Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday January 27, 2024

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/63707.html

Jamie Anderson- January

Better Than Chocolate (Tsunami)

Bob Dylan- Girl from the North Country

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (Columbia/Legacy)

Cat Power- She Belongs to Me

Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino)

Peter Keane- I Want You

Walkin’ Around (Flying Fish)

Nanci Griffith- Boots of Spanish Leather

Other Voices/Other Rooms (Elektra)

Iris DeMent- Banks of the Pontchartrain

More Than a Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith (Rounder)

Amos Lee- Bus to Baton Rouge

Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams (Hoagiemouth/Thirty Tigers)

Lucinda Williams- Mississippi You’re On My Mind

Quiet About It: A Tribute to Jesse Winchester (Mailboat)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2006)

Jesse Winchester- How Far to the Horizon?

Learn to Love It (Stony Plain)

Penny Lang- I Can’t Stand Up Alone

Ain’t Life Sweet (She-Wolf)

Suzie Vinnick- Raino

Fall Back Home (Suzie Vinnick)

Sylvia Tyson- No Crowd, No Show

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Murray McLauchlan- Sweeping the Spotlight Away

Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan (True North)

Isle of Klezbos- Noiresque

Yiddish Silver Screen (Rhythm Media)

Mike Regenstreif, Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop (2014)

Bill Garrett, Sue Lothrop & Shelley Posen- The Price of Gasoline

The Price of Gasoline – single (Willymac Productions)

Orit Shimoni- Numbers

Winnipeg (Orit Shimoni)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Der Binyen/The Building

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Sasha Lurje & Lorin Sklamberg- A idisher kvartet

Jac Weinstein’s Helsinki Yiddish Cabaret (Global Music Centre)

Dave Van Ronk- Another Time and Place

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Christine Lavin- The Kind of Love You Never Recover From

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

David Buskin & Robin Batteau- Lancelot’s Tune (Guinevere)

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen & Steve Gillette- Stars

The Seasons Project: Winter (Christine Lavin)

Free Wheelin’ Fools- Witch Hazel

The Songs of Tom Gala (Free Wheelin’ Fools)

Small Potatoes- The Terror Time

Time Flies (Folk Era)

Sean Gagnier- (Song of the) Wheelhouse Door

Circle Harbor (Sean Gagnier)

Steel Rail- (Just) Waiting for a Train

Coming Home (Crossties)

Bill Staines- Railroad Blues

Third Time Around (Catfish)

JackDaw- New York Central Line

Ghost in the Big House (Cutthroat)

David Francey featuring Terra Spencer- Narrow Boats

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

Amanda Rheaume- Supposed to Be

The Spaces In Between (Ishkõdé)

Ian Tamblyn- Arc of Dreams and Prayers

Scenes Through a Mirror (North Track)

Noam “Nani” Vazana- Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life)

Ke Haber (Noam Vazana) 

Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars featuring Michel "Meshach" Nestor- Unity (Carnival in Crown Heights)

Chronika (Borscht Beat)

Leon Redbone- Shine On Harvest Moon

Double Time (Warner Bros.)

Alice Di Micele- Harvest Moon

Interpretations Vol 1 (Alice Otter Music)

Zoe Muth & The High Rollers- Harvest Moon Blues

Starlight Hotel (Signature Sounds)

Taj Mahal- I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Susie Arioli Swing Band featuring Jordan Officer- Pennies from Heaven

Pennies from Heaven (Justin Time)

Jay McShann with Johnnie Johnson- Kansas City (Revisited)

Goin’ to Kansas City (Stony Plain)

Ian & Sylvia- Handsome Molly

Ian & Sylvia (Vanguard)

Mustard's Retreat- Gather the Family

By Request (Yellow Room)

Hank Woji featuring Jaimee Harris- I’ll Be Here in the Morning

Highways, Gamblers, Devils and Dreams (KZRecords)

Mike Regenstreif & Marc Nerenberg (2009)

Marc Nerenberg- Come By Here

Lies, Butterflies, and Tyrants (Marc Nerenberg)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on February 24. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday November 22, 2022: Songs for Holocaust Education Month

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/58421.html

Theme: Songs for Holocaust Education Month.

November is Holocaust Education Month and in these times of rising antisemitism and other forms of racism and hatred, it’s important for us to pause and remember the lessons of the Holocaust when Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe.

