Veretski Pass in Connecticut

Branford Folk Music Society
Veretski Pass Jan. 20, 2007
8pm

Playing in an unbound, energetic "village style", the trio Veretski Pass presents a concert of historical klezmer music of Eastern Europe; pre WWII melodies from Ukraine, Carpathian-Ruthenia, Bessarabia and Rumania played on violin, accordion tsimbl, basy and baraban. With unique arrangements and compositions, this group of veterans carries on the ancient tradition of klezmer musicians, playing music of all kinds, but with a recognizably Jewish sound.
Branford Folk Coffeehouse
First Congregational Church of Branford
1009 Main Street, Branford, CT
Admission: $15 nonmembers, $13 members, $3 children

NPR and Nextbook stories on new CD "Jewface"

Some of the most offensive music ever recorded, put together by Jody Rosen...a look at the early vaudeville and minstrel music about Jews in America a hundred years ago... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6710022

NPR's radio program hosted by Terry Gross, "Fresh Air" had a story on January 2, 2007 on the new CD "Jewface", which journalist Jody Rosen put together. "It's the first anthology of Jewish minstrel songs. Tracks include "Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars," "I'm a Yiddish Cowboy" and other long-lost hits from the vaudeville stage of the early 20th century. Rosen is the music critic for Slate.com and also writes for The Nation." Rosen is the author of the book White Christmas: The Story of an American Song which was reviewed on JMWC http://www.jmwc.org/whitechristmas.html Rosen also has an interview on Nextbook.http://www.nextbook.org/audio/podcast_feature455.mp3

Two New Discographies of Jewish Music

Julian Futter wrote: Dr Rainer Lotz, who was behind the 11 CD set "Vorbei" - Beyond recall, the survey of Jewish recordings in the Nazi era, has just released a discography of Jewish recordings in German speaking countries. "Discographie der Judaica-Aufnahmen". This book covers 78rpm recordings made from 1901 up to 1960. It is complimentary to Spottswood since Spottwood only covers recordings made in the USA. It is nearly 600 pages long and covers more than 400 performers. Covering all aspects of Jewish life, culture, religion and anti-semitism it therefore also includes entries for Thomas Mann, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and many of the leaders and functionaries of the 3rd Reich. Among other performers there are full details for S Kwartin, J. Rosenblatt, Julius Guttmann and many others. Although entirely in German, the material is so well laid out that a knowledge of German is not necessary to be able to make full use of it. It costs 60 Euros and can be obtained directly from him at Birgit Lotz Verlag, Jean Paul Str 6, 53173 Bonn, Germany email: disc@lotz-verlag.de

Tomasz Lerski in Warsaw has produced an extraordinary discography and history of the Jewish owned Syrena record label. Among the hundreds of artists who recorded for this label, before and after the First World War, were Belf's orchestra, Aaron Lebedeff, Sirota, David Oistrakh, Moses Kussevitsky, Wladyslaw Szpilman (the subject of Polanski's "The Pianist") and pretty much anyone who recorded in Poland. It is copiously illustrated and includes a biographical dictionary containing nearly 900 entries. However unless you can read Polish much of the information will be hard to decipher. This book has been an incredible labour of love and is an absolutely invaluable tool for any serious student of Jewish recordings and culture in Poland. It cost about 75 Euros It can be obtained direct from Mr Lerski at Blekitna 83, 04-663 Warsaw Poland or Rokosowska 7/5,02-348 Warsaw Poland. His email is tomasz.lerski@post.pl

A Tickle in the Heart at MFA

A Tickle in the Heart
Thursday, January 11, 6:30 pm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Part of the Series, "Swiss Films with Rhythm"
Tickets: $9 general admission; $8 for memberes of The Boston Jewish Film
Festival, the MFA, students, and seniors
On Sale at MFA Box Office Only (Please call the Box Office at 617 369 3306 for advance ticket orders.)

A Tickle in the Heart
Director: Stefan Schwietert
Country: Germany, Switzerland, released 1996
Duration: 90 min., Video
Language: English, Yiddish
w/subtitles Film image
The Epstein Brothers were the kings of klezmer, the traditional music of Eastern European Jewry, for more than 60 years. Beginning in the 1930s, they played their joyous, sentimental blend of tangos, horas, Russian folk dances and Gypsy drinking songs throughout New York. Today, as klezmer music enjoys an upswing in popularity from Manhattan to Berlin, they live and continue to play their memory-laden melodies in America's retirement paradise, Florida. The music is the star of Stefan Schwietert's documentary about The Epstein Brothers' 1995 European tour.