American Klezmer : its roots and offshoots / edited by Mark Slobin.

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Contributor:

Slobin, Mark.

Conference Name:

Klezmer Research Conference (1st : 1996 : Wesleyan University)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Klezmer music--Congresses.

Klezmer music.

Jews--Music--Congresses.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (255 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Klezmer, the Yiddish word for a folk instrumental musician, has come to mean a person, a style, and a scene. This musical subculture came to the United States with the late-nineteenth-century Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Although it had declined in popularity by the middle of the twentieth century, this lively music is now enjoying recognition among music fans of all stripes. Today, klezmer flourishes in the United States and abroad in the world music and accompany Jewish celebrations. The outstanding essays collected in this volume investigate American klezmer: its roots, its evolution, and its spirited revitalization. The contributors to American Klezmer include every kind of authority on the subject--from academics to leading musicians--and they offer a wide range of perspectives on the musical, social, and cultural history of klezmer in American life. The first half of this volume concentrates on the early history of klezmer, using folkloric sources, records of early musicians unions, and interviews with the last of the immigrant musicians. The second part of the collection examines the klezmer "revival" that began in the 1970's. Several of these essays were written by the leaders of this movement, or draw on interviews with them, and give firsthand accounts of how klezmer is transmitted and how its practitioners maintain a balance between preservation and innovation.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

1. American Klezmer: A Brief History

2. Klezmer-loshn: The Language of Jewish Folk Musicians

3. Di Rusishe Progresiv Muzikal Yunyon No. 1 fun Amerike: The First Klezmer Union in America

4. The Klezmer in Jewish Philadelphia, 1915-70

5. "All My Life a Musician": Ben Bazyler, a European Klezmer in America

6. Bulgǎreascǎ /Bulgarish /Bulgar: The Transformation of a Klezmer Dance Genre

7. Sounds of Sensibility

8. Klez Kamp and the Rise of Yiddish Cultural Literacy

9. Newish, Not Jewish: A Tale of Two Bands

10. An Insider's View: How We Traveled from Obscurity to the Klezmer Establishment in Twenty Years

11. Why We Do This Anyway: Klezmer as Jewish Youth Subculture

Sources

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-232) and index.

ISBN:

9786612762437

9781282762435

1282762435

9780520935655

0520935659

9781597344623

1597344621

OCLC:

437143904