Klezmer!

[TithonusSyndrome]

So I've just discovered the fun, upbeat style of music called "klezmer" in proper. I'd been familiar with the style before, but never able to put a name to it that unifies all the musical memes under one umbrella. It's a traditional Hebrew folk music that, unlike a lot of other traditional Hebrew music, is pretty much secular and devoted to the amusement of peasants and working-class types. It'll probably sound more like Russian or gypsy folk music than the kind of European folk music that most people know of in regular discourse. Either way, I enjoy the more upbeat and rowdy incarnations of it than the more easygoing ones, and was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of people making klezmer music today.

Israeli or Slavic-based users will probably know most of them, I guess; I already know some of the bigger names like the Lithuanian Empire or the Klezmatics, but was hoping I could get pointed in the direction of even more upbeat artists.

[Simplicius]

I have a bit of an interest in klezmer as a clarinetist, and own two albums. One is by the deceased Naftule Brandwein (King of the Klezmer Clarinet); the other is by the still-living Margot Leverett (The Art of Klezmer Clarinet). Advertised on the liner for Leverett's album are works by the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, which I have never actually heard - but it is still something for you to investigate.

There are some melancholy tracks on both of those albums, though, if you're looking to avoid that.

[NomAnor15]

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band

Itzhak Perlman with several different groups

Frank London's All Star Klezmer

There you go. Interestingly enough, I used to play in a klezmer band. Not anything serious, just some friends of mine and I who got together and bought some sheet music for it. We had a clarinet, trumpet, two trombones and a saxophone. Good times.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Thanks, fellas. Is klezmer the Israeli equivalent of ska, Nom? The sort of music that band geeks get together and play outside of school because they've got some background in it, but don't want to play the kind of stuffy music that they're made to in band class?

[NomAnor15]

Ska? Not really. It's more like...hm...have you ever listened to Celtic rock? It's kind of like that. All based on old folk tunes that have been around more or less forever, but spiced up a lot and given "pep" (for lack of a better word).

[TithonusSyndrome]

Ska? Not really. It's more like...hm...have you ever listened to Celtic rock? It's kind of like that. All based on old folk tunes that have been around more or less forever, but spiced up a lot and given "pep" (for lack of a better word).

Interesting analogy, but it makes a lot more sense. Does a lot of Israeli-based klezmer borrow from the klezmer that blended with jazz and blues and rag in the USA in the 20's, or is it stylistically identical to the native variety?

[NomAnor15]

Actually, most klezmer doesn't come from Israel. If you hear a klezmer song, chances are it came from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, or some other part of Eastern Europe. There are exceptions, of course, but that's the general pattern.

As for the jazz/blues/rag part, I wouldn't know, unfortunately. If I haven't really answered the question here, let me know. I had a little trouble figuring out what it was asking (through no fault of yours).