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NEW! DVEYKES: New Jewish Downtown Music with a Twist (2006)

dveykes This CD features Mark Dresser (bass), Marty Ehrlich (tenor sax, clarinet), Diane Moser (piano), Benny Koonyevsky (percussion), Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals) and Yale Strom (violin, viola).

Strom has composed all the tunes on this CD. He has pushed open the klezmer umbrella even wider, taking klezmer nuances and weaving them through pieces that range from avant-garde classical to an Arabic modality driven political tune. Dveykes means Adhesion in Hebrew/Yiddish and is the state of being in which a Jew finds himself when prayer elevates him to a trance-like state of being. When one is in "dveykes", one has adhered himself to God.  Even though the pieces stray very far from traditional klezmer, each expresses Dveykes through the music.

The tunes are: Krakow 1, (jazz/blues), Nexus ( avant-garde classical/improvisation), Dveykes 2. (Khasidic prayer), Stained Red (Yiddish/English vocals), Tibi's Hora (klezmer), Krakow 2., The Ram's Daughters (neo-Khasidic), If God Moved to the Neighborhood (Middle Eastern/political/vocals) and Dveykes 1. (Khasidic prayer).

Distributed by Global Village Music
ZMIROS: CHOLENT WITH HUCKLEBERRY (1982)
Strom's first klezmer band began in San Diego. Here they perform traditional klezmer music collected archivally in Eastern Europe by Strom as well as some well known Yiddish melodies and two original compositions.

Strom was one of the first klezmer revivalists in the U.S. to travel through Eastern Europe and collect field recordings.

Some of the tunes are : Direh Gelt (vocals), Shwehr un Shweeger Tantz, Lustig Zein, Mazel Tov.

ZMIROS: ECLECTIC KLEZZ (1986)
This recording has some of Strom's own compositions (including two Sephardic melodies for classical guitar) along with some Yiddish vocals and traditional pieces.

World reknown bassists Bert Turetzky and Mark Dresser perform on the CD.

Some of the tunes are : Berd ichever Khasid, Di Mizinke Oyssgegebn (vocals), Romanian Vollakh (with tsimbal - hammer dulcimer)

HOT PSTROMI: WITH A LITTLE HORSERADISH ON THE SIDE: (1993)
Strom's NYC based klezmer band performs 2 Hasidic melodies
and 5 original compositions influenced by jazz and Arabic music.
Andy Statman is featured on mandolin and clarinet and Mark Dresser on bass.
Some of the tunes are : Dripping Water (improvisation on a Stoliner Hasid melody), King Matt (Cajun - Klezmer), Hot Pstromi (flamenco - Klezmer) and Kuzguncuk (Turkish - Klezmer)
THE LAST KLEZMER (1994)
This recording from the soundtrack of Strom's The Last Klezmer ,
features Leopold Kozlowski (the nephew of Naftuli Brandwein) playing klezmer melodies on piano which he learned
from his grandfather, in Poland (1930's). Strom also arranged
several of Kozlowski's melodies for his band. One unique feature is an archival recording of Kozlowski giving Strom a klezmer lesson in Krakow --the only klezmer lesson recorded and available on CD.

Some of the tunes are : Papirossen, Pesakh Brandwine's Nigun, Di Mezinka Oysgebn (vocals), Oyfn Pripetchok (vocals) and Doina and Bulgar

CARPATI: 50 MILES, 50YEARS (1996)
This recording (Zmiros) from Strom's documentary film Carpati
has lively klezmer music from the Carpathian Mountains,
haunting Hungarian Gypsy tunes, and Strom's original klezmer compositions. There are also sound bytes from the film in Hungarian and Yiddish speaking about the relationship between the Jews and Gypsies in the Klezmer world.

Featured on the CD playing clarinet, flute, piccolo, tenor sax and sopranino is Norbert Stachel, lead horn player for the well known funk band, Tower of Power.

Some of the tunes are : Tisza , Romanian Serba , E Chirikli, Hat A Yid A Wiebele, Hava Nagila

KLAZZJ: WANDERING JEW: (1997)
This recording (from the band formally known as Zmiros based in San Diego) contains all original new Jewish music from Strom.
He combines Gypsy, jazz, Arabic, and Afro-Cuban rhythms with klezmer modalities. The beat keeps your feet on the move.

Some of the tunes are : Dybbuk, Leah's Waltz, Tribes - A Romanian Suite, Ilinka's Smile and 70 West 77th

TALES OUR FATHER SANG(1998): NEW JEWISH MUSIC WITH TAM
This recording features musicians from both Klazzj and Hot Pstromi. All 28 melodies were composed by Strom and used for the National Public Radio series: "Jewish Stories from the Old World to the New ", hosted by Leonard Nimoy. The music combines klezmer with jazz, classical, Arabic, Greek, French, Russian, swing and carnival motifs. Each tune musically describes each short story for it was written for. Norbert Stachel is again featured on all reeds. The series with the narrated stories (Richard Dreyfuss, Charlton Heston, Theodore Bikel and others) and excerpted music is available at 1-800-292-3855.

