiley auditorium two years ago:

 

 

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3 comments

1 Kenny G { 08.24.11 at 10:49 am }

All in all, pretty racy….

2 Kenny G { 08.24.11 at 3:42 pm }

I don’t see how the City of University Heights can afford the bars and the band, too. Anyway, Klondikes are too small, and they are lacking the stick that keeps things nice and tidy. Warm weather causes all the cold vanilla and chocolate coating to either drip on the grass, the seat, or the fingers. What a mess.

And Klondike should experiment with a variety of flavors, too. B & J’s has more class! Founded by two Jewish kids, too.

3 seth { 08.31.11 at 11:00 pm }

Guess it was too cold for you 2 yrs ago…notice the band went for long pants this year and wild shirts.

And the Klondikes had thawed and been refrozen…not your bailiwick.

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