Lost Photograph

Rob Burger (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 26, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tzadik
• ASIN: B00006SF9H
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,417 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Wave of Klezmer for a New Millennium, August 5, 2003

By 

Jennifer L. Metcalf (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Photograph (Audio CD)

I gambled bucks on this album - it's a full-priced new CD, I heard no samples on Amazon (nor anywhere else on the web), and I knew no one who owned it. I bought it solely on the reputation of Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series, the fact that I love klezmer, and the notion that I have most recently fascinated by the accordion.

The gamble paid off with a rich, eclectic sound that includes not only the accordion, but also a pump organ, piano, prepared and toy pianos, celeste, glockenspiel, chamberlain, orchestron, Hammond S-6 organ, claviola, bass harmonica, marxophone, Indian banjo, casio, shortwave, and music boxes. The melody from the song Below Delancey sounds like it's being played on a clarinet, yet no clarinet is listed on the CD notes. It remains a fascinating mystery to me! Other performers on the album include the very talented Greg Cohen on bass and Kenny Wollesen on percussion. What is astounding is that in many songs, one would swear an entire orchestra is playing, not just three men.

Although the album could be generally labeled as jazzy klezmer, each song demands respect on its own accord. Ringling Kid feels like one is immersed in a slow-motion dream. With its title, I almost think of it as a nostalgic look at a child attending a Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus - it's a slow song with beautiful low sounds punctuated by some gentle high notes of a keyboard. I think of Tinker Bell waving her wand over the low sounds of an elephant majestically sauntering down a red carpet.

I couldn't begin to guess what instruments are sung on Arturo, The Aqua Boy. I'm sure I detect the toy piano among other eclectic keyboards. The song sounds like a music box opening or perhaps a prelude to what lies inside Pandora's Box. One is not quite sure what lies beyond the immediate moment. An odd, but strangely addictive little tune. The title of the song is rather puzzling, which, upon reflection, neatly befits the song!
Linguist from Latvia suggests some mystery that I should solve. A piano figures prominently in the melody, and I feel the sense that someone is just lurking around the corner in a thick fog, waiting to deliver some classified information.

Mem evokes a slightly more traditional approach to klezmer music. I feel I'm on a quiet little corner in the Jewish Quarter of Prague with this tune. It's neither fast-paced nor slow. For some reason, I think of older people when I hear this song, though I mean that in no derogatory sense at all. There's just a flavor of experience and tradition infused here - almost like an older generation handing down a tradition of joyful and yet sorrowful culture to a younger generation. The message to me is, "Here is your foundation. What you do with it creates the legacy that you give your children."

Constantinople with a fairly strong percussion and (what sounds like) accordion gives a strong image of traditional dress and dance. It sounds like a song that would be played at a festival celebrating Eastern European ethnic sounds and holidays. I sense lots of beer and women's skirts flowing from the breeze created by its energetic vibes.

Aveenu Malkenu (sounds like) a solo accordion piece that is played so intimately that I almost feel guilty for intruding. I imagine someone in the middle of the night, during a full moon, playing all by himself without another human in sight. I'm not familiar with the tune, but it's a traditional song that Rob Burger interprets very beautifully in this version. It's one of my favorite songs on the album.

For a fan of klezmer, this is a wonderful new approach to a traditional form. If you're tired of predictable music that leaves almost nothing to the imagination, this album paints some evocative imagery whose boundaries are only limited by what you set. Rob Burger displays a great deal of talent on this CD with both his mastery of instrumentation and his original compositions. I'm glad I took a gamble because this CD never accumulates dust on my shelves.

5.0 out of 5 stars Klezmer jazz-funk on glockenspiel (finally!), January 17, 2003

By 

SPM "scott_maykrantz" (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Photograph (Audio CD)

One of my favorite albums of 2002 was John Zorn's "Invitation to a Suicide" soundtrack. The highlights of that album are played by Rob Burger on accordion.

So when he put out this solo album on Zorn's label, I had to buy it.

I'm glad I did. It's the perfect blend of avant garde and pure entertainment. And it's not all accordion --- Burger plays piano, pump organ, bass harmonica, and ten other exotic instruments (accompanied by Greg Cohen on bass and Kenny Wollesen on percussion).

Mmmmmmmm. BURR-ger.....