Possessed [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Klezmatics

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2002)
• Original Release Date: April 8, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B00005Y23D
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #225,627 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Klezmatics mix jazz, folk, rock and Jewish music into a unique and powerful new sound. This album is one of the more challeging of their many works, leaping from genre to genre with seeming abandon. A core element of the record is the songwriting of playwright Tony Kushner, a self-described "half-baked, half-former, re-formed, dummermann kind of Jew." His lyrics for "Undoing World" are powerful phrases of love, loss and exile played against a traditional tune. Klezmatics can break into a frenzied dance here or a heart-rending fiddle tune there; the beauty of Possessed is its complete unpredictability. This is klezmer music of a high order. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best and most powerful of the Klezmatics genre, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Possessed (Audio CD)

In my opinion, the best of all the Klezmatics CDs. Both upbeat and sad. New and old. I loved how the Klezmatics create new melodies with the flavor of the old. The first track "Shprayz" is a rousing melody that builds up your expectations for the rest of the CD and delivers! "An Undoing World" is a beautiful modern song that pulls at your heritage strings and ties you to the immigrant generation. In the middle set is a score from "The Dybbuk", a group of songs with a common theme. The incredibly sad "Fradde's Song" had lyrics so powerful I cry everytime I hear it. The lyrics were too painful for my wife though, as they call to mind events where we wish the dead could join the living. No song has ever affected us in quite that way before. But the flow from that track into "Der Shvartser" will lift your spirits again. I have heard this CD literally hundreds of times, yet it affects me the same way every time! Powerful music with the Klezmatics at their best.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Textured and beautiful, April 21, 2005

By	Lara Unnerstall (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Possessed (Audio CD)

I'm mainly writing this review because I was surprised to read some of the others, and thought I would offer forth something of a different opinion. I've discovered Klezmer music over the last two years or so, and this is definitely one of my favorite albums. The Klezmatics really shine here. I personally find the English-language ballads, with lyrics by Tony Kushner, to be heartbreaking and beautiful. "Dispossession by attrition/is the permanent condition/that the wretched modern world endures", from An Undoing World, is just one of the lines that resonates with me. The fiddle playing of Alicia Svigals is, as always, mesmerizing (though as far as I know, she is no longer with the Klezmatics). The instrumental tracks range from frentic to melancholy, and the whole of the album is a joyful listen. The liner notes by Tony Kushner are also worth the read. I would recommend this album to someone familiar with Klezmer, to someone who has never heard Klezmer, and to anyone who likes a well-written song. Some of the slower songs may take awhile to grow on ya', but in the end, I believe you'll find that they do, and that the power they possess (no pun intended, a-ha, ha-ha) make it well worth the time spent listening.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars funny, poignant, mystical, terrific!, March 31, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Heidelberg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Possessed (Audio CD)

This is one of my favorite cds, in any genre. I especially love Lorin's clear voice and Alicia's violin. The songs range in tone from boisterous to contemplative to hypnotic. My kids (ages 12, 9, 4) love it too. The Klezmatics are so good at making it eclectic and yet retaining the essential Jewishness of their music. Another terrific cd, the Klezmatics collaboration with Chava Alberstein, "The Well."