The Klezmorim
Encyclopedia
The Klezmorim was a klezmer
band formed in 1975. They are widely credited with spearheading the worldwide revival of klezmer music in the 1970s and 1980s.
Founded in Berkeley, California in 1975, they first featured strings, particularly the virtuoso violin of David Skuse. After Skuse' departure in 1977, the morphed into a brass band, led by founder Lev Liberman's saxophone and founding member David Julian Gray's clarinet. As a brass band focused on recreating the sounds of early 20th Century klezmer
bands, they achieved worldwide popularity, garnering a Grammy nomination in 1983 and selling out concert halls in North America and Europe throughout the 1980s.
Although all the original members had left by 1986, tuba player Donald Thornton, who joined in 1979, continued to tour as The Klezmorim with leading players of the klezmer revival, into the mid-1990s. Although on indefinite hiatus, Lev Liberman took a reconstituted Klezmorim on a successful European tour in 2004. Rumors of new recordings continue to circulate.
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 formed in 1975. They are widely credited with spearheading the worldwide revival of klezmer music in the 1970s and 1980s.
Founded in Berkeley, California in 1975, they first featured strings, particularly the virtuoso violin of David Skuse. After Skuse' departure in 1977, the morphed into a brass band, led by founder Lev Liberman's saxophone and founding member David Julian Gray's clarinet. As a brass band focused on recreating the sounds of early 20th Century 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...
bands, they achieved worldwide popularity, garnering a Grammy nomination in 1983 and selling out concert halls in North America and Europe throughout the 1980s.
Although all the original members had left by 1986, tuba player Donald Thornton, who joined in 1979, continued to tour as The Klezmorim with leading players of the klezmer revival, into the mid-1990s. Although on indefinite hiatus, Lev Liberman took a reconstituted Klezmorim on a successful European tour in 2004. Rumors of new recordings continue to circulate.
Members
- Lev Liberman (saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - David Skuse (violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
) - David Julian Gray (clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, lauto, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Stuart BrotmanStuart BrotmanStuart N. Brotman is an American government policymaker; management consultant; lawyer; educator; author and editorial adviser; and non-profit organization executive. He is recognized as the private sector’s leading authority on The National Broadband Plan.- Biography :After graduating summa cum...
(bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, peck horn, cimbalom) - Donald Thornton (tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) - Brian Wishnefsky (trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Kevin Linscott (tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
) - Stephen Saxon (trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) - John Raskin (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
) - Tom Stamper (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) - Ken Bergman (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) - Kenny WollesenKenny WollesenKenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with many musicians including Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a...
(drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
) - Sheldon Brown (clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
) - Paul Hanson (clarinet, bassoon)
External links
- Official site
- [ AllMusic entry]
- David Julian Gray's web site
- Stephen Saxon's web site
- Klez-X (Formerly the San Francisco Klezmer Experience, this band has featured Sheldon, Stephen and Charlie from 1996 through 2007. Stu also played and recorded with this band.)