Klezmer Bluegrass fusion

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:00 am

Yes it exists. I haven't heard it yet but here's a link.

to Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys

Margot is an outstanding clarinet player. I've got another of her CDs. Sadly all the sample tracks are in Real format. Totally inexcusable.

I'm going to order this ASAP.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:03 am

Thanks for the tip FC. This doesn't really surprise me. Klezmer seems to have been fused with just about everything recently—with rock and jazz by David Krakouer and jazz and chamber music by John Zorn. Much of it seems to work very well to my ears.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:42 am

A friend of mine, ironically a Jewish clarinet player, told me that in the early thirties many klezmer artists came to the US and worked in the Big Band era. He said you can hear the klezmer influence in a lot of Big Band work. I'd like to try to dig some up.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:28 am

BTW, do you know in which key should a clarinet be (better than other) if I mean to play Klezmer music? I've seen clarinets in different keys, know nothing about them and I'd hate buying the wrong one.

Cheers

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:52 am

Sylvester wrote:BTW, do you know in which key should a clarinet be (better than other) if I mean to play Klezmer music? I've seen clarinets in different keys, know nothing about them and I'd hate buying the wrong one.

Cheers

I'm only guessing here but I'd say a standard concert clarinet. What's that? Bb I think from memory.

There was a once common earlier system of clarinet that was used in early jazz. It wouldn't surprise me if the early klezmorim used it but I've forgotten the details.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:59 am

Flyingcursor wrote:A friend of mine, ironically a Jewish clarinet player, told me that in the early thirties many klezmer artists came to the US and worked in the Big Band era. He said you can hear the klezmer influence in a lot of Big Band work. I'd like to try to dig some up.

This is hotly disputed. Benny Goodman obviously comes to mind. Artie Shaw has the right background but doesn't sound as klezmer-influenced to me. The opening gliss to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue sounds to me like pure klezmer but was (apparently) made up by Ross Gorman who was a Gentile. That said, Gorman might have been influenced in his technique by klezmer players; any sane jazz clarinettist would have been listening to Tarras and Brandwein.

Sam Musiker ran an early and successful klezmer-jazz fusion band.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:50 am

Sylvester wrote:
BTW, do you know in which key should a clarinet be (better than other) if I mean to play Klezmer music? I've seen clarinets in different keys, know nothing about them and I'd hate buying the wrong one.

Cheers

I'm only guessing here but I'd say a standard concert clarinet. What's that? Bb I think from memory

Cheers