November 12, 2006

Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos in East Village

Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos perform together at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, an East Village cultural landmark for 30 years!
Tuesday, November 21st
8pm double bill, $8 cover charge
as part of the club's monthly Women Take the Bandstand series
236 East 3rd Street (between Avenues B & C), NYC
hotline: 212-505-8183

www.nuyorican.org
www.metropolitanklezmer.com
www.myspace.com/metroklez
www.myspace.com/klezbos

Metropolitan Klezmer octet and the Isle of Klezbos sextet are internationally-acclaimed NYC-based bands treating tradition with irreverence and respect. Savoring a panorama of Yiddish-based music while subverting stereotypes, both groups specialize in fabulous arrangements of lesser-known gems found in hidden archival niches such as obscure vintage feature soundtracks and Soviet Yiddish theater newsreels, as well as composing genre-defying originals. Both groups include vibrant versions of rollicking folk dance, melodic trance, hard-swinging Yiddish classics and tango in their repertoire, while each creates exuberant, eclectic covers such as a Balkan-driven "Pick a Pocket or Two," a Yiddish/boogaloo-styled "Comes Love," and even the cantorial/klezmer versions of hits from Guys & Dolls.

Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos have released four award-winning CDs on Rhythm Media Records to date, with several more releases currently in post-production. The bands have appeared in broadcasts on CNN Worldbeat, PBS In The Life, the German network ARD's Rhythms of New York, as well as on radio stations worldwide, in soundtracks and soundscapes from Showtime's The L Word to the SITI Theatre Company's Score Off-Broadway to Covent Garden's Royal Ballet, as well as at concert halls, nightclubs, college campuses and music festivals internationally since 1994.

Isle of Klezbos has toured from Vancouver BC to Vienna Austria. Metropolitan Klezmer plays Yiddish music from all over the map on an astonishing array of instrumentation; bandmate backgrounds range from Albanian to Zydeco. Both groups are led by drummer Eve Sicular, bringing together the best of New York's downtown and World Music scenes for a collaborative adventure in sounds from delightfully rambunctious to ethereally exquisite. Versatile and virtuosic, their CDs thus far: 'Yiddish For Travelers,' 'Mosaic Persuasion,' 'Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos,' and 'Surprising Finds.' The two latest releases include studio cuts as well as live tracks from shows at Joe's Pub, The Knitting Factory, and Tonic. Other bonus tracks include home-audio excerpts of tenor Phillip Karpel, grandfather of MetroKlezmer/Klezbos vocalist Deborah Karpel. Latest projects also include live band performance in the multi-media program, The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film.

ABOUT METROPOLITAN KLEZMER: "Anything but stereotypical, and nothing but terrific... one of the best klezmer bands in the world today" - Shaun Dale, Cosmik Debris

"Influences that range from old school Arabic music to Latin Jazz to Motown... not only exuberantly eclectic but also very danceable. Expect an eccentric cultural lesson from these modern-day purveyors of time-honored traditions." - J. Bachman, flavorpill

"One of the best traditional klezmer bands around" - George Robinson, Jewish Week

ABOUT ISLE OF KLEZBOS:
These women will make you shake your tushies.” - Richard Gehr, Village Voice “Talent as strong as its name is provocative” - Bob Makin, Courier News “Isle of Klezbos tests the elasticity of the genre” - The New Yorker “Great ears and great hearts” - Catherine Madsen, Der Pakn Treger, National Yiddish Book Center

Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos bandmate bios include performance, touring and/or recording with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, The Microscopic Septet, Indigo Girls, Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Scott, Toshi Reagon, Natalie Merchant, Natalie Cole, Burning Spear, David Krakauer, Sarah MacLachlan, Bill Frisell, Robert Palmer, Charming Hostess, Arrow, Andy Statman, Maxi Priest, Hot Keys, and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. Various members are graduates of The Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the American Institute of Musical Studies, and other individual studies include teachings from masters from Mohammed El Akkad to Licia Albanese.

Posted by jmwc at November 12, 2006 04:39 PM