John McCutcheon- Second Hand

Leap! (Appalsongs)

Janis Ian- Tattoo

Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection (Rude Girl)

Tom Paxton- Train for Auschwitz

The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Rod MacDonald- Auschwitz

The Man on the Ledge (Shanachie)

Meghan Hone- No Art

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Waiting at the end of an alley

Thieves of Dreams (Six Degrees)

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Art of Time Ensemble featuring Sarah Harmer- Dance Me to the End of Love

Songs of Leonard Cohen Live (Art of Time Recordings)

Chuck Brodsky- Warsaw in May

Them and Us (Chuck Brodsky)

Aviva Chernick & Payadora Tango Ensemble- Silent Tears

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Lenka Lichtenberg & Payadora Tango Ensemble- A Victim of Mengele

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Olga Mieleszczuk & Payadora Tango Ensemble- Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn/Buried Underground

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango

Brendan Nolan- Kissing the Wall

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Dave Curley- Mr. Sugihara’s Eyes

Beneath White Stars: Holocaust Profiles in Song (AlmondSeed Media)

Tim Grimm- Anne in Amsterdam

The Turning Point (Cavalier)

Psoy Korolenko- Babi Yar

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Sophie Milman- Tulchin

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II (Six Degrees)

Frank London & Cantor Sveta Kundish- Minutn fun bitokhn

Ghetto Songs (Felmay)

Adrienne Cooper & Zalmen Mlotek- Yid du partizaner (Jew, Partisan)

Ghetto Tango (Traditional Crossroads)

Michael Alpert, Lauren Brody, Adrienne Cooper, Irena Klepfiz, Henry Sapoznik, Jeff Shandler, Lorin Sklamberg, Josh Walensky, & Alan Zemel- Zog nit keyn mol (Never Say)

Partisans of Vilna (Flying Fish)

Next week: Remembering Jack Hardy.

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Tuesday March 22, 2022: Garden Songs

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Stranger Songs was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/55612.html

Theme: Garden Songs

David Mallett- Garden Song
Parallel Lives (Flying Fish)

Sharon Goldman- A Garden
Every Trip Around the Sun (Sharon Goldman)
Deborah Robins- Crows in the Garden
Lone Journey (Zippety Whippet Music)
Kat Eggleston- My Father’s Garden
Second Nature (Waterbug)
Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan- Winter Garden
Lover’s Tree (Radio Rhythm)

Ruth Moody- The Garden
The Garden (Red House)
Debi Smith- The Garden
Deep Tracks (Degan Music)

Oliver Schroer- The Garden of Birds and Flowers
Camino (Borealis)

Mike Regenstreif, Anne Hills & Tom Paxton (2001)

Tom Paxton- Whose Garden Was This
The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater) (Rhino Handmade)
Anne Hills- Gardens
Points of View (Appleseed)
Alice Di Micele- Every Seed
Every Seed We Plant (Alice Otter Music)
Irene Kelley- Garden of Dreams
Pennsylvania Coal (Patio)
Dave Clarke- The Healing Garden
The Healing Garden (Crossties)

Shelley Posen- Fork Garden
Menorah: Songs from a Jewish Life (Well Done Music)
Frpm Both Ends of the Earth- In Mayn Garten
Klezmer (Arc)
Night Sun- Gardening Song
Home (Night Sun)
Fran Avni- Down in the Garden
Eretz (Tara Music)
Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars featuring Marjana Sadowska- In Your Garden Twenty Fecund Fruit Trees
Carnival Conspiracy (Piranha)

Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- In My Garden
Morning Sun (Electro-Fi)
Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges- Royal Garden Blues
Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues (Verve)

Rosalie Sorrels & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Rosalie Sorrels- The Bells of Ireland
Report from Grimes Creek (Green Linnet)
Mara Levine- A Perfect Rose
Facets of Folk (Mara’s Creations)
Susan Crowe- I Stole into a Garden
The Door to the River (Corvus)
Brendan Nolan- If I Had a Garden
Live at the Side Door (Ould Segosha)

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen- Concertina Garden Medley
Being There (Compass Rose)

Next week: The Art of the Long Song

Find me on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday April 10, 2021

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/51567.html

Note: I was subbing for Stephen Neale on this edition of Saturday Morning. I will be back in my regular Saturday Morning slot on April 24. Steve should be back in his next slot in the rotation on May 8.

