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The Klein Party and guests Zimyl Adler, Laurie Andres, Evan Davis, Kim Goldov, Nancy Hartunian, and Carl Shutoff perform and celebrate the music of klezmer clarinet great, Dave Tarras. Born Dovid Tarraschuk in Ternivka (now in Ukraine), Tarras was a descendant of generations of Hasidic klezmorim.Drafted as a teenager, he played in Czarist army ensembles until the Revolution, when he emigrated to New York City where his clarinet was destroyed by fumigation at the hands of Ellis Island authorities. He went on to become the most influential klezmer musician of the century. Playing with the best of New York’s klezmer ensembles, he also became the preferred accompanist to popular Yiddish theater stars and great cantors. His wide range of over 500 recordings include klezmer, Yiddish swing, as well as Greek, Polish and Russian tunes.
Tarras played years longer than other klezmer greats of the era, incorporating many influences including jazz. Upon bestowing a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized him for creating “a new klezmer sound that fused popular American music with recognizable European roots.” In the 1970s and 80s, Tarras was a key mentor for the klezmer revival movement.
Klezmer Starts Here! is a curated series at Seattle’s Royal Room presented by The Klein Party and the South Hudson Music Project focusing on different Yiddish music styles or practitioners. Each concert features guest artists and ensembles from within and from outside the tradition.
Zimyl (Simone) Adler (clarinet) plays in Shpilkis, Seattle’s klezmer brass & reeds band that just released Tsuzamen in Golus. Originally from Philadelphia, they play in the Jewish music scene throughout the Bay Area, Seattle, and the international klezmer & Yiddish music community through festivals and mentorship.
Laurie Andres (accordion) plays klezmer with the Kosher Red Hots and Kesselgarden, New England and Québecois fiddle tunes with Chicken Feathers and the Sono Onos, and English country dance music. He has played for festivals, concerts, and community dances in the US, Canada, and Europe.
Evan Davis (drums) plays with the Joe Casalini Trio and has played with The Fabulous Subs and ensembles emerging from the Port Townsend Jazz Workshop. He played guitar with Johny Flush and the Commodes, Pegasus, The Hot Club of Licton Springs, and an Irish fiddle trio for NYC bicentennial celebration.
Kim Goldov (violin) began playing with the Freylakh Klezmer Band in 1987, which toured the US, Canada, and Japan. He currently leads the Talne Trio, and has played with the Bucharest Drinking Team, Malke and the Boychiks, Lox Stork & Bugle, and SeaMuse.
Nancy Hartunian (soprano saxophone) plays with Shpilkis, Seattle’s premiere klezmer brass & reeds band. She also plays with Uranus (A mostly ska cover band.)
Carl Shutoff (clarinet) is one half of Kesselgarden Klezmer Duo with Laurie Andres. Kesselgarden has been entertaining audiences in Seattle and beyond since 2003. They are particularly fond of the repertoires/collections of Moishe Beregovski, Wolf & Nat Kostakovsky, Goldenshteyn, and others.
The Klein Party celebrates and plays “klezmerish music from All the Old Countries with a jazz sensibility and rock-and-roll exuberance.” The core of the repertoire are original arrangements of Ashkenazi Jewish music from the Old & New Worlds, as well as other music from around the world that shares the ecstatic joy and emotional intensity of the music we call “klezmer.”
Over the past seven years, the Klein Party has played to thousands of enthusiastic listeners and dancers at the Royal Room, Pink Door, Northwest Folklife Festival, Washington Performance Center, Kirkland Performance Center, Vashon Center for the Arts, and many farmers' markets, mitzvahs, holiday parties, picnics, International Ice Cream Day, and live streams.
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Klezmer
Klezmer is the instrumental musical tradition of Central and Eastern Europe Jews going back hundreds of years. The word “klezmer” derives from two Hebrew words: klei, meaning “tools, utensils or instruments” and zemer — “melody,” leading to klezmer — “musical instruments.” Over time, the word began to refer to the musicians themselves. Only in the 20th century did klezmer identify a style of music. The main elements of the klezmer tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening. The klezmorim played primarily at weddings, as Jewish religious leaders had otherwise forbidden instrumental music since the destruction of the 2nd Temple, and non-Jewish authorities discouraged Jewish musicians from participating in the cultural life of most nations.
While klezmer began with melodies drawn from religious prayer, the klezmorim were itinerant, incorporating ideas from the other musicians with whom they played and the demands of the audiences in different communities. This included Ukrainian, Russian, and other Slavic folk songs, the music of the Roma (gypsies), Greek, Romanian, Ottoman, and Persian music, as well as the Western classical music of the times.
In the early 20th century, the music travelled to the United States, where it lost most of its traditional ritual elements and adopted elements of American popular music. After the destruction of Jewish life in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust and a fall in the popularity of klezmer in the United States, it saw a revival in the late 1970s. Since then, the klezmer scene has grown throughout the world, as musicians explore the traditional genre while continuing to develop the styles with elements of jazz, rock, and other forms.
Doors at 6pm music starts at 7pm. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the door. $15 for SJCC members.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
5000 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA, United States, Washington 98118
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