I stole from Rubin.<\/p>\n
Please disregard the bracketed material . . .<\/em><\/p>\n Yiddishe Cup<\/strong><\/span> has long been considered by many [Alice Stratton, Irwin Weinberger<\/a>, Steve Ostrow] to be the leading performers of Jewish klezmer comedy in the world.\u00a0 Who else is doing klezmer comedy?\u00a0 Who?\u00a0 Name somebody!<\/p>\n Mickey Katz<\/a> is where it all started for klezmer comedy.\u00a0 [Somebody said that. Who?<\/em>] Literary critic Leon Wieseltier called Katz the “mishugener.\u201d\u00a0 In Pirket Avot, it is written \u201cMan is born to take the plough against the unyielding earth.\u201d That is man’s job. The counterweight to that heavy lifting is the supremely nutty Katz, said Wieseltier.<\/p>\n Stratton\u2019s former rabbi, Michael Hecht, said, \u201cMake Judaism fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Somebody<\/strong><\/span> [Lea Grossman of Boston?] said Yiddishe Cup is the most entertaining band in the country.\u00a0 Yiddishe Cup is almost cool.\u00a0 [George Robinson<\/a>\u00a0 wrote that, almost, in the New York<\/em> Jewish Week<\/em>.]<\/p>\n Yiddishe Cup is also a top notch simcha<\/em> band [said Shawn Fink<\/a>].\u00a0 Let the wedding gigs roll forth! Funerals are more interesting than weddings, but Yiddishe Cup doesn\u2019t play many funerals [zero, in fact]. Instead, the band plays parties and acts happy. You wouldn’t want musicians in mourning at your wedding.<\/p>\n How many bands have comedic and <\/em>musical talent?\u00a0 Yiddishe Cup does [said Irwin Weinberger and Don Friedman].<\/p>\n Who else<\/strong><\/span> is out there?\u00a0 Weird Al Yankovic?\u00a0 Shlock Rock<\/a>?\u00a0 They\u2019re not as good as Yiddishe Cup [said Daniel Ducoff].<\/p>\n Yiddishe Cup strikes the classic Jewish outsider pose. Yiddishe Cup has long been considered a funny band. [Sanford Gordon thought so. So did Jack Saul.]<\/p>\n Yiddishe Cup is nostalgic and a bit corny, but in a good way.\u00a0 Childhood was a lot less hassle than adulthood.<\/p>\n Other klezmer<\/strong><\/span> bands aren\u2019t that funny [said Don Friedman].\u00a0\u00a0 They aren\u2019t funny at all! [Find a source for that.<\/em>]\u00a0 There\u2019s a pianist in Brooklyn, Pete Sokolow<\/a>, who does Jewish spins on Fats Waller and Dixieland.\u00a0 Sokolow wrote, \u201cWe purposefully try to remain faithful to the original performances.\u201d\u00a0 Does Sokolow do creative new adaptations?\u00a0 OK, maybe. \u00a0 Does Yiddishe Cup? Yes. [At least once: \u201cMeshugeneh Mambo.”]<\/p>\n Don Byron<\/a> Plays the Music of Mickey Katz<\/em> \u2013- the album — had two avant-garde jazz pieces and the rest was verbatim remakes of Mickey Katz tunes. \u00a0Make it new, Don Don!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/home\/yiddis6\/public_html\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/best-band-yiddishe-cup-215x300.jpg\" "\\"best")
<\/a>Yiddishe Cup is an integral part of the music scene in Cleveland, which according to many [Lori Cahan-Simon<\/a>, Steven Greenman<\/a>,Walt Mahovlich<\/a>] is quite vibrant. The Cleveland scene is a focal point of\u00a0 klezmer and Eastern European music [according to Gheorghe Trombitas<\/a>, Zenon Chaikovsky and Alex Fedoriouk<\/a>].<\/p>\n