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem- Early Morning Rain
The Bold Fenian Men (Columbia)

Marc Nerenberg- I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground
On the Street Again (Marc Nerenberg)
Hannah Shira Naiman- Train On the Island
Know the Mountain (Merriweather)
Joachim Cooder- Over That Road I’m Bound to Go
Over That Road I’m Bound: The Songs of Uncle Dave Macon (Nonesuch)

Reggie Harris- My Working Bones
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)
Crys Matthews- Exactly Where You Are
Changemakers (Crys Matthews)
Tret Fure- Monuments
Stone by Stone (Tomboy girl Records)
Noel Paul Stookey- In These Times
Just Causes (Neworld)
Tim Grimm- A Dream
Gone (Vault)

Michael J. Miles- Mississippi Overture
Mississippi River Suite/Which Side Are You On? (Right Turn On Red Music)
Leon Bibb- Ol’ Man River
Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson (Stony Plain)
Michael J. Miles featuring Zahra Glenda Baker- Mississippi River Suite, Part 1
Mississippi River Suite/Which Side Are You On? (Right Turn On Red Music)
Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Jimmy Rushing- River Stay ‘Way From My Door
Brubeck & Rushing (Columbia)
Michael J. Miles featuring Zahra Glenda Baker- Mississippi River Suite, Part 2
Mississippi River Suite/Which Side Are You On? (Right Turn On Red Music)
Tom Russell & Iris DeMent- Big Water
The Long Way Around (HighTone)

Anne Hills- Golden Arms
Accidental August (Hand & Heart Music)
Katie Oates- Here in Gastonia
We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times (Hollow Reed Arts Recordings)
Dave Clarke- A Thousand Days Like This
The Healing Garden (Crossties)
Steel Rail- The Last Time
Coming Home (Crossties)

Peggy Seeger- How I Long for Peace
First Farewell (Red Grape Music)
Frank London with Cantor Yaakov 'Yanky' Lemmer- Oseh Shalom
Ghetto Songs (Felmay)
Christopher Mark Jones- Call Back Your Soldiers
Looking for the Light (Small Batch Music)
Eliza Gilkyson, Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter & Iris DeMent- Peace Call
Land of Milk and Honey (Red House)
Reggie Harris- On Solid Ground
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Dave Alvin- Bus Station
King of California (HighTone)
David Francey- Ankle Tattoo
The Waking Hour (Jericho Beach Music)
Michael Jerome Browne- Somebody Have Mercy
That’s Where It’s At! (Borealis)

Maria Dunn- Waltzing with the Angels
Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper)
Willie Dunn- Peruvian Dream (Part 1)
Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology (Light in the Attic)
Anna Elizabeth Laube- Jardim da Estrela
Annamania (Continental Song City)

Mike Regenstreif & David Amram (2004) photo: Ron Petronko

David Amram & Ramblin' Jack Elliott- Going North
No More Walls (Flying Fish)

Last Forever- Buddy’s Blues
No Place Like Home/Last Forever (2nd Story Sound)
Wynton Marsalis & Catherine Russell- Buddy’s Horn
Bolden: Music from the Original Soundtrack (Blue Engine)
Bill Morrissey- Buddy Bolden’s Blues
Something I Saw or Thought I Saw (Philo)

Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- I Like You Best of All
Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)
Annabelle Chvostek- Belleville rendez-vous
String of Pearls (Annabelle Chvostek)
The Slowlinks- I Ain’t Got Nobody
Stay With Me Awhile (weewerk)
Samoa Wilson with The Jim Kweskin Band- Me, Myself and I
I Just Want to Be Horizontal (Kingswood)
Le Chat Mort- Bye Bye Baby Bye
Roses (Le Chat Mort)

Laura Smith & Mike Regenstreif (2013)

Rachelle Garniez- Don’t You Know
Gone to Glory (StorySound)
Laura Smith- I’m a Beauty
As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)

David Broza- Night Dawn (Silver Dollar)
Night Dawn: The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt (S-Curve)
Bob Jensen- Colorado Girl
For the Sake of the Song (Bob Jensen)
Matthew Barber & Jill Barber- If I Needed You
The Family Album (Outside)
Townes Van Zandt- Snowin’ On Raton
At My Window (Sugar Hill)
Orit Shimoni- Song for Townes
Strange and Beautiful Things (Orit Shimoni)

