New cd of Yiddish theater songs from Poland; new klezmer - cabaret orchestra class held in Durham NC this summer

This has been a very busy month. I finished the first of the Itzik Zhelonek cds (click at left to hear the songs) with the help of bass Randy Kloko, pianists Aviva Enoch and Roger Lynn Spears, guitarist Ken Bloom, and Jerry Brown at the Rubber Room recording studio. You can read the ongoing saga of the search for the Itzik Zhelonek melodies (he printed only the texts) at Polish Jewish cabaret: Yiddish theater songs from Warsaw.

For the last two summers I've been on the staff of Danny Gotham's PickNBow Folk Music Retreat Weekend at the Murphey School in Durham, NC. This year's camp will be held from Friday evening July 26 to Sunday late afternoon July 28. This year Joe Newberry will join us, there will be a concert by Craver Hicks Watson and Newberry, and...

... I'm going to see if I can get people interested in creating a klezmer / cabaret orchestra. I figure if I get five players that will be enough. It will be geared both for people who've never played klezmer music before but would like to try, and people who love klezmer music already but don't get many chances to play it. Also, since my love these days is cabaret music from Warsaw, I thought I'd introduce people to the ravishingly lovely tangos, foxtrots, and other delights of the Warsaw cabaret.

Are you interested in trying klezmer and cabaret music? Contact me at jane@mappamundi.com