Jewish Music Institute

The word klezmer itself can be divided into two Yiddish words, ‘klei’ (meaning vessel) and ‘zimmer’ (meaning song). Although we know this music as ‘klezmer’, originally the term was used to describe the musician playing the music rather than the genre itself – “play that music, Klezmer!” or Shpiel Klezmer Shpiel.  Many practitioners of klezmer liken its technique to making one’s instrument ‘speak in Yiddish’ and like all folk genres klezmer has its own set of ornaments, traditional forms and rhythmic patterns.

Early bands consisted of four to eight musicians with sometimes two or more violins serving as the lead instruments. The accompanying ensemble or kapelye typically included one or more sekund fiddles (playing rhythmic chordal lines), a tsimbl (hammered dulcimer), flute and bass. By the 19th century the ensemble had expanded to include the brass instruments that Jewish conscripts had played in Tsarist army bands, but it was still led by the prima violin. Indeed, the band was often known by its first violinist’s name, and he was paid extra for the privilege.  Few of the musicians had received formal musical training, yet many were virtuoso artists with established reputations. They performed primarily at Jewish weddings, which could last from two to eight days, and at other major festivities of the Eastern European community. They played at the courts of chasidic rebbes and provided entertainment also for non-Jews, especially the rural aristocracy. They even appeared at the court of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph.

The bands’ diverse repertoire for celebrating Jewish festivities included the stately Dobri Den that welcomed guests on the morning of a wedding, the tear jerking semi- improvised solo obligato passages played during the veiling of the bride and the foot stomping freylekhs and other whirling frenzied dance tunes that went on late into the night. The repertoire also included instrumental versions of popular Yiddish folk and theatre songs and chasidic and semi-liturgical music. They were also required to know the music of non-Jewish local people and of gypsies, popular traditional dances and even some classical pieces for when they performed for the aristocracy.

With the large-scale Ashkenazi migration to America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the music expanded to encompass jazz big band influences and the clarinet came to dominate klezmer music, characterizing the Lower East Side sound.  A klezmer ‘revival’ began in the USA in the 1970s with musicians such as Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band and Brave Old World and has since grown into a vibrant global scene.

Klezmer is a core element of JMI’s activities from the annual Klezmer in the Park event in Regents Park to workshops and Summer Schools including Klezfest London. Over the years, JMI has brought the leading lights of the world klezmer scene to the UK from Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars to Brave Old World, from Budowitz to the Strauss Warschauer Duo.  JMI has also been instrumental in the creation of new klezmer bands including She’koyokh, formed at JMI Klezfest London, who went on to become one of Europe’s preeminent groups with a busy touring schedule to match.