Music

YID!, a brand new 24-piece big band, will debut at In One Night.

Kicking off at sundown on Saturday 18 March, In One Night brings together some of Melbourne’s best musicians, and is an exciting, creative addition to Sunday’s In One Voice Jewish culture street festival.

YID! is the brain child of bass player Simon Starr who describes its sound as a mix of free jazz, big band and funk – in Yiddish – with a rogue element thrown in.

“YID! has attracted some of Melbourne’s (and Australia’s) most celebrated jazz musicians including Willy Zygier (mandolin, vocals), Julien Wilson (woodwinds), Rob Burke (woodwinds), Steve Grant (trumpet) and my brother Adam Starr (guitar, vocals). David Haberfeld (aka Honeysmack) and Josh Abrahams (Puretone) add electronica and vocals,” Starr said.
“Key vocalists are Gideon Preiss (keyboards, accordion), Husky Gawenda (guitar) and Tomi Kalinksi  who half-raps Yiddish poetry.”

Starr notes that most of the 24-piece line-up aren’t Jewish but they’re learning some Yiddish to provide back-up vocals.

“YID! is incredibly eclectic on all fronts. It takes traditional Yiddish folk songs and reinterprets them as a big band. We hope it will strike a chord – a big chord! – not just in the Jewish community but right across Melbourne, right across Victoria, right across Australia. YID! would be a wonderful addition to so many music festivals,” Starr said.

Husky’s Gideon Preiss says he was inspired to curate In One Night because he felt that In One Voice needed to connect more with people in his age demographic.

“Then I started to think how many talented and creative people in the community that hadn’t been involved in the past. A small – but energetic – committee put the word out and, to our surprise, many high-profile artists were eager to come on board,” Preiss said.

“In One Night will showcase an extravaganza of talent. The first part of the evening features listening music with cabaret songs from Hanna Silver & Galit Klas followed by multi-instrumentalist Yohai Cohen, who’s recently moved from Israel and is about to burst onto the world stage. When you hear him sing and play you hear thousands of years of history.

“I’ll be appearing with Husky and Evie Gawenda as The Bashevis Singers and we’ll be performing Yiddish folk songs from our most recent record.”

YID! and the closing act, Honeysmack, Preiss says, will have everyone up dancing.

“In One Night will be nothing short of a big party, a big celebration. Binding it all together will be host Magic Steven, a wonderful and much loved artist who is becoming very well respected in the world of comedy”, Preiss said.

Doors opem 8pm with the show running 9pm-1am. $10 signature cocktails will be served by Liquid Infusion. In One Night is an 18+ event. Tickets are $25.

YID! and The Bashevis Singers will also perform the next day at In One Voice. Willy Zygier from YID! will take to the stage with Deborah Conway. They are fresh from touring their critically-acclaimed new album, Everybody’s Begging, to sold-out audiences nationally.

The In One Voice Jewish street festival is presented by the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library and SKIF.

For more details and In One Night tickets, go to trybooking.com/OIGJ

 

Media comment: Simon Starr on 0497 511 124; shimsara.starr@gmail.com and Gideon Preiss on 0422 179 025; gideonpreiss@gmail.com

 

Festival Manager Judith Weizman on 0413 415 539; judithlweizman@gmail.com; www.inonevoice.org.au

(*YID! full line-up Simon Starr – bass, vocals; Willy Zygier – mandolin, vocals; Adam Starr – guitar, vocals; Husky Gawenda – guitar, vocals; Gideon Preiss – keyboards, accordion, vocals;

Alex Burkoy – violin, vocals; Tomi Kalinski – poetry, vocals; Tony Floyd – drums, vocals; Ariel Valent – percussion, vocals; Julien Wilson – woodwinds; Rob Burke- woodwinds; Tony Hicks – woodwinds; Ian Whitehurst – woodwinds; Paul Williamson – woodwinds; Lachlan Davison – woodwinds; Steve Grant – trumpet; Matt Jodrell – trumpet; Paul Williamson – trumpet; Reuben Lewis – trumpet; Greg Spence – trumpet; Jordan Murray – trombone; Ben Gillespie – trombone; David Haberfeld/Honeysmack – electronica, vocals; Josh Abrahams/Puretone – electronica, vocals)

 

Popular music group the London Klezmer Quartet is now touring Australia and New Zealand and launching their latest album.

