Klezmer?

[NoLights]

I'm in a function band -- your basic jazz-to-rock general business thing. Once in awhile, we break into smaller groups. Next week, I've got a trio gig playing jazz standards at a Bar Mitzvah. The father called the band leader tonight and now wants us to do a couple of Klezmer songs. Here's what I know about Klezmer ... 0 . So I bought some Klezmer Conservatory Band CD's... and now I'm wondering how bass, piano and sax can pull off anything that remotely sounds like Klezmer. Help.

[ksoper]

Does the sax guy own or can borrow a clarinet?

[Bobadohshe]

Very easy. I do it all the time, and I am not Jewish, although the other guys are. one of my close friends is a Jewish trumpet player, that is, he's Jewish and he plays trumpet. So we'll do trumpet piano drums, or trumpet clarinet drums, or trumpet bass piano. We've done all of those, and I'm telling you, it's not that hard.

 

I'd recommend getting the Jewish Fake Book

 

That's what we use, and it gives you well known Jewish tune after well know Jewish tune.

 

So, given my vote of confidence, what the hell do you actually play?

 

If you have bass player, he'll lay down the 1,5,1,5,1,5 oompah style bass, and the piano player can lay down something based on off beats. It's almost like playing traditional ska actually. You can definitely add more flourishes, but that give you the idea. And the horn will play melody. For contrast, we'll often do it so the horn plays the melody a couple times, then I'll play the melody, then the horn comes back in and takes it again, and well, then you're done.

 

You really wouldn't solo in this style, at least on piano. At least I don't.

 

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions as I come from a similar place, a dude who didn't know any of those tunes but was called on to play them, and now considers himself a fairly decent Klezmer player.

[Steve Nathan]

Hope that Ernie Rideout still reads these posts.

[MuzikTeechur]

So, the drummer for the Klezmer band calls in sick. The Klopmeyer Bar Mitzvah is that night and the bandleader is going nuts.

He calls down to the Union Hall and says: "I need a drummer for a Klezmer gig tonight."

Union Steward says: "I only got one drummer on call tonight and he's a jazz guy."

Bandleader says: "Send him anyway."

So the jazz drummer shows up to the gig and the Klezmer bandleader takes him aside and says: "OK, no need to show off on this gig. I don't need no Buddy Rich, no Gene Krupa; just a simple backbeat on 3 and 7."

[MuzikTeechur]

Nolights, too bad you're not a little closer to Kittery. I have a whole book of Klezmer stuff I used to play when I was in a trio out of Bangor. Singer/sax/flute/clarinet player was (is) the Cantor in the big synagogue in Bangor and taught me all the important ones (his name is Scott Rappaport).

I play a lot of weddings around Boston now and they sure come in handy.

 

Ksoper: you do NOT want a sax player borrowing a clarinet. They are not the same instrument - from middle Bb down the fingerings are completely different. If the sax player knows this he (she) probably already owns a clarinet. If he doesn't you don't want him finding out on the gig.

[Ian Benhamou]

A soprano sax will be close enough for rock n ro...err. klezmer instead of a clarinet.

 

Follow bobadoshe's advice. Jewish fake book, bass 1515, and piano chords on the upbeats. Play them fast and with a lot of energy. Those songs need to be joyous.

 

The guests will probably be doing the hora (traditional jewish celebratory dance) so keep the beat going.

 

Also, all those songs could be played in C minor with the same tempo, so medleys are easy to put together.

[Bobadohshe]

For the Hora it's a good idea to medley a couple tunes together. We'd do 'Hava Nagila' into 'Ufaratsa' and 'Siman Tov' back into 'Hava Nagila'. You can milk it all night.

 

Also, there are a couple different kinds of tunes. The above are fast, energetic Klezmer tunes. There are medium tunes, 6/8 tunes, and slow tunes.

[zahush76]

Have you heard "Oy Division"?

Hear some of their stuff to get the general picture (try the other videos as well. Their live shows are great):

 

[yannis D]

It's funny how much Klezmer music resembles to Greek/Balkan/Turkish music. They're like twins.

BTW for an alternative listening to Jewish music i would recommend any Tzadik release - from John Zorn to Steven Bernstein to Jamie Saft. Not much help for a wedding program though but a nice approach to modern "jewish-go-jazz-go-NY" music

[marino]

So the jazz drummer shows up to the gig and the Klezmer bandleader takes him aside and says: "OK, no need to show off on this gig. I don't need no Buddy Rich, no Gene Krupa; just a simple backbeat on 3 and 7."

Ha ha, this is the worst version of this joke that I've heard so far!

Why? Because 3 and 7 are the strong backbeats in any song, if you count in 8 rather than in 4. I mean, 3 is the backbeat of the first bar in a group of two, and 7 is the backbeat for the second bar.

I mean, the overall tempo could have been 17/16, but the bandleader didn't specify it, did he?

A better version could have been, "strong backbeats on 4 and 9", perhaps.

 

Please allow me a little laugh at your expense... It's unbelievably HOT here, and I'm seeking for excuses to make a pause from working....

 

 

[MuzikTeechur]

Ha ha, this is the worst version of this joke that I've heard so far!

Why? Because 3 and 7 are the strong backbeats in any song, if you count in 8 rather than in 4. I mean, 3 is the backbeat of the first bar in a group of two, and 7 is the backbeat for the second bar.