Shtreiml- Sirba Amen Sela
Har Meron (I.J. Rosenblatt)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on April 24. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday March 27, 2021

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/51381.html

 

Michael Johnathon- Sunday Morning
The Painter (PoetMan)

Jesse Winchester- I Wave Bye Bye
Gentleman of Leisure (Sugar Hill)
Steel Rail- Flow River Flow
Coming Home (Crossties)
Dave Clarke- Until We Meet Again
The Healing Garden (Crossties)
Chris Rawlings & Anne Lederman- I Want to Hear You Sing
A Whistle, a Tune, a Song and a Dance (Cooking Fat Music)

Liz Simmons- Night in the City
Poets (Morgana Music)
Becky Buller- Woodstock
Distance and Time (Dark Shadow Recording)
Joni Mitchell- Born to Take the Highway
Archives – Volume 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) (Rhino)
Alice Howe- A Case of You
A Case of You – single (Alice Howe)
Lisa Jeanette- Darling of the Muses
Jellyfish on the Moon (Lisa Jeanette Music)

Michael Smith- The Dutchman
Such Things are Finely Done (Tales from the Tavern)
Eric Taylor- Visitors from Indiana
Eric Taylor (Watermelon)
David Olney- Jerusalem Tomorrow
The Stone (Deadbeet)
Tim Grimm- Dreaming of King Lear
Gone (Vault)

Magpie- Which Side Are You On?
When We Stand Together (Longtail Records)
Michael J. Miles featuring Zahra Glenda Baker- Which Side Are You On? Dilemma
Mississippi River Suite/Which Side Are You On? (Right Turn On Red Music)
Ellis Paul- $20 Bill (For George Floyd)
Ellis Paul’s Traveling Medicine Show Vol. 1 (Rosella)
Michael J. Miles featuring Zahra Glenda Baker- Which Side Are You On? Enough
Mississippi River Suite/Which Side Are You On? (Right Turn On Red Music)
Marc Nerenberg- Ain’t Gonna Study War No More (Down By the Riverside)
Times Ain’t Nuthin’ Like They Used to Be (Marc Nerenberg)

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers- Blues for Yesterday
Volume 2 (Stony Plain)
Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley- Careless Love
Blues Stories (Big City Blues)
Vince Halfhide- Memphis Rounder
Vince Halfhide (Vince Halfhide)
Katie Oates- Bury Me On Beale Street
We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times (Hollow Reed Arts Recordings)
Junior Wells- Cha Cha Cha in Blue
Junior’s Wails: Singles As & Bs 1953-1961 (Jasmine)

Maggie & Terre Roche- Jill of All Trades
Where Do I Come From: Selected Songs (StorySound)
Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche- Jane
I Can Still Hear You (StorySound)
Laura Smith- One Woman
As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)
Jane Voss- Free at Last (Let Me Find My Wings)
Farther Down the Road (Ripple)

Anne Hills- Acquainted with the Night
Accidental August (Hand & Heart Music)
Dulcie Taylor- First Kiss
Rediscovered (Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings)
Annabelle Chvostek- Je t’ai vue hier soir (I Saw You Last Night)
String of Pearls (Annabelle Chvostek)
Rod Abernethy- Just Around the Corner
Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore (Songs From Downstairs Records)

Willie Dunn- The Ballad of Crowfoot
Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology (Light in the Attic)

Frank London with Karim Sulayman- Amore en
Ghetto Songs (Felmay)
Frank London with Karim Sulayman & Cantor Seta Kundish- O dolcezz’amarissime
Ghetto Songs (Felmay)
Frank London with Cantor Seta Kundish – Minutn fun bitokhn
Ghetto Songs (Felmay)
Bob Jensen- The Partisan
For the Sake of the Song (Bob Jensen)

Rod MacDonald- In Every Dream
Boulevard (Blue Flute Music)
John Gorka- I Can’t Do Crazy (Anymore)
Willie Nile Uncovered (Paradiddle)
Anna Elizabeth Laube- Sweet Boy from Minnesota
Annamania (Continental Song City)
Reid Jamieson- Everyday People
Songs of 69 (Reid Jamieson)

Jimmy Yancey- Yancey Stomp
Blues & Boogie (Cherry Red)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on April 24. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

The Klezmatics – Apikorsim/Heretics

THE KLEZMATICS

Apikorsim/Heretics

World Village

klezmatics.com

The most recent albums by the Klezmatics were the superb in-concert set, Live At Town Hall, released in 2011 but recorded in 2006, and the Grammy-winning Wonder Wheel, featuring the Klezmatics’ wonderful settings of newly discovered Woody Guthrie lyrics on Jewish themes, in 2006. So, it’s been much too long since we’ve had a new album from perhaps my all-time favorite klezmer band – in fact, one of my all-time favorite bands period.

