When the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the beginning of this past May, it was not only the anachronism of Eastern Europe Yiddishkeit from the nineteenth century but also the “geographical displacement” of that anachronism into New Orleans. Nevertheless, that occasion marked the first studio album by that combo in nearly a decade. Given what is currently happening in Sinai, one might think that the release of that album, Tipish, was ill-timed; but, as a lapsed-Jew atheist, I prefer to think of its as a necessary reminder that the “Jewish state” of Israel is not always a reflection of a more global view of Jewish culture.
The fact is that, as the above album cover shows, the most important virtue of Yiddishkeit is that it is not to be taken seriously. Some of the track titles are just as convincing as that image. They include “King Fela’s Chicken Soup,” “The Detox Hora,” and “Lomir Zikh Get’n Tanz” (which is Yiddish for “The Let’s Get a Divorce Dance”).
The music itself, however, has definitely been given extensive reflection by its composer, Jonathan Freilich, who is the group’s guitarist. He is joined in the rhythm section by Joe Cabral on bass, drummer Doug Garrison, and Glenn Harman on accordion. The front line, in turn, boasts three saxophonists, Ben Ellman, Aurora Nealand, and Dan Oestreicher, joined by freilach-inspired clarinetist Nick Ellman. Hartman and Freilich share leadership.
It is now over half a century since Esquire published an anthology of its articles entitled Smiling Through the Apocalypse. Tipish serves up the sort of music that will encourage us to keep smiling, even when conditions are most apocalyptic. Think about listening to it before the Republican National Convention gets under way!
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