{"id":24862,"date":"2017-01-18T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/?p=24862"},"modified":"2017-01-18T09:17:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T14:17:10","slug":"the-klezmer-blindfold-test-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/18\/the-klezmer-blindfold-test-2\/","title":{"rendered":"THE KLEZMER BLINDFOLD TEST"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Blindfold test<\/strong><\/span>. I received no prior information. Ratings are on a 1-to-5 scale.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

1. \u201cOy Avram\u201d<\/span><\/strong> Yiddish Princess<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This one reminds me of Daniel Kahn, the young Jew in Berlin. Maybe he\u2019s not that young. Let\u2019s call him late-30s. Middle age is a long slog. When does it start? What about 66 — is that still middle age? What\u2019s old?<\/p>\n

The lead singer on this is Sarah Cooper. Sing, baby, sing. I give it a 5.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah Mina Gordon, vocals; Michael Winograd, synths; Avi Fox-Rosen, guitar; Yoshie Fruchter, guitar; Ari Folman-Cohen, bass; Chris Berry drums.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

2. \u201cBlooz\u201d<\/strong><\/span> Michael Winograd\u2019s Infection<\/em><\/p>\n

My philosophy: do something new every day. If I have Kashi Island Vanilla for breakfast today, I go with Kashi Autumn Wheat tomorrow. Joe’s O\u2019s or Cheerios?\u00a0 Depends.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael Winograd<\/p><\/div>\n

This is Wino, Michael Winograd<\/a>, on clarinet. He constructs his tunes with great care. Give him a 5.<\/p>\n

Michael Winograd, clarinet; Frank London, trumpet; Daniel Blackberg, trombone; Brandon Seabrook guitar; Michael McLaughlin, accordion; Jason Nazary, drums.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

3. \u201cSher 199\u201d<\/strong><\/span> Bessarabian Hop<\/em>. Michael Winograd<\/p>\n

Again with Winograd? He’s big-time. His clarinet is Canadian, that much I know.<\/p>\n

Winograd plays with time and stretches out the composition. It\u2019s a 5.<\/p>\n

Winograd, clarinet; Joey Weisenberg, mandolin; Patrick Farrell, accordion; Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl; Daniel Blacksberg, trombone; Nick Cudahy, bass; Richie Barshay, drums. <\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

4. \u201cEpstein\u201d<\/strong><\/span> Poykler\u2019s Shloft Lied<\/em>. Matt Temkin\u2019s Yiddishe Jam Band<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s Temkin. He wears his hat backwards and hangs out in Brooklyn. I know a backward hat-wearing drummer in Cleveland. My guy is Greek and does apartment cleanups after fires. Married to a Jewish girl. Plays some Jewish.<\/p>\n

Frank London is on trumpet here. He\u2019s on every klezmer record. Give it a 5.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Temkin, drums; Mike Cohen, reeds; Binyomin Ginzberg, keys; Brian Glassman, bass; Rachel Lemisch, trombone; Allen Watsky guitar: Frank London. trumpet.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. \u201cBaladi\u201d<\/strong><\/span> Balada<\/a>. Bulgarian Wedding Music<\/em>.\u00a0 Yuri Yunakov<\/p>\n

Heavy brass and breakneck tempos. These guys drink slivovitz by the gallon. I have one word for them: slow down. Give it a 5.<\/p>\n

Yunakov, alto sax; Neshko Neshev, accordion; Lauren Brody, synth; Seido Salifoski, dumbek; Catherine Foster, clarinet; Carol Silverman, vocals.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

6. \u201cShake Hands<\/strong><\/span> with your Uncle Max\u201d The Jewish Songbook<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 Jason Alexander<\/p>\n

\"\"Who is this? I’m seeing ghosts. I’m fainting. Give it a 3.<\/p>\n

Alexander, vocals; Mike Garson, piano; Chuck Berghofer, bass; Don Heffington, drums; Marc Ellis, guitar.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

7. \u201cMazl Tov<\/strong><\/span> Dances\u201d You Should Be So Lucky!<\/em> Maxwell Street Klezmer Band<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The music is harmonically deep and soulful. Give it a 5. Thank you, KCB!<\/p>\n

Ralph Wilder, clarinet; Alex Koffman, violin; Ivo Braun, trumpet; Sam Margolis, trombone; Gail Mangurten, piano; David Rothstein, bass; Steve Hawk, percussion.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

8. \u201cMeshugge<\/strong><\/span> \u2019bout my Myed\u2019l\u201d Klezmerfats!<\/em>\u00a0 Peter Sokolow<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"

Pete Sokolow<\/p><\/div>\n

Sokolow is a rhythmically complex animal. Not only can he play, he can he talk; he’ll drey<\/em> you a kup<\/em> for three straight hours at KlezKamp, and all good stuff.\u00a0 Read his interview<\/a> with professor Phil Brown. That\u2019s the best musician interview ever.<\/p>\n

Pete combines earthiness, gravity and buoyancy. A 5.<\/p>\n

Sokolow, piano, vocals.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

9. “Ko Riboyn Olam” <\/strong><\/span>Stempenyu’s Dream.<\/em> \u00a0 Steven Greenman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Greenman<\/p><\/div>\n

This is Greenman, the LeBron of klezmer violin. Greenie sinks a 5-pointer.<\/p>\n

Greenman, violin, vocals; Michael Alpert, violin, vocals; Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl; Mark Rubin, bass.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. “Rumenye”\u00a0<\/strong><\/span> Homesick Songs<\/em>.\u00a0 Golem<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Golem<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s Ezekiel’s Wheels. This is so meaty.\u00a0What’s for lunch?\u00a0 Give it a 6.<\/p>\n

Annette Ezekiel, vocals, accordion; Aaron Diskin, vocals; Alicia Jo Rabins, violin; Curtis Hasselbring, trombone; Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, bass; Laura Cromwell, drums.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

—
\nA version of this post first appeared here 6\/26\/13.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blindfold test. I received no prior information. Ratings are on a 1-to-5 scale. *** 1. \u201cOy Avram\u201d Yiddish Princess This one reminds me of Daniel Kahn, the young Jew in Berlin. Maybe he\u2019s not that young. Let\u2019s call him late-30s. Middle age is a long slog. When does it start? What about 66 — is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-klezfiction","category-klezmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24862"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24882,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862\/revisions\/24882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}