Apikorsim/Heretics is a return to the kind of progressive Jewish cultural albums the Klezmatics were making in the first half of their now 30-year history: superb material drawn from both traditional sources and their own imaginations  matched by brilliant singing and playing.

In some ways, it’s an album of contrasts. On the one hand, there are songs like “Zol shoyn kumen di geule (May Redemption Come),” a joyous longing for the coming of the Messiah, and “Ver firt di ale shifn? (Who Guides the Ships?),” a contemplative song about God, which express religious concepts which could be embraced by the most fervently Orthodox Jews. On the other hand, there are songs like the equally joyous title track which celebrate a completely secular lifestyle that rejects all of the restrictions of an Orthodox – or even moderately religious – lifestyle.

There are also songs of class struggle including “Der yokh (L’estaca),” a Yiddish translation of a Catalan song, “Kermeshl in Ades (Party in Odessa),” whose joyous music is in contrast to the bitter subtext in the lyrics, and “Vi lang? (How Long?),” which challenges oppressed workers to rise up and overcome their chains in terms similar to those expressed by the likes of Joe Hill or Woody Guthrie.

Among the most poignant songs are “Tayer Yankele (Dear Little Yankl),” a traditional Yiddish song about an economic migrant or refugee who went to Istanbul looking for a better life only to be murdered, and “Der mames shpigl (My Mother’s Mirror),” about the realization so many of us have as we age about how much there is of our parents in ourselves.

One of the most infectious songs on the album is “Shushan Purim,” which celebrates the tradition, practiced by some, of getting so drunk on the holiday of Purim that you can’t tell the difference between Mordechai, one of the heroes of the Purim story, and Haman, the evil villain of the story – but, then, waking up the next day, Shushan Purim, with a horrible hangover. The music to the song was composed by Klezmatics’ trumpeter Frank London, while the lyrics were written by author and Yiddish scholar Michael Wex, my oldest childhood friend. 

While all of the songs are sung in Yiddish, the CD booklet includes English translations of the lyrics so there is no language gap for non-Yiddish speakers.

As always, the lead singing of Lorin Sklamberg, is a delight throughout the album as is the playing of each of the Klezmatics. As well as on the arrangements to the songs, their playing is featured on several great instrumentals including violinist Lisa Gutkin’s “Der geler fink (The Yellow Finch),” clarinetist Matt Darriau’s “Three-Ring Sirba,” and Frank London’s “Green Violin.”

Apikorsim/Heretics was released late last year but it arrived just a couple of weeks too late to claim a spot on my best-of list for 2016. But, because I only got to hear the CD this month, it will definitely be in contention for the 2017 list.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

The Klezmatics -- Live at Town Hall

This review is from the December 12, 2011 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.

The Klezmatics

Live At Town Hall

Klezmatics Disc

klezmatics.com

The New York City-based Klezmatics, without doubt one of the most creative and influential of contemporary klezmer bands, celebrate their 25th anniversary this year with the release of a two-CD set recorded at their exciting 20th anniversary concert in 2006. The current line-up of the band was joined by their former clarinetists Margot Leverett and David Kraukauer, and a stellar bunch of 24 other guest singers and musicians, to play some of the best music from their nine previous albums in what really was a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza.

Live At Town Hall opens with the exuberant, joyfully over-the-top “Man in a Hat,” a Yiddish-English celebration of Manhattan, sailors, world travel and lust. Lead singer Lorin Sklamberg sings the double entendre lyrics with an elastic facility few singers in any genre of music can match. Meanwhile the band – virtuoso players all – wails in triple time.

From there we journey through a marvellous set that includes several extended medleys and suites.

Among the many highlights are four songs featuring special guest singers.

Joanne Borts and Sklamberg sing a duet on “Di Krenitse,” an Itzik Fefer poem set to music by Israeli singer Chava Alberstein. The arrangement draws on both klezmer and cabaret styles.

