Get Serious, Mr. Pancake

Here's one that slipped right by me.

Check out this CD of children's music made by my pal Frank Meyer. He's out in my front yard right now making a fence out of recycled bamboo, which is what he does for a living. But his real calling is funny songs. I've known him for years when he was the string bassist for one Austin's most underrated blues acts called the Mannish Boys (featuring a very young Gary Primich on harmonica.) He's just released the fabulously titled "Get Serious, Mr. Pancake" appropriate for children of any age. "Too Bad About Bugs" is the runaway hit I'll bet.

Some of Austin's most talented pickers contributed; Erik Hokkanen, Kevin Smith and Danny Levin to name but a few. Besides playing a bunch of tuba and bass on the disc, there's a hilarious photo of me gracing the back cover, as Mr. Pancake himself. Buy it and see it for yourself.

Scenes From the 9th Ward of New Orleans

From my pal Emile Francis:

Hi All,

Sorry about the morose pictures, but I drove through the Lower Nine for the first time yesterday (Thursday), and was amazed. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Scene from the front porch
The levee
Barge on the block.

To "the City" and NYE

Fellow KK staff member Dan Peck and I have what is now an annual tradition. I actually first met Dan years ago when he was working at John Hatton’s CD booth at Fiddle Tunes up in Port Townsend. Under a very friendly administration there, I had been invited to teach and perform four years in a row. I suspect that he had something to do with my coming on board at Klez Kamp as well, but at both events we hardly see each other during the week due to the working commitments involved.

I know Dan to be a fine old time banjoist and guitarist on top of being a swell guy. Rather than take the chartered bus back to the Workmen’s Circle Building in Manhattan after KK, Dan will drive me back to his place in Jersey City. This year he treated me to a trip to his ancestral home, am old Scots-Irish enclave called Kearny. There he took me to the most fabulous Fish and Chips shop I’ve been to on this side of the pond. Then a walk through the parks he used to play in as a kid in the brisk Jersey cold and then back to his place to eat the home made short bread we got from the restaurant. It was almost a date I tell you.

Having slept little if at all during the week, we both collapsed after a beer and didn’t wake till nearly 2pm the following day. Dan bravely loaded me back into his SUV and made the treacherous trip into midtown this New Years Eve Day, just to deliver me to my job site. I take lunch at the Stage Deli with a Texas Ex-Pat friend of mine who concurs that these Yankee Jewish men are generally weak and pathetic; nobody knows how to two-step up here and thus how hard it is to find a date. We catch up but she’s got a hot date with a nice Goyische boy in Hoboken ( a veteran no less) and I have a sound check to make.

If you ever wondered if you were out of shape, strap 40 pounds of luggage to your back and drag 100 pounds of tuba and electric bass behind you in a driving snow 15 blocks through midtown Manhattan. You will ‘feel the burn” I guarantee you. I get to the joint early, a very odd place in my estimation, called Makor. I was here on Christmas Eve checking out my friend Alex Kontorovich’s band when it was packed to the gills with wild eyed, desperate Jewish singles. I can safely say that in all my life I have never encountered that particular energy. I had up to that point never been in a “Jewish” bar for that matter, much less a “Jewish singles bar.” It was more than a little off putting I’ll tell ya. The word stereotypical comes to mind but I will try not to dwell too much on it.

(No really, it was really spooky. I don’t mean to fixate, but it bears mention. You had all these nice ladies, mostly in teams of three for some reason, all dolled up and out in the prowl, just as cute and accessable as could be. Then you had these creepy dudes in suits paying no attention to them at all instead hitting on the goyische waitresses. It was in a word, gross. I guess all that "Sex in the City" crap is for real. These poor people have no way decent way of being introduced properly. Thank the good Lord I was raised up in a place where couples dancing to a hot C&W band is an accepted form of courtship, and gentlemanly manners and Southern Graces aren’t considered quaint nor provincial. It ain't for nothng I married a Texas gal. And I’ll admit I used to carry great enmity for the Yankee; just a wee bit for the War of Northern Aggression, but mostly for my Yankee Jewish kin for being so stereotypically, well damnit, Yankee. Now I only carry pity for them. Bless their poor, lonely hearts.)

The gig goes splendidly, with Aaron Alexander’s Midrash Mish Mosh rocking way harder than you’d think a NY downtown art ensemble could muster. Then magically with a very few personnel changes and me setting down the electric bass for the tuba, Frank London’s traveling circus act of Chaos Incarnate oft titled the “Klezmer Brass All Stars” played right up to the cusp of 2006. It’s all a haze after that, but I do remember getting in a good hang backstage with Micheal Wex and Frank and his lovely wife Tine, a cheeseburger at the West Side Grill and waking up well rested on Aaron’s couch.

