Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 12, 2026: Klezmer Tunes and (Mostly) Yiddish Songs

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/75320.html

Theme: Klezmer Tunes and (Mostly) Yiddish Songs.

Klezmer musicians in Ukraine, circa 1925

Schmaltz & Pepper- Stirring the Pot

Schmaltz & Pepper (Schmaltz & Pepper)

Socalled with The Kaiser Quartett- Yiddish Meydl

Di Frosh and other Yiddish Songs (Membran)

Shtreiml- Sirba Amen Sela

Har Meron (I.J. Rosenblatt)

Abby Rosenblatt- Mayn Rue Platz

What’s New Bobenyu (Abigail Rosenblatt)

Jeff Warschauer- A Slow Hora for Those Who Wait for Freedom

The Singing Waltz: Klezmer Guitar & Mandolin (Omega)

Honey Novick- Di Mezinke Oysgegebn

Rising Towards the Seraphim (Honey Novick)

Beyond the Pale- Roumanian Fantasy

Routes (Borealis)

Shelley Posen- Sheyne Punim

Manna (Well Done Music)

Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band- Golem Nights

Sweet Return (Flying Bulgar Recordings)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Yeder Eyner Veys (Everybody Knows)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

The Klezmatics featuring Janis Siegel- Ich Ken Nit Zogn Vitsn (I Can’t Tell Jokes)

We Were Made for These Times (Shamus)

Roger Davidson & The Frank London Klezmer Orchestra- Dance of the Five Olives

Villages of Old (Soundbrush)

Anne Kalmering & Stahlhammer Klezmer Classic- Dire-Gelt (The Rent)

Tshiribim (Kakafon)

Brave Old World- The Band

Blood Oranges (Red House)

The Klezmer Conservatory Band- Tsatske Kazatske

A Touch of Klez! (Vanguard)

Alice Zawadzki- Karlovke

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

Aviva Chernick & Payadora Tango Ensemble- Silent Tears 

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Margot Leverett & The Klezmer Mountain Boys- Zaydn’s Tants

2nd Avenue Square Dance (Traditional Crossroads)

Mark Rubin – Jew of Oklahoma- Berish Katz Breakdown

Dispatches: Songs from a World Gone Mad (Rubinchik)

Theodore Bikel- Yossel der Klezmer

Theodore Bikel Sings Yiddish Theatre & Folk Songs (Elekta)

The Klezmorim- Af Shabes in Vilna

First Recordings 1976-78 (Arhoolie)

Nikitov- A Glezele Yash

Vanderlust (Chamsa)

Metropolitan Klezmer- Metropolitan Raisins

Yiddish for Travelers (Rhythm Media)

Sasha Lurje & Lorin Sklamberg- A idisher kvartet 

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

Michael Winograd- Tipsy

Michael Winograd Plays Tanz! Live in New York City (Borscht Beat)

Isle of Klezbos- Abi Gezunt: Molly’s Cautionary Tale

Yiddish Silver Screen (Rhythm Media)

Next week: Songs and Conversation with Judy Collins.

--Mike Regenstreif

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – January 27, 2026: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/73873.html

Theme: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked annually on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27, 1945. During the Holocaust, more than one million Jews were gassed to death at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In these times of exploding 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 systematically murdered 6 million Jews – about two-thirds of the Jews who lived in Europe. Many of the lessons of the Holocaust, and what led to it, are sadly relevant to what’s going on in the world today.

SONiA disappear fear- By My Silence

By My Silence (Disappear)

John McCutcheon- MS St. Louis

Field of Stars (Appalsongs)

Brendan Nolan- Watching Myself Watch My Son

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

Simon Spiro- Obodivke Camp (In Obodivker Lager)

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

Alice Zawadzki- The Sad Camp (Fun a Troyerikn Lager)

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

Cantor Allan Robuck- So the World Would Know

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

Lee Oskar- Never Forget

Passages Through Music: Never Forget (Dreams We Share Productions)

Madeleine Peyroux- Dance Me to the End of Love

Careless Love (Rounder)

Leonard Cohen- Lovers

Six Montreal Poets (Folkways)

Leonard Cohen- Puppets

Thanks for the Dance (Columbia/Legacy)

Rod MacDonald- Auschwitz

The Man on the Ledge (Shanachie)

Tim Grimm- Anne in Amsterdam

The Turning Point (Cavalier)

Nefesh Mountain- Piece of the Sun (for Anne Frank)

Songs for the Sparrows (Eden Sky)

Brendan Nolan- Parallel Limbs

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

Lenka Lichtenberg- Feel with Blood

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Lenka Lichtenberg- Wintry Dusk

Feel with Blood (Six Degrees)

Psoy Korolenko- Transnistrian Lullaby (Transnistria Viglid)

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

Alice Zawadzki- A Girl from Kyiv (A Meydele from Kyiv)

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

Theodore Bikel- Partizaner-March (March of the Partisans)

While I’m Here (Red House)

Perla Batalla- The Partisan

A Letter to Leonard Cohen: Tribute to a Friend (Mechuda Music)

Noel Paul Stookey- Jean Claude

Just Causes (Neworld)

Frank London with Cantor Sveta Kundish- Minutn fun bitokhn (Moments of Hope)

Ghetto Songs (Felmay)

Next week: A Tribute to Jackie Washington.

--Mike Regenstreif

Theodore Bikel – While I’m Here

THEODORE BIKEL

While I’m Here

Red House Records

redhouserecords.com/artists/Theodore-bikel

(This is an expanded version of a review published in the September 26, 2016 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

There is no doubt that Theodore Bikel – who died last year at age 91 – was one of the greatest Jewish actors and folksingers of our time. This new 2-CD collection highlights both aspects of Theo’s distinguished career.

The first CD is a compelling 62-minute set of spoken word pieces, recorded not long before he died, in which Theo – with his actor’s skill – tells stories from his long life and career. Among other stories, we hear about his relationship to Judaism, his move as a young man to pre-state Palestine, his early years as an actor in Israel and London, his move to America, his passion for social justice causes, his love of Yiddish language and culture and more.

The second CD is a collection of folk and Broadway songs – more than half of them specifically Jewish folksongs sung in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino – drawn from various sources recorded over many years. Many of them are recent recordings, which show that Theo never lost any of his ability to communicate the essence of a song, while some date back to the 1960s.

“Partizaner-Marsh,” “Erev Shel Shoshanim,” “Un Az Der Rebi Tantz,” and “Oh Freedom,” the African-American civil rights anthem Theo recorded at a 1965 synagogue concert, are just a few of the many highlights from these songs. Others include “Wasn’t That a Might Day,” Theo’s song about Hurricane Katrina that he based on “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm,” a song about the hurricane and flood in Galveston, Texas in 1900 that killed thousands of people, and “When I’m Gone,” Phil Ochs’ song about needing to get things done and living life to its fullest while we can. The album’s title, While I’m Here, comes from the refrain to Phil’s song.

Theodore Bikel accomplished so much while he was here and these two CDs are a wonderful summation.

Kudos to producers Michael Stein, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer for assembling this excellent set and to music historian Mary Katherine Aldin for her excellent notes.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif