Traveling Show by Metropolitan Klezmer

The band’s refreshingly varied repertoire ranges from rollicking dance to ethereal trance, and from intricate terkish to Balkanized showtune to swinging Yiddish tango. Among the band's latest explorations are gorgeously arranged Hasidic-inspired tunes spinning wonder-working tales; melodies from folkloric soundtracks and Soviet newsreels; and a klezmogrified suite based on a cantorial/wedding dance interpretation of Guys & Dolls. A subtly powerful, blues-inflected original groove piece with an Eastern European sensibility comes from the imagination of clarinet/sax player Debra Kreisberg. Also included are two totally danceable and even bilingual dreydl songs gone modal, both sinuous and street beat. In addition to this disc's full-length concert set by Metropolitan Klezmer, the final tune is a studio recording, the genre-bending sultry Latin/Yiddish melange of American songbook standard "Comes Love" by the Isle of Klezbos (MK's sister sextet).

Metropolitan Klezmer has been broadcast on CNN Worldbeat, PRI's Sound + Spirit, ARD German TV's Rhythms of New York, and WFUV's CityFolk Live, as well as hundreds more stations worldwide. Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos CD releases have made top pick hits for Phat Planet (U.K.) and WRUW radio, as well as Essential Klezmer and Jewish Week favorites lists.

Featuring:

ISMAIL BUTERA (Sounds of Taraab, Balkan Brothers) - accordion

PAM FLEMING (Hazmat Modine, Radiodread) - trumpet, flugelhorn

MICHAEL HESS (Alhambra, Smyrneiki Kompania) - ney flutes, violin

DAVE HOFSTRA (Microscopic Septet, Bill Frisell) - acoustic bass, tuba

DEBORAH KARPEL (Hot Keys, Blind Witness News) - vocals

DEBRA KREISBERG (Los Mas Valientes, D'Tripp) - clarinet, alto sax

REUT REGEV (Anthony Braxton,Gloria Deluxe) - trombone

EVE SICULAR (Isle of Klezbos, Voodoobillies) - drums, bandleader

As with all Metropolitan Klezmer CDs on Rhythm Media Records, "Traveling Show" is lovingly packaged with gorgeous graphics (for the first time including photos of each band member in live performance). And as always, the beautifully laid-out liner notes booklet includes detailed descriptions of each track, with lyrics in Yiddish alphabet, transliteration, and English translation.

"OUTRAGEOUSLY FANTASTIC!! Metropolitan Klezmer has done it again! A fresh and exciting new klezmer album that needs to be in the collection of every klezmer music lover... the music for my program for tomorrow has already been selected, but I'm going to change a few things around so I can start playing some tracks from Traveling Show immediately on my klezmer program on WNWR and wnwr.com in Philadelphia. My audience will love it, and I don't want to make them wait another day to hear it! It will be on the air TOMORROW... great new addition to my playlist!"

- Barry Reisman / Program Host

WNWR, PHILADELPHIA

"I had a great weekend, some Metropolitan Klezmer band played in my living room. BIG fun!"

- Marc Nolis, MazzMusikaS Free-zine

Belgium

“great new cd... a nice Pesach gift... the band sounds great & really nice to hear such a varied rep: lots of room for everyone to shine ! ... rockin' band”

- David Licht (Klezmatics drummer)

From the album intro:

"Traveling Show" presents Metropolitan Klezmer on the road, live in concert. This is music freshly prepared onstage, with choice ingredients from all over the map, seasoned by a dozen years’ playing together and the extra chemistry of an effervescent audience. Each tune gets a helping of improvisation for added flavor; piquant ache and sweet celebration are often from the same recipe. As with the band’s debut disc, "Yiddish For Travelers," a diasporic array juxtaposes styles retrieved from distant trade routes, obscure archival vaults, and sometimes-neglected inheritance. These gems are given new settings combining levity, gravity and downright joy. Over years of travel together, the group's repertoire has also come to include original creations variegated with time-honored tradition. Cosmopolitan and anything but rootless, this roadshow features the octet at its full power, journeying outward and inward, and onward ...

Press accolades for Metropolitan Klezmer:

"Anything but stereotypical, and nothing but terrific... one of the best klezmer bands in the world today"

- Shaun Dale, Cosmik Debris

"Influences that range from old school Arabic music to Latin Jazz to Motown... not only exuberantly eclectic but also very danceable. Expect an eccentric cultural lesson from these modern-day purveyors of time-honored traditions." - J. Bachman, flavorpill

"Excellent klezmer.. impeccably arranged yet electrifying" - Richard Gehr, Village Voice

"One of the best traditional klezmer bands around... eclectic and sizzling"

- Jewish Week

"Led by drummer Eve Sicular, of Isle of Klezbos fame, Metropolitan Klezmer takes a scholarly approach to the genre's history, yet never skimps on the exuberance at its core."

- Time Out NY

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