Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos
perform together at Nuyorican Poets Cafe,
an East Village cultural landmark for 30 years!
Tuesday, November 21st
8pm double bill, $8 cover charge
as part of the club’s monthly Women Take the Bandstand series
236 East 3rd Street (between Avenues B & C), NYC
hotline: 212-505-8183
www.nuyorican.org
www.metropolitanklezmer.com
www.myspace.com/metroklez
www.myspace.com/klezbos
Metropolitan Klezmer octet and the Isle of Klezbos sextet are
internationally-acclaimed NYC-based bands treating tradition with irreverence and respect.
Savoring a panorama of Yiddish-based music while subverting stereotypes, both
groups specialize in fabulous arrangements of lesser-known gems found in hidden
archival niches such as obscure vintage feature soundtracks and Soviet Yiddish
theater newsreels, as well as composing genre-defying originals. Both groups
include vibrant versions of rollicking folk dance, melodic trance,
hard-swinging Yiddish classics and tango in their repertoire, while each creates
exuberant, eclectic covers such as a Balkan-driven “Pick a Pocket or Two,” a
Yiddish/boogaloo-styled “Comes Love,” and even the cantorial/klezmer versions of hits
from Guys & Dolls.
Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos have released four award-winning CDs
on Rhythm Media Records to date, with several more releases currently in
post-production. The bands have appeared in broadcasts on CNN Worldbeat, PBS In
The Life, the German network ARD’s Rhythms of New York, as well as on radio
stations worldwide, in soundtracks and soundscapes from Showtime’s The L Word to
the SITI Theatre Company’s Score Off-Broadway to Covent Garden’s Royal Ballet,
as well as at concert halls, nightclubs, college campuses and music festivals
internationally since 1994.
Isle of Klezbos has toured from Vancouver BC to Vienna Austria. Metropolitan
Klezmer plays Yiddish music from all over the map on an astonishing array of
instrumentation; bandmate backgrounds range from Albanian to Zydeco. Both
groups are led by drummer Eve Sicular, bringing together the best of New York’s
downtown and World Music scenes for a collaborative adventure in sounds from
delightfully rambunctious to ethereally exquisite. Versatile and virtuosic, their
CDs thus far: ‘Yiddish For Travelers,’ ‘Mosaic Persuasion,’ ‘Greetings from
the Isle of Klezbos,’ and ‘Surprising Finds.’ The two latest releases include
studio cuts as well as live tracks from shows at Joe’s Pub, The Knitting
Factory, and Tonic. Other bonus tracks include home-audio excerpts of tenor Phillip
Karpel, grandfather of MetroKlezmer/Klezbos vocalist Deborah Karpel. Latest
projects also include live band performance in the multi-media program, The
Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film.
ABOUT METROPOLITAN KLEZMER:
“Anything but stereotypical, and nothing but terrific… one of the best
klezmer bands in the world today” – Shaun Dale, Cosmik Debris
“Influences that range from old school Arabic music to Latin Jazz to
Motown… not only exuberantly eclectic but also very danceable. Expect an eccentric
cultural lesson from these modern-day purveyors of time-honored traditions.” –
J. Bachman, flavorpill
“One of the best traditional klezmer bands around” – George Robinson, Jewish
Week
ABOUT ISLE OF KLEZBOS:
These women will make you shake your tushies.” – Richard Gehr, Village Voice
“Talent as strong as its name is provocative” – Bob Makin, Courier News
“Isle of Klezbos tests the elasticity of the genre” – The New Yorker
“Great ears and great hearts” – Catherine Madsen, Der Pakn Treger, National
Yiddish Book Center
Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos bandmate bios include performance,
touring and/or recording with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, The Microscopic
Septet, Indigo Girls, Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Scott, Toshi Reagon, Natalie Merchant,
Natalie Cole, Burning Spear, David Krakauer, Sarah MacLachlan, Bill Frisell,
Robert Palmer, Charming Hostess, Arrow, Andy Statman, Maxi Priest, Hot Keys,
and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. Various members are graduates of The
Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the American Institute
of Musical Studies, and other individual studies include teachings from
masters from Mohammed El Akkad to Licia Albanese.