New Orleans jazz often accompanies life cycle events like weddings and funerals. Folk music is closely associated with social change. Klezmer music does both.
Klezmer originated in Eastern Europe by Ashkenazi Jews. It’s a genre that can be both melancholy—usually incorporating minor chords—and danceable. On Saturday, Jan. 24, a Grammy Award-winning klezmer group will perform at The Sheldon. The Klezmatics are recognized for their mastery of the ancient Yiddish songs that are also inspired by contemporary music. TV viewers have seen and heard the Klezmatics on “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Sex and the City.” Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg, the group’s founders, recently offered the Jewish Light a preview of their upcoming performance.
Can you describe how The Klezmatics approach klezmer music?
Sklamberg (lead vocals, accordion, guitar, piano): We draw from a diverse group of musicians from different worlds and focus on songs of hope and social change. We draw on that and Woody Guthrie’s material with songs that speak to our current world situation.
You’re commemorating 40 years together on this tour. To what do you attribute that longevity?
London (trumpet, keyboards): We love finding different ways to approach the history of Klezmer. One example of something new that we’ll do in St. Louis is exploring the connection between Klezmer and Yiddish music and Crimean Tatar music. We’re always exploring history, looking at it with different lenses and shining different lights on things. It’s always challenging and keeps it interesting for us and keeps us alive in the music.
You’ll be conducting a curtain talk before The Sheldon performance. Does the band enjoy interacting with the audience?
Sklamberg: When everything is aligned, we love nothing more than putting on a good concert. Part of that is that the audience. They’re almost like another member of the band. They really do contribute to the feeling of the performance, and we definitely trade energy back and forth with the audience.
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What are you preparing for The Sheldon concert?
London: We’ll be performing a lot of material from our new album. The album title is based on one of the songs. It’s called ‘We Were Made for These Times’ and it is very topical, but positive. These are challenging times and we try to approach it seriously, but with a lot of positivity.
When you and Frank got started, did you ever envision the group gaining such fame?
Sklamberg: No, and I didn’t think we’d still be playing together 40 years later! The band came along at a fortuitous time, when there was a boom in interest in world music. It was also during the advent of the compact disc. For the first time, this Yiddish music was included as part of the larger world music scene.
What feeling would you like the audience to leave with after the performance?
London: I would hope that people come out of it feeling more positive than when they walked in, whether they know us or they’ve never even heard of Klezmer music. With the rubric of Klezmer and Yiddish music, we pack a lot of different stuff under that title. It’s a show that contains lots of different music and different moods and different energies. I really hope that we’re spreading a message of positivity. That’s very important right now.
Tickets for The Klezmatics are now on sale through MetroTix. More information is available on The Sheldon website.