 

 

Great. It was a joke. A JOKE. Referring to the odd meter of many ethnic songs - 7/8, 5/4... Aww, forget it.

[Mark Zeger]

Having paid for 3 bat mitzvah parties in the past 6 years, I have little experience from the client side of this discussion. Come to think of it, I haven't made an major gear purchases in the last 6 years. Hmmm.

 

Nolights, is your trio playing the entire party or just pre-dinner cocktail party? If you are playing a cocktail party, there won't be a hora so skip Hava Nagila, etc. There should be plenty of non-dance Jewish melodies in the recommended fake book.

 

If your trio is the main entertainment for the party, follow much of the advice given especially Bobby's. For the hora, Hava Nagila/Siman Tov/Artza Alenu/etc...repeat as needed. For tempo, err on the side of too fast rather than too slow. After the dance starts, make sure someone from the party puts a chair in the center of the ring for the bar mitzvah to sit and be hoisted up by 4-5 men.

 

If you play simple LH chords off the beat and RH double the melody or simple harmony with sax, I hate to say it but see how a trumpet sample blends with your sax. Clarinet (as suggested, soprano sax is a good alternative), trumpet, violin/fiddle are traditional lead voices for Klezmer.

 

It's funny how much Klezmer music resembles to Greek/Balkan/Turkish music. They're like twins.

You're right about the similarity between Klezmer, Balkan, etc. My daughter plays in a Klezmer/Balkan band and they move back and forth between ethnicities. The highlight of their set is a Balkan brass arrangement of a Lady Gaga medley. I kid you not.

[Joe Muscara]

What a freakin' amazing forum...

[marino]

Ha ha, this is the worst version of this joke that I've heard so far!

Why? Because 3 and 7 are the strong backbeats in any song, if you count in 8 rather than in 4. I mean, 3 is the backbeat of the first bar in a group of two, and 7 is the backbeat for the second bar.

 

 

Great. It was a joke. A JOKE. Referring to the odd meter of many ethnic songs - 7/8, 5/4... Aww, forget it.

 

I know. Usually, you hear this associated to Northern African music too.

Don't get angry my friend... As i said, some laughs are helpful to tame this very oppressive weather. Sorry you were the target.

 

 

[NoLights]

Wow - this is amazing stuff. Yes, the sax guy has a clarinet, but he's pretty rusty. I bet he could dig up a soprano, though. It's just the cocktail party -- I don't think there's any dancing. It does look like the burden will be on the sax guy.

 

Bobadohshe -- Thanks! A Jewish Fake Book -- of course. We may need one anyway -- though Maine is a pretty non-Jewish place.

 

I think I can get into this. It had seemed like a pain and too much hassle (it's really hot here, too - really saps your energy). But I think this could be fun. At least, it'll be a learning experience. Klezmer -- it's not just for Woody Allen movies. Thanks!

[Mark Schmieder]

Our jazz drummer is also in a klezmer band (along with a surf band). If you need any drum-oriented vs. keyboard-oriented advice, let me know.

 

Wow, I didn't know about the Jewish Fake Book -- I'll have to hunt that one down. I have a couple of klezmer tunes I wrote that haven't been completed yet, and it will be fun to see how songs are subclassified in this genre.

[drawback]

When I was a kid the Shriners sponsored a circus which rolled into town once a year. I think they still do this - anyway - the Shrine Circus had a traveling band that was comprised of a drummer, organist, a couple of hired brass players, and ...a clarinet.

 

I never heard Klezmer music until years later - but have always associated it with that goofy circus music. Just can't take it seriously, I'm afraid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

I've never heard Klezmer music compared to Circus music, until today.

 

Don Byron is one of those cross-over artists who brings Klezmer sensibility to Jazz and Classical, and vice-versa. After years of being told clarinet isn't a serious Modern Jazz instrument, I felt vindicated when Don Byron (and Eddie Daniels) came along.

[Mark Zeger]

It's been said the opening clarinet melody in "Rhapsody In Blue" shows a Klezmer influence. Makes sense.

[drawback]

I have a hunch the circus orchestra was playing Klezmer for many of the performances - so I grew up thinking Klezmer music was circus music! It's purely associative, not comparative.

 

To this day when I hear Klezmer my mind congers up memories of crushed peanuts under my feet, clowns on tricycles, spinning plates on sticks and the smells of canvas & elephants. LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

[ksoper]

Ksoper: you do NOT want a sax player borrowing a clarinet. They are not the same instrument...

 

I know, dude. In my neck of the woods reed players play all the reeds to keep food on the table. Another way of phrasing your concerns would've been:

 

"Boy, you don't want a sax player borrowing a clarinet. :smile: "

 

 

And then we could've laughed together.

 

 

K,

 

[MuzikTeechur]

Ksoper: you do NOT want a sax player borrowing a clarinet. They are not the same instrument...

 

I know, dude. In my neck of the woods reed players play all the reeds to keep food on the table. Another way of phrasing your concerns would've been:

 

"Boy, you don't want a sax player borrowing a clarinet. :smile: "

 

 

And then we could've laughed together.

 

 

K,

 

Dude, you do NOT want a sax player borrowing a clarinet.