Some of the tunes are : In Odessa, A Friend of Kafka, Dreyfus in Kassrilevke, A Wedding in Brownsville, Mottel and Karl Yankel

Garden of Yidn (2000)
(Naxos World) This CD is with members from Klazzj and Hot Pstromi playing Yiddish and Ladino folk songs. The CD features the vocals (11 tunes) of Elizabeth Schwartz. A alto with a rich, dusky tone. Some of the tunes are composed by Strom, other melodies from his field research in Eastern Europe and some new arrangements of well-known Yiddish songs. The tunes are : Finf un Tzvantziker, Reizel, Buenas Semanas, Papirossen, Shava Brukhes, Moscow Nights, La Comida La Manana, Rebeka, Doina Tirgu Frumos, Ikh Vill Tzu Gayn Amol, Sha Shtil
The tunes are : Finf un Tzvantziker, Reizel, Buenas Semanas, Papirossen, Shava Brukhes, Moscow Nights, La Comida La Manana, Rebeka, Doina Tirgu Frumos, Ikh Vill Tzu Gayn Amol, Sha Shtil
CAFE JEW ZOO (2003)
(Naxos World) This CD really features the virsatility of Yale Strom's composing and writing skills. There are tunes that sound rather traditional like "L'Chayim Comrade Stalin!" and tunes that really take klezmer to new realms like the Motown feel of "The Ten Plagues." Special guest Andy Statman plays four tunes on the CD. Two on mandolin and two on clarinet. Again the sultry voice of Elizabeth Schwartz can be heard on the 6 vocals tunes including the title track "Cafe Jew Zoo" which Strom says is his homage to Kurt Weill and Bertol Brecht. Virtuosi Mark Dresser & Marty Confurius (bass), Peter Stan & Ismael Butera (accordion), Benny Koonyevsky & Jim Mussen (percussion), Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals) and Yale Strom (violin) make this a landmark CD in the genre of "new" Jewish music.

Yale's CDs are now available here! buy now


Click "Listen" to sample the tune

Svalava Kozatshok
(trad. Ukraine)
listen
Szol a Kakos Mar
(trad. Hungary w/Hungarian vocals)
listen
Bughici's Khosedl
(trad. Romania)
listen
Kalarasher Bulgar
(trad. Moldova)
listen
Ben Avrameni
(Strom)
listen
Oberek Palota
(trad.Slovakia)
listen
L'Chayim Comrade Stalin
(Strom w/Yiddish vocals)
listen
Beggar's Dance listen
Dveykes No. 2 (Nirvana)
(Strom)
listen
Tibi's Hora
(Strom)
listen
Imenu Malkatseynu
(Our Mother Our Queen - Strom w/Yiddish vocals)
listen
Cafe Jew Zoo
(Strom w/Yiddish vocals)
listen
Sha Shtil (Shh Be Quiet)
(trad. Yiddish w/Yiddish vocals)
listen
Shakhres (Morning Prayers)
Shakhres (Morning Prayers - Strom)
listen
Bonesetter;s Last Dance
(Strom)
listen
Waltz Amur
(Strom)
listen
Steppes of Syami
(trad. Belarus)
listen
Birobidzhan
(Jewish Autonomous Region w/Yiddish vocals)
listen
Stained Red
(Strom w/Yiddish and English vocals)
listen



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dveykes
DVEYKES

Strom with newly composed music in hand meets bassist Mark Dresser, clarinetist/saxophonist Marty Ehrlich, pianist Diane Moser and drummer Benny Koonyevsky for Dveykes . On several strikingly spiritual cuts the players solo, pair up or become a trio for intimate renderings of deeply devotional original material. Strom is particularly intense on the two prayerful title pieces and Ehrlich, blowing a Trane-like tenor, joins with Dresser for a pair of equally soulful portrayals of “Krakow”. Ensemble presentations evince a communal character that fuses freedom with spirit and klezmer with jazz. Schwartz' earthy alto voice sonically blends with tenor and bass for the sultry “Stained Red” and rises in sarcastic political protest on “If God Moved to the Neighborhood”. While Borsht with Bread Brothers is a wonderful compendium of heartfelt cultural music Dveykes is a synergistically soulful cutting edge meeting.

Reviewed by Elliot Simon All About Jazz.

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Yale Strom TEL: 917 - 923-7434 yitztyco@aol.com
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