Bob Cohen's October Romanian Expedition

OK.
I'll admit it. I'm more than a little interested in Romanian village musics.

Not as worked up about it as my pal Bob Cohen. Bob lives in Budapest and leads a crackerjack Jewish band there called Di Naye Kapelye that has released 2 of the most enjoyable CD's in my collection. I've ranted about him before. Recently, he found this here blog and then sent me the following photos of his summer trip into the Sub Carpathians in search of cranky old fiddlers who could maybe remember a Jewish melody. He's one of the most generous fieldworkers I've ever encountered in the whole of the alleged Jewish Music "scene." It's my pleasure to share his stories and Fume's picture with y'all:

"OK, these photos are from my October trip, taken by Fumie Suzuki. The Australian tsimbl player Tim Meyen and fiddler Pip Thompson were with us. The idea was to hit Maramures looking for more older fiddlers and to gather more info on the Ovitch family band in Rozavlea, who were the Jewish Dwarf Circus known as the Liliput troupe. The Discovery network is doing a documentary film about them based on the book "In Our Hearts We Were Giants" by Negev Koren, and Di Nayes had recorded some of their repetoire for the film. (My note: No, he's not joking. Only Bob can get away with the preceeding statement with a completely straight face.)

Churaru is a fiddler in Petrova, Marmaures, who still plays some of the older Jewish repetoire learned via the Jewish fiddler remembered as "Benzine" (this is what happens when people have to remember a name like BenZion) who played with his father.





Players of Vioara cu goarne (Stroh Violin) at the Fekete To (Black Lake) peasant fair in Negreni, Transylvania. Fair happens the second weekend of October yearly in Negrenio, about an hour north of Cluj. Seen are Traian from Bratca, Dorel Cordoban, who makes and sells these fiddles, from Comunna Lazuri, Ghitsa from Zalau, and me on kontra violin.



Ion Covaci from Saliste, known as Ionu lui Grigore, nicknamed "Paganini". He plays with Ion Pop from Hoteni a lot, and played a whole set of Jewish wedding tunes for us, including acting out the role of the Badchen (called Mashalinke in these parts) during the ceremony. Some of these tunes are on our next Naye CD.

Nicolae Covaci from Dragomiresti, one of my favorite old fiddlers. In Maramures they say you don't learn fiddle, you "steal fiddling." I steal a lot from Nicolae. I worked with Nicolae's older brother, Ionnei from Ieud for several years. Ionnei died two years ago, but Nicolae is still a good source for memories of the Jewish musicians who used to play in the region. Both Nicolae and Ionnei played with the Shloimovich family band before WWII. Ionu lui Grigore remembers hearing that band but didn't actually play with them. Nicolae strings his fiddle with telephone wire and tunes.

Mitsitsi is Gheorghe la Urecche ("George the Ear") the older fiddler from Leordina. He and his son were digging a ditch when I met them,dropped everything, and started to play for us. Great folks. Mitsitsi's father played with the Jewish fiddler "Benzine" regularly before WWII, they were partners in a smuggling operation across the Tisa river to the Carpatho Ukraine. Benzine apparently worked alone as a Badchen and fiddler who regualrly hired local Covaci clan Gypsies to accompany him when there was a Jewish wedding. Remebered as a somewhat "weak" fiddler, Benzine had the area pretty much to himself since it was a long haul to get the preferred Shloimovich band across the central mountain ridge that divides Maramures. This area is already heavily Hutsul, and you can hear the "Hutsul hesitation" in the phrasing of his Jewish tunes, especially the Jewish De Jale (doinas.)


The Rusyn/Hutsul band from TecsE (long umlaut on the o) comes from the other side of the Tisa river in Tjaciv (Yiddish:Tetch) the Ukraine. A lot of Jews used to live in the area, and part of Perele Gluck's family hail from there. They are absolutely one of the best old style Carpathian bands around, and they come to Budapest every couple of months. Josika (accordion) Misa (tsymbaly) and Yura (drums and plonka - birch bark leaf held in mouth) are brothers, sons of Manya Chernovich, the main fiddler in Tjaciv until his death. The fiddler, Ivan, married into the family. Ivan played drums with his father from Visk, and at the age of 9 he was included with his pop playing on a 1969 Soviet boxed set of down and dirty Ukrainian folk music that I have as well. They play Rusyn, Hungarian, Maramures Romanian, and some Jewish pieces. While hanging out with them they also played some classically Jewish Klezmer pieces - I figured they had copped a Klematics CD someplace - but they didn't even think of these as Jewish, but as "Moldavian pieces." They have a great CD out on Hungary's Ethnophone label. (My note: I have this CD and I recommend it highly.)

Finally, here's and old black and white pic of a Hutsul band found on the web someplace... Josika told me that in the classic old style bands there might be a clarinet, but not today... the accordion takes that voice now.

Bob"

Even more Romanian Goodness...

Check out his true story of fiddler Ion Petre Stoican, who traded being a spy for his government for a recording contract. Too strange to make up. Stoican has long been one of my favorites and my band actually worked up a few of his tunes. I never knew the back story, which sounds like it would make a great movie script.

