Metropolitan Klezmer is a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 band that was established in 1994.
While clearly a Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 band, Metropolitan Klezmer takes an eclectic approach to Yiddish musical genres from around the globe.

Songlines magazine calls them "One of the finest American klezmer bands".

The band was formed by drummer (and Yiddish film scholar) Eve Sicular with Ismail Butera (accordion), Michael Hess (violin, ney flutes, kanun zither), Dave Hofstra (bass and tuba), and klezmer legend Howie Leess (1920-2003) (clarinet & tenor sax).
The group expanded to include vocalist Deborah Karpel and a dynamic horn section: Debra Kreisberg (clarinet/alto sax), Pam Fleming (trumpet/fluegelhorn), and Rick Faulkner (trombone).

Individually, Metropolitan Klezmer players have worked with such diverse artists as Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...

, The Toasters

The Toasters

The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...

, Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

, Toshi Reagon

Toshi Reagon

Toshi Reagon is an American folk/blues musician. She is the daughter of Freedom Singers co-founders Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, with whom she has sometimes collaborated on musical projects and of Cordell Hull Reagon, a leader of the civil rights movement in...

, Juan Carlos Formell, Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

, Burning Spear

Burning Spear

Winston Rodney, OD , also known as Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer and musician. Burning Spear is known for his Rastafari movement messages.-History:...

, Amy Sedaris

Amy Sedaris

Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...

, Max Roach

Max Roach

Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...

, Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...

, Nora York, and the Microscopic Septet, as well as Jewish music performers from the Klezmatics and Andy Statman

Andy Statman

Andy Statman is a noted Klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.Andy Statman was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He first gained acclaim as a mandolinist in pioneering bluegrass bands Country Cookin' and Breakfast Special. Statman, who grew up in a traditional but secular Jewish...

 to David Krakauer

David Krakauer

David Krakauer is an American clarinetist. He is a graduate of the High School of Music & Art, class of 1974. He is mostly known for his klezmer compositions. He became involved with klezmer music in the late 1980s while working as a classical musician, joining The Klezmatics...

, Sephardic stars Alhambra and SF's Charming Hostess

Charming Hostess

Charming Hostess is a band that grew out of the Oakland avant-rock scene in the mid-1990s.-Current work:Today, the music primarily springs from three women with an emphasis in the body—voices and vocal percussion, handclaps and heartbeats, sex-breath and silence. The work grows from diaspora...

.

The band's CDs have enjoyed positive reviews, awards, and worldwide airplay. Their array of songs includes wedding dances, folk tunes, modal slapstick, odd meter Hanuka fare, postwar Yiddish poetry, Turkish- and Arabic-tinged klezmer traditionals, Hungarian Jewish prayer melody, labor protest hymn, Second Avenue swing classics, vintage Yiddish film soundtrack tangos, love ballads, and originals. They mix modern and traditional instruments and arrangements.