A terrific picture by Jean Fruth of Cookie Segelstein, klezmer violinist, graces the front cover of Hadassah Magazine this month with a feature article on traditional klezmer music, written by George Robinson. There are lots of photos including Cookie, Josh Horowitz, Stu Brotman, Andy Statman, Alicia Svigals, Pete Rushefsky, Joel Rubin, Michael Winograd, Yale Strom, and others. George does a good job of explaining the branch of klezmer that focuses on traditional folk and how it differs from other groups. Cookie, Josh and Stu have a group called Veretzki Pass, which is an amazing group, especially to hear in person. It might be noted, as his article touches on the topic of sources, that we owe a debt of gratitude to klezmer musicians such as Josh Horowitz and Bob Cohen for years and years of dedicated research in Europe on recovering as much authentic music as possible. Josh has also transcribed some of his findings in a book which was briefly reviewed on this site Sephardisches Liederbuch (The Sephardic Songbook): 51 Judenspanische Lieder (51 Judeo-Spanish Songs) back in 2002. [ http://www.jmwc.org/jmwc_bookandscore_reviews.html. ] George also gives a “must haves” listing for this style of klezmer music in the article. To find out even more details about recordings and klezmer music and the musicians in this Hadassah Magazine feature, visit the Klezmershack.
http://www.klezmershack.com, the world’s premiere website devoted to klezmer music with over 12 years of materials, commentary and reviews of recordings, listings of bands, articles and just about anything one would like to know about klezmer music.

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