International Accordion Festival, San Antonio TX

Report from the International Accordion Festival, San Antonio TX, 10/16-17.



This from next month's 3rd Coast Music Magazine:

"High spot was the sanctioned busking of Ben Schenck and Patrick Farrell of the Panorama Jazz Band with Mark Rubin. Low spot was Rubin sitting in with the Lower Chodsko Trio, but not wearing the group’s uniform, a bitter blow to Czech music purists and those of us who would pay good money to see Rubin in knee pants and stockings."

With Brian Marshall and his Tex-Slavic Playboys on Saturday.
Good shot of my Miawy Bass (small, 3 string bass) much beloved in the Texas Polish community.

Mark Halata, who lead his own band on Sunday. George Carver on guitar.

National Folk Festival 2005, Richmond VA

Big times with Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars:
(photos by Lloyd Wolf)

Onstage in my custom Traje
(by Mexico's most famous, and incidently Shomer Shabbat, Mariachi uniform tailors, El Charro.)

Mugging with my boss, Frank London, for our new promo photo.

Later that night, jamming with Merlin Shepherd at Buzz and Ned's Real BBQ.

Frank's wife Tine singing a Yiddish song.

My picture of the audience.

Me taking the above picture. Henry Sapoznik concurrs.

Bad Livers Uber-Fan Greg Perry came and documented several of the performances on video. He's made a DVD that I'll be he'd be willing to share with anyone who asked on it.

The All Stars have a brand new spanking CD entitled "Carnival Conspiracy: In the Marketplace All is Subterfuge." It's a truly amazing document that I played tuba, baritone horn and even guitar on one track. It's available on Germany's Pirhana label, but you could find it on line I'll reckon. 5 Stars. Proud to be on it.

Welcome to the Circle Lodge

Had to share this one:



Here are my accomdations at the Workmen's Circle Summer Camp, better known as Circle Lodge. Better you can't see the floor...No lie, this is where they put me up for 2 days when I went up to perform with the Youngers of Zion.

God bless 'em, but this is where old fashioned lefty Yiddish Culture find themselves today.


Photo by Cookie Segelstien and jet lag.

Meet Kirk Sutphin.

This is Kirk Sutphin. He plays the fiddle. Damn well in fact.

I first met him at the National Folk Festival in Bangor ME a few years back and. He and I played what I still recall as my most cherished session of fiddle music until the wee hours of the final night there. I had never met anyone who played with such simple straight forward drive and energy. I don't play much Old Time music since the Bad Livers folded, so it was quite a treat.

It was my great fortune to run into him yet again at the National, but this time in Richmond VA. This years line up was a fine a selection of top flight traditional music spanning from the great Savoy Family of Eunice Louisiana, all the way to the frenetic Bulgarian Wedding Band of Ivo Pappasov and Yuri Yunokov and just about every where in between, including Yupik Eskimo dancers and Cowboy Poets. I was there as a member of Frank London’s Klezmer All Stars in a very rare USappearancee and just to make it interesting the Festival asked us to back up singer/folklorist/single handed Yiddish revivalist Henry Sapoznik. What’s not to like?

The gigs were uniformly amazing, but far more satisfying were the late night sessions tucked into every conceivable corner of the Radisson Hotel all the artists were being housed at. These picking parties are legendary, and this year did not disappoint. In the course a single evening we played Jewish frelaichs with the locals, played salsa tuba with the plena band from Puerto Rico and backed up the amazing fiddler Spencer Thorton of the White Top Mountain band in a particularly spirited and moving session that included hillbillies and Jews in a whole new and wonderful context. (Spencer is suffering mightily from emphysemama, and every stroke of his bow was matched with a desperate gasp for air. Even so, he stayed in for the fun as long as he could take it, playing with sureity and strength of spirit that belied his physical frailties. We hit it off in a big way, and I dearly look forward to seeing him in good health again real soon.) That all said, I did NOT get in any tunes with Kirk that night and I feared I might not at all.

After our final appearance at the festival, which will be a whole other story, we high tailed off to Buzz and Ned’s Real BBQ on 1119 N. Boulevard for what the locals tend to call the best in town. Buzz is MOT (last name Grossman in fact) and said we were welcome to come play for our supper. The locals were in fact not lying and the beef ribs could have been the best I ever ate, with sides you don’t normally run into (pickled cucumber and onion salad made from scratch anyone?) We played then ate and then played again, a set just as inspired and wonderful as any I have played with Frank London. Simply put, he’s Great High Sultan of Chaos, able to create great beauty and art out of whatever and whoever he finds. Amazing time and fun stuff, but still no picking with Kirk.

Imagine my happiness to walk into the lobby of the hotel to see a circle of chairs set out with Kirk in the corner, fiddle and banjo close at hand. Next to him is guitar maker and picker Wayne Henderson and evidently they’d been playing quite a bit before we got there. Henry sits down tight next to Kirk, who hands him a fine old snake head Gibson banjo. Wayne’s hands have been hurting from a weekend of picking so he lets me play his guitar, which is a little like having Stradivari hand you one of his fiddles. I can honestly report that it was among the best guitars I have ever played. I slide in tight next to Henry, already sitting knee to knee with Kirk, when Kirk says "Why not one of them Poole numbers?" Why not indeed?