“Elijah Rock,” an African American spiritual which references biblical prophets Elijah, Moses and Ezekiel, features singer Joshua Nelson and an arrangement that could raise the roof on Preservation Hall in New Orleans.

Adrienne Cooper is featured on a powerful version of “I Ain’t Afraid,” a Holly Near song with added Yiddish lyrics by Cooper and Michael Wex, which the Klezmatics turned into a post-9/11 anthem extolling both defiance to terrorism and reconciliation of peoples.

And Susan McKeown, the superb Irish traditional singer, joins the band on “Gonna Get Through This World,” one of several songs drawn from the Klezmatics’ two albums of the Woody Guthrie Jewish-themed lyrics they set to music.

Other highlights include several other songs from the Guthrie project including “Holy Ground,” sung beautifully by Sklamberg with a choir of other Klezmatics and guests adding gorgeous harmonies, and just in time for right now, the celebratory “Hanuka Gelt.”

Along with Sklamberg, who plays accordion, guitar and piano in addition to his lead vocals, the core Klezmatics include Frank London on trumpet, horns, keyboards and percussion; violinist Lisa Gutkin; Matt Darriau on clarinet alto saxophone and kaval; Paul Morrissett on bass and tsimbl; and drummers David Licht and Richie Barshay. They are not just one of the best bands in klezmer music, they’re one of the best bands in any kind of music.

--Mike Regenstreif

Sing Out! Magazine – Spring 2010

My copy of the latest issue of Sing Out! Magazine arrived in today’s mail. It’s the Diamond Anniversary issue of the most venerable of folk music publications. I’ve been honoured to be one of the contributing writers for about half of Sing Out’s 60 years (and a subscriber for a fair bit longer). It remains an essential read for anyone interested in folk music. Congratulations to Sing Out! editor Mark Moss and everyone else connected to the magazine.

As usual, this issue of Sing Out! has a bunch of my CD reviews including:

Beyond the Pale- Postcards
Guy Clark- Somedays the Song Writes You
Stevie Coyle- Ten in One
Caroline Herring- Golden Apples of the Sun
James Keelaghan- House of Cards
Kris Kristofferson- Closer to the Bone
Frank London & Lorin Sklamberg- Tsuker-zis
Corb Lund- Losin’ Lately Gambler
Maria Muldaur- Maria Muldaur and Her Garden of Joy
Nathan Rogers- The Gauntlet
Tom Russell- Blood and Candle Smoke

Sadly, there’s also an obituary I wrote about my old friend Kate McGarrigle.

--Mike Regenstreif

Frank London & Lorin Sklamberg -- Tsuker-zis

 
Frank London & Lorin Sklamberg
Tsuker-zis
Tzadik
tzadik.com

(This review was published in the September 7, 2009 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

Frank London – who plays trumpet, alto horn, flugelhorn and harmonium – and singer-accordionist Lorin Sklamberg have been mainstays of the Klezmatics, one of the most essential bands of the klezmer revival, since the group’s inception more than two decades ago.

London and Sklamberg are both musically active in groups and collaborations beyond the Klezmatics and this is the third in a series of the pair’s collaborations on religious songs they’ve adapted from various Chassidic traditions. The first, Nigunim, focused on wordless melodies, while the second, The Zmiros Project, with keyboardist Rob Schwimmer, was Sabbath songs. Tsuker-zis adapts songs and prayers associated with specific holidays and festivals including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover and Chanukah.

London and Sklamberg use a remarkably diverse musical palette in these adaptations. You can hear the influence of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in London’s playing on their deeply contemplative version of “Our Parent, Our Sovereign (Ovinu Malkeynu),” from the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgies. A joyous Passover song with an impossibly long title, “Mighty, Blessed, Great, Prominent, Glorious, Ancient, Meritorious, Righteous, Pure, Unique, Powerful, Learned, King, Enlightened, Exalted, Brave, Redeemer, Just, Holy, Merciful, Almighty, Omnipotent is Our God,” has a klezmer-meets-ska arrangement with noisy, but somehow suitable, electronic effects.

In the best folk music tradition, these songs combine something that seems very familiar with something that is somehow wonderfully weird.

Special credit also needs to be given to the superb musicians -– guitarist Knox Chandler, Armenian oud virtuoso Ara Dinkjian and Indian percussionist Deep Singh –- who join London and Sklamberg on this recording.

--Mike Regenstreif