Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars

Led by trumpeter Frank London, the Klezmer Brass Allstars are comprised of members of the world's leading klezmer bands. Combining their knowledge, talents, and decades of research into the traditional roots of klezmer, together they set out to capture the sound and ethos of the raucous, earthy old-country klezmorim of the 19th century. The dance tunes of the old masters—the bulgars, freylekhs, and khosidls, as well as doynes, horas, waltzes, and a beat they referred to as “the Oriental”—form the core of the klezmer repertoire; the furious tempi at which they were played is said to have inspired frenzied dancing that defied description. Frank and the Allstars have apparently succeeded in their mission, delivering performances described by one critic as “a frenzied eruption of klezmer … like a street party to which everyone's invited, it quickly gets hot, sweaty, and dizzyingly intense.”

Klezmer is traditional social and celebratory music of Eastern Europe’s Jewish community that had its beginnings in the Middle Ages. “Klezmer” is a Yiddishized version of the Hebrew klei zemir (“instruments of song”). It incorporated fragments of cantorial melody, snippets of ancient folk tunes, bits of Yiddish poetry, Hebraic ritual, and Greek and Ottoman influences. Klezmer arrived in the United States with the wave of Jewish immigration at the turn of the 20thcentury. In the 1960s and 1970s, a revival of interest in the music spawned a new generation of klezmer masters, many of whom are members of the Allstars.

According to Frank, the primary inspiration for the Klezmer Brass Allstars’ music was a legendary band of passionate and disreputable musicians: the illustrious, infamous Inebriated Orchestra, or Di Shikere Kapelye. This early 19th-century itinerant Jewish brass band profoundly influenced the course of klezmer music. Always invited to perform, but never to stay—with good reason—Di Shikere Kapelye traveled from town to town in their horse-drawn vehicle. The Inebriated Orchestra's style had been considered impossible to replicate until now. Joining Frank in this boisterous musical carnival is vocalist Eleanor Reissa—along with Michael Winograd on clarinet, Brian Dye on trombone, Ilya Shneyveys on accordion, Ron Caswell on tuba, and Aaron Alexander on drums. Every player with this group has devoted a lifetime to klezmer.

Adding lively participatory dancing to their performances will be Sarah Myerson, a Jewish spiritual leader, cantor, musician, and dance instructor based out of Ner York City. Myerson has taught, lead services, or dances, and workshops all over the East Coast and internationally. She also writes and composes new compositions, primarily in Yiddish and Hebrew. She will also lead dance workshop in the Family Area, designed to teach kids the basics of Yiddish dance.

Curiously, the historical record is silent on the illustrious Inebriated Orchestra, and there are those who doubt the group actually existed. Are its origins simply lost in the mists of time, or could Di Shikere Kapelye, as influential as the group has been on Frank London and his friends, be a musical chimera? If you really want to know, you’ll have to ask Frank.