Did I mention Kirk was a damn fine fiddler? No really, he's much more than that. In his own humble way he just sits there and plays absolutely the simplest and most plainly beautiful fiddle I have yet encountered. And he makes it seem so easy, so easy that the subtle nuances of his playing could be lost on the casual observer. He has a new CD called "Grandpas' favorites" which as I'm sure you figured out by now I strongly recommend that you rush out and buy. It's a great cross section of his native repertoire, played and recorded well.

If I am very luck this year I find my name inscribed in the Book of Life, I will consider it as a sign from the Almighty that I will eventually get to play with Hank and Kirk again.

Live From the Kennedy Center

How cool is this?

Me and my Ridgetop Syncopators went up to Washington DC to perform at the Kennedy Center in conjunction with the first ever Duke Ellington Jazz Festival.

In case you missed it, you can watch it here, archived in Real Player.

Enjoy!

From the Austin Traditional Jazz Society

"Visiting New Orleans Jazzmen and Tommy Griffith’s Band Brought a Rousing Brand of Hot Jazz to Donn’s in Sept."


Ben Schenck of the Panorama Jazz Band has found himself my house guest of late. We've been out making the scene, and playing with the local cats. Check it out.

More about Jon Baily

This is from my friend Ryan Gould, a fine local bassist and all around cowboy here in Austin TX. He too shares his thoughts about out old pal Jon.

Yesterday, a friend of mine, a musician of good spirit and a veteran of this country’s armed forces died.

Jon Baily, a banjo player, from California, spent his last years in Austin, Texas supporting the Austin Banjo Club and the Austin Traditional Jazz Society.

I met Jon at a Traditional Jazz Society function. He scrawled on the back of his business card the directions to the Banjo Club and insisted that I show up the following week. I did.
Jon went out of his way through those, my first couple visits to the Banjo Club, to make me feel welcome and to insist on my return. From those first visits to the Banjo Club on, Jon would share his love for music with me through telephone calls and emails. He would insist that I come pick up some band’s CD that made him think of me. He would email me all manner of information concerning music in all its forms that he found of interest.

Jon's love for music and his desire and willingness to share it were impeccable and so very appreciated.

Jon was also proud of the banjo pickers in the Club who were veterans. He summed up their stints in the military for me on different occasions. He shared with me any story that filtered through him that related to our nation’s warriors.

I’m ever thankful for having gotten to know this man and will live more fulfilled having been gifted by his hearty spirit.

If you have the extra time in the days following, take a minute, please, and realize what’s good around you. Be thankful for the elders in our musical family and take heart in their vitality and nature. Without these good people, our lives would be less.

Thank you, Jon Baily. I will continue to play tunes to the best of my ability for you!

- Ryan Gould

Jon Baily RIP

This is how I will always remember my friend Jon Baily.

Sitting there, solid as a rock, with his beloved Paramount Plectrum banjo. Always ready with a joke and an infectious smile, Jon was one the reasons why I so much enjoyed visiting the Austin Banjo Club "rehearsals" on Monday evenings.

Life dealt Jon a bad series of hands late in life, but he mostly kept it to himself and soldiered on with great humor and dignity. He was a father, and veteran, and a great bon vivant. Above it all however, Jon played the hell out of the banjo. It gave him such happiness. Not just the instrument itself, for which he had an inate gift, but the fellowship and joy of playing music with others. You won't find his records anywhere. But he will be remembered very fondly by the literally thousands of people that played for, playing concerts at retirement centers all around the Austin area, and by his banjo brothers at the Austin Banjo Club.

I'm a better man for having met him and I miss him more everyday.

Welcome to Heaven. Here's your banjo.

Hannukah in July

Wow. They keep everything up forever on the web it seems.

Here's a 2002 clip from Warner Channel News 8 Austin with Cantor Nei Blumofe.

Enjoy!

The Best Hotel I Ever Stayed At

It's called the Eden, located in the Kazimerz district of Cracow Poland.

The ex-pat owner made me and the other musicians staying there just as comfortable as I've ever been anywhere. It was almost off putting how nice they were. I got over it quick however.

They had something called a "salt grotto" in the basement of the hotel. It's a small room filled with 6 tons of salt, as if you found yourself deep in a salt mine. There's gently running water in the corner, mood lighting behing the walls of salt (nice touch) and comfy chairs to lounge in. A nice waitress brings you a Tatanka, a favorite summer drink made of one part apple juice and one part Zubrowska (Buffalo Grass) vodka, and you just chill. I found myself in there just about every night I was in Crackow, winding down with fellow performers.

Here's the website, with an interesting legend about the building where the Eden now stands.

The Best Slap Bass Player

Meet my friend Djordje:

http://www.djordjestijepovic.com/

I first met him in his native Belgrade Serbia. I'll let his website tell you more about him, but let me simply add that beyond being a fine fellow, he also happens to be the best "slap" style upright bassist I've ever encountered, either in person or on record. He's got skills and techniques that simply boggle my mind. Did I mention he was a nice guy? He even gave me a hat.

Check him out.