Here’s a prayer for the New Year. A healthy and prosperous year to all.

Klez Kamp Report v 1.1

As I write this from seat 20 B (exit row, aisle) of the plane taking me back to Texas, I am reminded how difficult it is to both live in a moment and to take proper note of it as well. So much went on during my week of teaching, playing, interacting and such that most of it zipped by with little notice. I brought a camera, but never had it handy when the fun stuff happened for instance.

Highlights include the following:

a) 1st nights staff concert, which was interminably long as usual, however punctuated by Jim Guttman’s amazing interpretation of a Beregovski dance tune in the style of Mingus’s Big Band. Made all the more wonderful by a solo section featuring Pete Sokolow’s stride break. Magic moment that I hope was captured on tape (or digital or whatever.)

b) Drinking a fine bottle of Zwack Slivopalinka with my Traditional Ensembles class. Our percussionist, Karen, had received it as a gift and generously shared it with all. The Hungarian Kosher slivo is my favorite and was happy to have a taste again.






I had a fine group of folks assigned to me this year including some familiar faces from years past. I laid a couple of Cookie Segestein arrangements on them and they made fine work of it. Sometimes I truly wonder what my classes must think of me. They come to study Yiddish culture and music and then they’re presented with a trash talking Texan who speaks Yiddish in the North-Central Oklahoman dialect. It must be a shock, especially to the Europeans who show up. At any rate, I have what I think is a clear, well-researched, stage proven and culturally informed agenda about this music and how to better perform it. I’m never fully certain however that I’ve gotten it all across to my class, especially in such a short time.


c) Jamming with Pete Sokolow in the lobby. He let me sit next to him and ham fist my way through a few numbers on a borrowed tenor banjo. I will mark my time sitting listening to him play James P Johnson and Eubie Blake numbers on a poorly tuned spinet as one of the great musical privileges of my life. No foolin’.

d) Lunch and dinner. Never made Breakfast, but the kitchen staff did real good this year, even with a glat Kosher menu. Josh Horowitz did refer to the “beef flavored laxative” in reference to the roast beef one night, but that was a single glitch. I’m sure I gained 5 pounds at least.

e) The schvitz. That’s Yiddish for steam room. Located in the Spa in the hotel’s basement.117 degrees steam heat, clean and pleasant. I was there half and hour each afternoon, concluding with a dip in the whirlpool. This resort could be the best facility they have had the event in, and I’ve been in 4 different places thus far.


f) Hanging out with really great people: Hank Sapoznik, band mate and KK founder who was cool as a cucumber this year. Cookie and Josh, who along with Hank could be the folks who best share my ideas about music. Seeing Alan Watsky again and playing his cool guitars and kvetching about the fiddle business. Working extensively with Jeff Baker (King Django) who is even hipper than I assumed, and playing all week with Aaron Alexander who I knew was great but forgot what big fun he was. Barely saw some of my old companions as we were all working hard; Frank London, Deb and Jeff Warschauer, and Micheal Wex who is having a great year, hopefully the start of many more as his biblical 7 years of want has been going on for about 28 now. (Buy his book BTW.)

In conclusion, there are other places that have similar concepts in teaching Yiddish culture, but having attended quite a few as both student and instructor, I can safely say that none provide the depth and breadth of exposure at the Living Traditions Klez Kamp. It’s the first of its kind and remains the gold standard that all others copy, so in some senses you’d be foolish to go elsewhere. Many participants I talked to this week said as much to me on several occasions.

Klez Kamp Report v 1.0

Hard to take time out and tell you anything as life here at Klez Kamp is a little like being trapped in a Yiddish speaking submarine, only the food is a little better.

Here's some random photos of a recording session with German Goldynstein:



German himself is criminally under recorded, with only one tune on Frank London's new CD, though lots of his students have gone on to record his material. I played on a studio session led by Michael Alpert over a year ago but as of yet, there is no sight of it's release.

Saxman/Clarinetist Alexander Kontorovich suggested that we try and do a recording session here during Klez Kamp, using an empty hotel room, the staff as a band and King Django's mobile recording rig. Everyone has graciously donated thier efforts to making this happen for German.

We're squeezing in recording sessions around our teaching schedules and 2 days in I can honestly say I'm quite impressed. With any luck we'll have a good reference CD (w/ accompanying sheet music book) for German to sell and for everyone to enjoy. Hopefully the the "proper" studio set will see the light of day as well and German will get deserved day in the sun.

Follow all the "fun" at the Klez Kamp blog.

