JASON
ROSENBLATT & ORKESTRA SEVERNI
Brass
Fabulous
(A version of this review is published in
the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)
Jason
Rosenblatt established his initial reputation by
playing harmonica and leading Shtreiml,
an inventive klezmer band based in Montreal. He has since branched out with
other projects including Jump Babylon,
a rock band featuring songs on Jewish themes, and a solo album steeped in jazz, blues and roots influences.
On Brass Fabulous, Jason is at the
piano with Orkestra Severni, a group
of horn players and a drummer – including his wife, trombonist Rachel Lemisch – playing a set of
original compositions steeped in klezmer and other Eastern European traditions.
Among the highlights are “Sirba a la
Oscar,” a three-part dance with sirba, hora and freylach sections; “A Mother’s
Pain,” which has a sadder motif than most of the rest of the album; and the
inventive “Chassidic Love Tango,” which adds a South American touch to the
Eastern European base of most of the music.
The album is well-named because Jason's compositions are constructed to highlight the sounds of the horns – tuba,
trombone, trumpet and saxophone – and they really do sound fabulous.
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