There are three original players from the UK while the bass player is a local, in fact Melbourne-born and a graduate of the Victorian College of Arts.

When LKQ’s bass player couldn’t come to Australia when the group first came here in 2012, Indra Buraczewska auditioned for the group over Skype.
The group met her on their arrival here, LKQ violinist Ilana Cravitz explained to Jewish Australia Online.

“Though she’s lived in Latvia the last few years – we have reunited again in Australia,” Cravitz said.  An added bonus is that they also have a marvellous singer. “We discovered Indra has an amazing voice.”

Cravitz references her strong Jewish affinity as well as her long-held fascination for and interest in this traditional form of music. “[Klezmer] is soulful and celebratory at the same time; tears and happiness – you can’t have one without the other. I got into it a long time ago; working with fantastic musicians who bring it to life.”

The group also features Susi Evans on the clarinet and Carol Isaacs on the accordion and is now bringing its own influences to bear, through writing their own tunes.

Their latest and fourth album, “To the Tavern”, takes their evocation of this Jewish Eastern Europe style of music to a whole new level – featuring traditional-style compositions by the band, traditional laments, a Warsaw Yiddish theatre hit with a hint of jazz (“Goodbye New York”) and even a song about beetroot soup!

Time Out London described their performances as: “Dynamic and authentic,” while Australia’s Trad & Now noted LKQ members’ “Individual virtuosity and a superb sense of ensemble”.

After performing at the Illawarra Folk Festival, then in Sydney and Wollongong, they’re heading to New Zealand for their debut tour there, before re-crossing the ‘ditch’ for performances in Brisbane, Lismore, Nimbin, Newcastle, Katoomba, Parramatta and the NSW South Coast.

Finally, they’ll set toes tapping in Bendigo and Melbourne before rounding off the tour in Adelaide and the Clare Valley!

For a fun and entertaining time, do try to catch their memorable shows while they’re here – Tour dates below:

Tour Dates  Australia

14 Feb – 5 Church Street, Bellingen NSW

16 Feb – Lizottes, Lambton Newcastle NSW

17 Feb – Blue Mountains Theatre, Springwood NSW

18 Feb – Riverside Theatre, Parramatta NSW

19 Feb – South Coast Music Society, Batehaven NSW

21 Feb – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra ACT

23 Feb – The Capital, Bendigo VIC

24 Feb – Toddler cushion concert, The Capital, Bendigo VIC

25 Feb – Kyneton Bluestone Theatre VIC (klezmer music & Yiddish Bush Dance)

26 Feb – House Concert, Glen Iris VIC

28 Feb – Melbourne Recital Centre VIC

2 Mar – South Coast Folk Club, Port Noarlunga SA

3 Mar – Prospect Town Hall, Adelaide SA (Adelaide Fringe)

4 Mar – HATS Courthouse Cultural Centre, Auburn SA (Adelaide Fringe)

5 Mar – House Concert, Fullarton SA

 

Tour Dates   New Zealand

25 Jan – Chanel Arts Centre, Motueka

26 Jan – Fairfield House, Nelson

27 Jan – St Peter’s Village Hall, Paekakariki  (with Klezmer Rebs)

28 Jan – Meow, Wellington (with Klezmer Rebs)

29 Jan – Klezmer Workshop and Dance, Temple Sinai, Wellington

31 Jan – Lily’s Ranch House, Levin

1 Feb – The Cabana, Napier

2 Feb – Nivara Lounge, Hamilton

3 Feb – House Concert, Kerepehi

4 Feb – House Concert, Te Pahu

5 Feb – Raye Freedman Library, Auckland

 

www.londonklezmerquartet.com

Report by Paula Towers

Stars align for Sydney’s Shir Madness music festival

An exciting all-star line-up featured at the recent Jewish Music Festival SHIR MADNESS which was held at its original home in the Bondi Pavilion on September 18.

