Cookie Segelstein: Violin, scordatura violin, viola
Joshua Horowitz: Chromatic button accordion, tsimbl
Stuart Brotman: Bass, basy, baraban

Golden Horn Records is proud to announce its release of Veretski Pass,
Traditional East European Jewish Music by the trio of the same name made
up of klezmer veterans Cookie Segelstein, Joshua Horowitz and Stuart
Brotman. Much of the music on this recording comes from and near the
region of the Veretski Pass (after which the group is named) in the
Transcarpathian region of what is now Ukraine, the main crossroads
through which the Jews traversed the Carpathian Bow. Some melodies were
passed on to Cookie by her father who was born in the town of Nizhni
Veretski, at the base of this pass. Others were collected by the members
themselves in their travels throughout Eastern Europe. Much of the music
on this CD is recorded for the first time. The instruments used on this
recording are largely 19th Century versions of the violin, viola, 3
stringed bass, basy (3 stringed polish folk cello), bayan (early
chromatic button accordion), tsimbl (Jewish hammered dulcimer) and
baraban (Jewish bass drum). Website: www.goldenhorn.com more about Veretski Pass…

There is a stunning suite of Crimean Tatar music which is both haunting
and virtuosic. The Crimean Tatars are considered one of the three
indigenous peoples of the Crimean Peninsula. Hoping to strip the Crimean
Tatars of their ethnicity, Stalin eliminated close to half of their
population and decimated their cultural institutions. The Tatars
therefore viewed the German occupation of Crimea as their last hope of
survival. The Nazis in turn saw this as a unique opportunity to turn
other Russian minorities against Stalin, so they declared the Tatars a
people and recorded their folk music on 78 r.p.m discs. These recordings
were made available to Verestki Pass by Prof. Martin Schwartz (from the
collection of Dr. Zev Feldman) and reappear here for the first time in a
new interpretation.

There is also a rare Karaite song, followed by improvisations and a
pyrotechnic fiddle song performed on a scordatura violin. The Karaite
Jews accept only the written word of the Old Testament and reject the
rabbinical Oral Commentaries. As a people, they have also been brutally
subjugated by their neighbors and spurned by the Jewish Community at
large. Their music has been kept close to their culture.

There are also original compositions, a suite with a bass and viola duet,
traditional Jewish and Ukrainian dance tunes all accompanied by booklet
with rich photographs and finely wrought essays by each of the members of
the trio, making this album a treasure trove of sound and word. This is
truly a creative and powerful use of a small group of players who make
music reminiscent of raucous and confident village musicians, nothing
short of a redefinition of the genre we now call klezmer.

GOLDEN HORN RECORDS is a World Music and Jazz label established in 1995
and based in California.

For more information on Veretski Pass, please contact GOLDEN HORN RECORDS.

Golden Horn Records
P.O. Box 5776, Walnut Creek, CA 94596
1-925-930-7184, Fax: 1-925-938-8447
E-mail: info@goldenhorn.com
Website: www.goldenhorn.com