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