“Klezmer”

Blog

Beyond the Theater of Memory: Reflections on Yiddish Singing in the German-Speaking World

Isabel Frey

Isabel Frey reflects on the challenges and possibilities of performing Yiddish music as a Jewish performer in Germany and Austria beyond the insulated Berlin klezmer scene.

Blog

“Oy, Mamelige!”: Mamaliga’s Dos Gildn Bletl

Max Friedman

Mamaliga's debut album is an exciting, subtle, and intricate addition to Boston's klezmer offerings.

Review

Review of New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century by Joel E. Rubin

Phil Alexander

Despite the shifting status and popularity of this Ashkenazi instrumental music and its musicians, Joel Rubin is, surprisingly, the first researcher to devote serious and sustained attention to one of its most important and productive periods: New York in the 1920s, and in particular the remarkable—and nowadays canonical—recordings of its two best-known and most influential figures, Dave Tarras (1895/7-1989) and Naftule Brandwein (1884-1963).

Blog

Shtetl Berlin: Online Edition

Ekaterina Kuznetsova

What happens when you move a klezmer festival online? Ekaterina Kuznetsova reviews Yiddish culture in the era of COVID-19 at Shtetl Berlin 2020.

Blog

The Shtetl Neukoelln Festival Brings Yiddishland to Berlin

Ekaterina Kuznetsova

Klezmer singers and musicians gather in Berlin to make joyous new sound together.

Review

Review of Convergence, an Album of Multi-Diasporic Musical Longing by Anthony Russell and Veretski Pass

Leah Reis-Dennis

Anthony Russell, in collaboration with Veretski Pass (Joshua Horowitz on piano, Cookie Segelstein on fiddle, and Stuart Brotman on cello), intertwines Jewish Eastern Europe folk music and African American spiritual traditions. 

Interview

Questioning the Authentic: An Interview with Zisl Slepovitch of Litvakus

Emma Morgenstern

Zisl Slepovitch of the band Litvakus on klezmer, gathering stories, and growing up in Belarus. 

Interview

Alternative Futures of the Past: An Interview with Daniel Kahn

Emma Morgenstern

Daniel Kahn talks about his musical influences, how all of his languages interact with each other in his songs, and what it means to “tradapt” a song across languages and time.