Klezmokum Tour: 2010-2011
"Know Where We Come From..
Know Where We're Going"
3rd in a series of concerts of modern arrangements and compositions based on little known great works of Jewish and balkan composers
active since the time of World War II until the present time.
From poignant Chassidic songs and works of Mikhl Gelbart and Schneyer/Bialik to modern swinging klezmer pieces including compositions by Bill Averbach (Austin Klezmorim), and co-compositions of Silke Rollig and Burton Greene.
In September, 2010 a new CD of this music will be brought out by the Music & Words label in Amersfoort, Holland.
CD presentation concerts are being booked now:
Contact our manager: Ben van Veen: ben@pc-tune.nl
or Burton Greene: greeneburton@cs.com
"Many people consider our group to be a synthesis of Klezmer music and contemporary jazz. Indeed, there are many themes and rhythms to suggest this fusion. But there are many other sources as well. A lot of the source material was composed in the early part of the century between the two World Wars. They reflect the joys and sorrows of mainly Ashkenazic or Northern and East European Jewish lives. I have a penchant for the beauty, the innocence, the hopes and longings as portrayed in many early Israeli compositions, coming mainly from the old Jewish-Palestine days. Lately I've discovered a wealth of unusual rhythms and poignant melodies from various Sephardic music sources: from Turkey, Greece and Balkan countries. Therefore I've brought some of this Sephardic or Middle Eastern Jewish Folklore into the band. In addition, I've added compositions of my own to the material"
Burton Greene
Klezmokum was formed in 1989 by composer, pianist, arranger Burton Greene together with clarinetist Marcel Salomon—who has been “steeped lifelong” in Jewish cultural music. Klezmokum comes from klezmer music, combined with the word “Mokum”, which means ‘place’ and is the old Jewish name for Amsterdam. Quite early tuba player Larry Fishkind joined the band and North African percussionist Roberto Haliffi. After Marcel Salomon left to pursue more traditional directions with his duo, clarinettist Perry Robinson and Hans Mekel on tarragot, alto sax and clarinet joined the band. For several years we worked with either Akos Laki or Stanislav Mitrovic from Hungary and former Yugoslavia on clarinet and saxes. Most recently we have the talented Lior Kuperberg from Tel Aviv, Israel, on soprano and tenor saxophones. And to complete the ensemble we have two multi-talented vocalists: Patricia Beysens and Marek Balata. Patricia also plays flügelhorn and often does the band's artwork. Marek has over a 3 octave vocal range and can sound like a synagogue cantor one moment, and scat like Bobbie McFerrin the next! To listen to Klezmokum is to travel around the globe through traditional Jewish cultures, to enter a past world and then return through the rhythmic vitality and spontaneity of improvised jazz into present time reality. “We are not trying to recreate the museum.”
Of note have been the performances at Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Middle Europe Festival (Germany), the Knitting Factory—5 Annual Avant Klezmer Festivals in New York, Amiens Jazz Festival (France), Opera House in Leipzig, North Sea Jazz Festival (Holland), Klezmokum at Klez-MORE Festival in Vienna, Austria (2004), and many more. Between 1992 and 2006 BV Haast in Amsterdam produced 6 CD’s of Klezmokum and Klez-thetics (an instrumental quartet version of Klezmokum). Currently we have two CD’s recorded for Tzadik Records in New York: The Klez-Edge CD: “Ancestors, Mindreles, Na Gila Monsters” (released in May, 2008), and a forthcoming duo CD with myself and Perry Robinson on Tzadik entitled: “Two Voices In the Desert”.