Multiple Hall of Fame inductee Dave Faulkner (from the Hoodoo Gurus), Steve Kilby from The Church, rock and roll powerhouse (and daughter of Jimmy Barnes) Mahalia Barnes were among a number of Australia’s favourite singers who performed a song by their favourite Jewish composer in one of the festival’s major attractions Song of Songs. In addition, Monsieur Camembert’s charismatic frontman Yaron Hallis combined the beautiful traditional Hava Nagila with “This Love” by US band Maroon Five. Hallis told Jewish Australia Online [JAO] that what he most liked about Shir Madness was: “The wonderful diversity of the music on offer and the quality of it.” Local legend Bernie Hayes also gave a stirring rendition of Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die”.

Other artists included disco party fun band Confetti featuring Shir Madness site director Wayne Black on drums, ARIA-nominated African-indy folk blended the Miriam Lieberman Trio, meditative new-age artist and ‘DidjeriJew’ Steve Mazabow,  Mark Ginsburg’s award-winning Jazz Band, the Sydney Jewish Choral Society – in its 30^th anniversary year, and Leonie Cohen with her jazz trio. “I love the spirit of inclusiveness in the festival,” Cohen told JAO. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate and share a wonderfully important and vibrant part of Jewish culture – music!”

Some sessions were too popular and required Full House signs to be placed – including cabaret artist Joanna Weinberg, as well as Sydney-born, now New York based Alexis Fishman – who presented her new show “Boychiks of Broadway”.

Other crowd pleasers were Klezmer Divas (stars of the documentary Pockets of Hope), classical activists Music for Refugees, the Bashevis Singers (featuring Husky Gawenda and Gideon Preis), and soulful Melbourne duo Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier.

Conway and Zygier were patrons of the Sydney festival and ran the Melbourne one last year. “It’s a lot of fun,” Conway told JAO. “It’s a great way for people who want to find particular things that interest them in the one place.” And what’s her favourite piece of Jewish music? “The Hatikvah is beautiful. I really like it. I always find it moving.” Their new album Everybody’s Begging was released on September 2, and they performed it in its entirety at the festival for their many fans.

Another popular item was Festival director Gary Holzman’s multimedia presentation Yid Rock – which revealed an amazing number of Jewish composers behind many of rock and roll’s greatest hits. “The festival showcases a lot of popular music that people don’t realise was created by Jewish composers,” Holzman observed.

Multi-lingual chanteuse Dahlia Dior charmed her audience. “I think having a Jewish music festival is wonderful!” Dior told JAO, whose favourite Hebrew song is the modern and rhythmic Yemenite dance song “Keren Or”.

A special presentation of highlights from the blockbuster hit Atomic – the Musical, co-written by songwriter Philip Foxman with Danny Ginges, was showcased, which featured stars from both the Sydney and US productions with a full stage band. “Music appeals to everyone – across gender, race, language, age and ethnic backgrounds; Shir Madness offers the opportunity to break down barriers,” Foxman told JAO.

Special mention goes to the impressive young talent – including 2016 YouthRock winners the Haze Trio, and Celine Farkash who sung sassy jazz and sweet indie and pop. Talent runs in the family – her cousin Adam Katz, who has performed several times at Splendour in the Grass Festival, presented an energetic fusion of hip-hop, R&B and pop.

It was lovely hearing beautiful Hebrew sung to a blend of rock’n roll and blues with other elements thrown into the mix by Aussie-born Israeli singer-songwriter Simon Shaw and his band from his Jerusalem Hollywood album.

The sultry Brazilbeats band, featuring Julie E on vocals and bass player Phillip Taig brought to life the infectious rhythm of Brazil, while the talents of accomplished musician Rick Melick – who has recorded/performed with John Denver and B.B. King – with his rock/blues/roots band The Self-Made Men, were really on show as was Israeli-born, Australian singer Sam Joole who’s created his own Aussie acoustic rock.

Glenn Cardier & The Sideshow also captivated the audience with a blend of rock and blues, featuring Shir Madness festival director Dave Fester on drums.

The over 30 acts across four stages meant Shir Madness certainly offered something for all musical tastes.

Review by Paula Towers

2015 hit Israeli dance
Composer: Doron Medalie
Choreographer: Yaron Ben Simhon
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=hirakrotzahlirkod

 

– Listen to the new recording
– View the dance film clip
– Learn the teaching of the dance in English
– Learn the teaching of the dance in Hebrew
http://www.jerusalemofgold.com.au

The DVD and CD package of the song and dance is available for purchase online.