NYC, NYE

Tomorrow morning I catch a flight for NYC, arriving just in time to hop a cab to Park Slope in Brooklyn and play a set with Aaron Alexander's Mix Mosh Midrash at 10pm. Aaron is on my SHORT list of drummers I like to play with and as a member of Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars I have built up a great musical rapport with him. I was particularly honored that he asked me to be a member of his group, playing a set his original compositions at this gig and then a week later at Makor for their New Year's Eve show.

To quote a friend of mine, it's taken me a year since his Tzadik Records release to "get" what he's doing. Now that I have, and have taken the time to actually learn his material (I hear musicians outside of Austin actually do that, rather than just show up for the gig and fake it) I would humbly recommend you seek out the CD. It's an unlikely convergence of Mr. Alexander's musical history which included expressive jazz, klezmer and eastern European music and even hardcore thrash. I will be playing the electric bass, which I am not known for and possibly with good reason. (see circa 1983 pic.) Wish me luck.

After that there's rumor of a salsa gig with Frank London and Anthony Coleman, but it could be apochryphal. If you know of anything fun to do in NYC on the 24th please do let me know. The morning of the 25th I head up to Hudson Valley Resort to attend and teach at the annual Jewish Music/Culture retreat called affectionately "Klez Kamp." I will report and fun occurs.

I'm back in Austin in the new year with regular gigs with the Ridgetop Syncopators and Lil' Alice and her Monkey Butlers. Best wishes for a safe new year.

And Merry Christmas.

A Tale of Two "Dreydl's"

Very soon, local Time Warner cable news channel (News Channell 8) will be airing it's annual "hey-let's-air-a-hannukah-song-once-an-hour-for-a-day-to-make-the-local-
Hebrews-feel-included-during-Christmas" musical interlude.

Sure enough they turned to me to provide the tune and once again I spun out a lame version of my most detested Jewish musical memory (Hava Nagilah not withstanding.) It's available right now for local digital cable subscribers at Channel 8 On Demand.

For contrast, here's my 2002 version. A swing-rhumba featuring khazan Neil Blumofe and Rubinchik's Yiddish Ensemble.

Merry Christmas

Yes, Christmas.

Not the insipid "Happy Holidays" or it's lame cousin "Season's Greetings."

Christmas. The celebration of the birth of the Christ child. Let's call a spade a spade and leave it at that. Y'all run this place and you're doing us no favors in your clumsy attempts to include us non-Christians. Jews in America have akwardly attempted (and in fact suceeded) to make Hannukah a big deal, which observant Jews will remind you it is not. Ramadan come and goes and few folks bother to notice. African American have concocted a Zwanzaa of thier very own and God bless them. It's no more "authentic" a celebration than the pagan winter celebrations than the Christian Church coopted for "Yuletide."

When Pat Robertson and me are on the same page of an issue, you best pay attention.

And Merry Christmas.

Jewish Culture Manifesto

(Note to Non Jews, ignore this as it doesn't involve you. Move along. Nothing to see here...)

Hello.

My name is Mark Rubin and I approve of the following message:

Manifesto of the Rootless Cosmopolitan

My old pal Rohkl puts into words thoughts and experiences that have rolled around in my head for years. Only in a much more far measured and thoughful way than a product of the Oklahoma Public School system like myself could possibly do.

After a mighty unpleasant conversation concerning "Zion" (read modern Israel) and "Golues" (literally "the exile"meaning the modern diaspora) with some members of my local synagogue a few years ago, I had a mind to change the name of my Yiddish Ensemble to "di Freylhke Galutniks" (yiddish=The Happy Exiles.) Now I'm certain I will. That is, if we ever get another gig. I usually have to go to Europe to play Jewish.

Now it's "Infamous"

First it was "Every Word Is True." Then it was "Have You Heard." Then the competing script "Capote" came out and everybody fell in love with Phillip Seymour Hoffman's acting. Now it's "Infamous." So back in January I was in NYC recording Gwenth Paltrow. Then in March I was on a sound stage here in Austin acting out my part.

It must actually be coming out as Warner Independent has a website for it now. Release date is now October 16th 2006 so they say, but I don't trust these people. The rumor on the street is that if Hoffman wins the Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote, we go straight to video. Well that would be a damn shame, knowing the back story of this film and the heaping piles of BS that had to be traversed to create it.


Working with "Infamous" Director Doug McGrath was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in either the music or movie business, and he is roundly understood to be one of the few real good guys out there. To have his original vision snatched away by another studio, then presented in such a watered down version that was then released to great acclaim proves that Hollywood truly can be the deepest cesspit that the Christian Right rail on about. I pray that the movie comes out and that the story Doug wanted to tell gets out there, warts and all.

Mr Greenstreet, you double is here...

Portrait by Greg "Pops" Bayless.

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.