A klezmer "fake" book the draws upon Yale Strom's many years of field research and archivism. The book includes some of the better known klezmer instrumental pieces as well as tunes from out-of-print sources and never before transcribed field recordings. An ideal book for all klezmer musicians, amateur or professional.

To order your copy of The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook ($49.95) by Yale Strom, visit  Transcontinental Music Publication ( http://www.etranscon.com/ ) or call 212-650-4120.

"Learning to play klezmer, for young and old alike, can be a challenge. The music isn't often played in major or minor scales. Instead its keys, or modes, are referred to as Freygish, Misheberech and Adonoy moloch to name just three. Its various rhythms Nigun, Freylekh, Bulgar, Chosidl, Hora, Terkisher, Sirba, Sher, Taksim, and Doina, must be mastered. Not so easy if raised on a diet of rock, country, hip-hop, or even classical.

In a bygone era, klezmorim learned the melodies from each other. They were passed from musician to musician in the oral tradition; music stores didn't exist. Imagine, no sheet music to be handed out, no recordings to buy, no iTunes to download.

With the rediscovery of klezmer starting in the late 1970s, a number of recordings, and some sheet music, from the first half of the 20th century were available to use for guidance. The number of recordings has grown but the availability of written music has not kept pace. A few have done an admirable job at publishing sheet music: The Kammen International Portfolio (published in 1924 and revised in 1951) and more recently, Sherry Mayrent's Klezmer for Everyone series instruments (published in 2001), to name just two. Nothing has been exhaustingly comprehensive. Until now.

With close to 300 klezmer tunes, old standards and many newly discovered, in-depth discussions of the music and its history, plus an accompanying CD, The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook, edited by Yale Strom, is amazing.

Strom has traveled extensively throughout Eastern Europe and the former Eastern Bloc countries, meeting with klezmorim and learning traditional and new melodies. He has collected photographs, recordings, oral histories, and sheet music.

Strom's Songbook opens with a fascinating history of klezmer music, gathered from his research and travels; it is a must-read for all klezmer musicians. The sheet music is organized by category: wedding tunes, including dances for the in-laws; farewell dances; and the traditional bulgars, freylekhs, and other klezmer music forms. Many of the songs will be familiar to klezmer musicians, while others, especially those gathered from Eastern European and Eastern Bloc klezmorim, have not been heard by most Western musicians.

All music is written in concert key with chords; 36 of the songs have been transposed for Bb instruments and also are presented in the book's accompanying CD.

The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook expands the growing library of world klezmer music and captures melodies that otherwise may have disappeared. It belongs in the library of every dedicated klezmer musician and aficionado. "

Reviewed by Eric Zaidins , October 22, 2007

Read more review by Scott Stevens of Spin the Globe in Olympia, WA
Read more review by Elliott Simon
Read more review by Alexander Gelfand

“A Wandering Feast: A Journey Through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe”, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco

Yale Strom's travel memoirs of his first ethnographic trek to the former Eastern Block countries in 1981. This year-long search for original klezmer, unknown and unavailable in the U.S., not only resulted in the foundation for Strom's subsequent klezmer ensembles, but gave Strom a strong sense of his own identity as a musician, a man and as a Jew. The book also includes transcribed music collected on this trip, Holocaust oral histories, photographs and regional and Jewish recipes - some impossible to find in the U.S. - of the memorable meals Yale ate there. Ideal for klezmer musicians and enthusiasts of Eastern European Jewish Culture, travellers, historians and as a gift to bar and bas mitsves and graduates. Available in bookstores.

Book reviewed by Burgenland Bunch
'Although one of the smallest minority groups in the Burgenland (less than 2% even before WWII), the Jewish population exerted an influence out of all proportion to their numbers. Almost every village had its Jewish members and they could be found in many noticeable occupations. They were migrants par excellance and migrated to the Burgenland regions from very early days. Be they Ashkenazi, Ladino, Sephardic or even Hasidic, they were an integral part of Burgenland history. Because of this, I often read about Eastern European Hebraic culture.

A recent book "A Wandering Feast"-A Journey Through The Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe" by Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz (published 2005 by Jossey-Bass) held my attention like no other. Strom is a well-known author and musician, filmmaker and playwright. He is also a well-known violist and band leader (San Diego & NYC) with "klezmer"and Jewish folkloric music as his specialty. He writes of his many recent journeys through Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Russia, seeking remnants of Jewish culture, music and food, which he finds in some abundance. While the Burgenland per se is not included, the Jewish effect on Burgenland culture and ethnic similarities can easily be recognized While attendant tales of the Holocaust survivors are sad and deeply moving we can take some consolation from the fact that while small in size, Jewish culture in Eastern Europe, while not well, is still alive. Strom has included both playable music and ethnic food recipes. Another minor Burgenland ethnic group, the Rom (Gypsy) are often mentioned due to their musical attainments. This book is "must" reading for our Hebraic members as well as for anyone interested in Eastern European history, past and/or present. '

“World Music – Klezmer”Music Minus One, Universal Editions, Vienna

“The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore from the 14th Century to the 21st” A Cappella Books, Chicago

This book traces klezmer music's entire history, making use of extensive documentary material, interviews with forgotten klezmorim, as well as luminaries such as Theodore Bikel, Leonard Nimoy, Joel Grey, Andy Statman, Tony Kushner and John Zorn: and dozens of illuminating, stirring and previously unpublished photographs and never before printed music from Strom's field recordings. Ideal for all klezmer and world musicians, students of Jewish culture and the Holocaust, ethnographers and ethnomusicologists. Available in bookstores.

 

"An annotated 700-year history, previously unpublished photos, newly compiled and translated Holocaust memory book reminiscences, the secret klezmer language revealed, and new musical scores from the author's field recordings enable the scholar and neophyte to gain a better understanding of klezmer's cultural and musical aspects." Read More Review by Elliott Simon

“Quilted Landscape: Conversations with Immigrant Youth in America” Simon & Schuster, New York

“Uncertain Roads: Searching for the Gypsies” Four Winds Books (McMillan) New York

THE HASIDIM OF BROOKLYN: A PHOTO ESSAY by Yale Strom (Jason Aronson)

THE EXPULSION OF THE JEWS: 500 YEARS OF EXODUS by Yale Strom (S.P.I. Books)

A TREE STILL STANDS: JEWISH YOUTH IN EASTERN EUROPE TODAY by Yale Strom(Philomel Books)

THE LAST JEWS OF EASTERN EUROPE by Yale Strom & Brian Blue (Philosophical Library)