Traveling Show [Live]

Metropolitan Klezmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 27, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Rhythm Media
• ASIN: B000OYC3HK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,106 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

MK's three studio albums are excellent, but this concert set really brings out the band's humor, theatricality and dynamism as well as its collective musical prowess.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling, powerful showcase of their thrilling live show, July 15, 2007

By 

J. Ross "a-music_fan" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Traveling Show (Audio CD)

Playing Time - 78:15 -- The tradition of Klezmer music (secular Jewish music) can be traced back as the 15th Century. The term "klezmer" has evolved from one referring to musical instruments, to one describing the musicians or even the whole genre that used to simply be called "Yiddish" or "Freilech" music. Today, musicians called Klezmorim continue to present a repertoire of dance and other songs for weddings and festive events. Formed in 1994, Metropolitan Klezmer is one such group of excellent musicians with a very diverse and entertaining repertoire of folk songs, show tunes, dance numbers and more. "Traveling Show" is the octet's 19-track album that captures the thrill of their vivacious and bubbling live show.

With music recorded live in July and December, 2006 concerts, Metropolitan Klezmer has plenty to enthuse fans of the genre. First, the band members are superior instrumentalists in the idiom. They include Ismail Butera (accordion), Pam Fleming (trumpet, flugelhorn), Michael Hess (ney flutes, violin), Dave Hofstra (upright bass, tuba), Debra Kreisberg (clarinet, alto sax), Reut Regev (trombone), and Eve Sicular (drums, dumbeq). Butera's accordion playing is especially noteworthy, and he displays strong sensibilities for traditional roots, branches and other interpretive twists. The live concert energy and excitement illustrate the group's gusto and enthusiasm. While their instrumental romps are tastefully arranged and rendered, it is Deborah Karpel's vocals that really steal the show. She connects all the dots from present to past, and she sings with a flair that captures (mostly in Yiddish) emotions and feelings in the set's expressive melodies. Karpel has a strong, controlled voice that also exhibits tints of old-fahioned feminity. Their wittiest piece is "Traveling Dreydls," while a more melancholy and serious side to their music is demonstrated with "Mayn Rue Plats (My Resting Place)" that refers to the search for tranquility and serenity in an otherwise tumultuous world. Eight pages of liner notes do a good job of providing song lineage, as well as some of the Yiddish lyrics and translations.

Metropolitan Klezmer's eclectic material provides a sumptuous listen. While show tunes (Pick a Pocket or Two, Adelaide's Lament, Luck be a Lady Tonight) are probably among their most popular, I also particularly enjoyed their renditions of festive traditional dance tunes like "C Minor Bulgar" and "Ken O'Hara Freylekhs." The latter, just like "Frolic," is a fast, happy wedding dance in which the newlyweds are carried in chairs. Metropolitan Klezmer's medley rendition evolves from "Kalarash Khupe," a traditional hora in 3/8 time that is presented as a processional. Originally from Argentina, tangos had worldwide popularity in the1930s. Many Eastern European tangos were originally written by Jews. Taken from motion pictures, Metroplitan Klezmer does not disappoint with "Shpil de Fidi, Shpil (Play You Fiddle, Play)" and "Muzikalisher Tango." Another interesting dance at track 12 is "Uskudar Taxim/Terk in Amerike," a lively Yiddish terkisher (Turkish-inspired syncopated dance). The album closes with a bonus track recorded in 2004, "Comes Love" performed by Isle of Klezbos, a sextet that features four members of the larger group along with Art Bailey (accordion) and Anna Milat-Meyer (bass). "Traveling Show" is a dazzling and powerful showcase of award-winning Metroplitan Klezmer's great achievement as entertainers, songcarriers and musicologists in live performance. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)