King of the Klezmer Clarinet

Amazon.com
These days the New York City jazz scene is filled with klezmer-influenced musicians: guys like John Zorn and David Krakauer, who learn the minor-keyed melodies of their Jewish grandparents and subsequently tear it to pieces, driving forward while also looking back. There's just something magical about klezmer: it's all about energy and swing, but it's also (almost always) tinged with sadness. Which brings us to Naftule Brandwein. Brandwein was unique back in the '20s and '30s (he'd be unique now, too), a legendary self-promoter, drinker, gambler, but--most of all--player. Unlike that of Dave Tarras, the delicate and couth klezmer artist we all remember, Brandwein's music is loud and sweeping; he's a powerhouse on the clarinet. Rumor has it he played with his back to the crowd (à la Miles Davis) because he didn't want the competition stealing his moves. Decades later the jazz underground has. This is an essential album in the Yiddish-American musical canon and a gorgeous reissue of a musical genius. --Jason Verlinde

King of the Klezmer Clarinet,Naftule Brandwein,Rounder Select,Int'l & World Music,Jewish,Jewish: Trad. & Klezmer,Pop,World Music

Average customer rating: Naftule Brandwein -- Troubled genius Mazl Tov! AVERAGE Nothing like this in the world This is THE collection if you're seriously studying Klezmer

The King of the Klezmer Clarinet Naftule Brandwein Manufacturer: Rounder Select ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Jewish & Yiddish Music | Folk | Styles | Music Klezmer | Folk | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Rounder Records | Specialty Stores | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Yiddish-American Klezmer Music 1925-1956 Klezmer King Jews With Horns Tanz! With Dave Tarras and the Musiker Brothers Itzhak Perlman - Live in the Fiddler's House ASIN: B0000002U0 Release Date: 1997-01-14

Tracks:

1. Heiser Bulgar
2. Be Happy, Jews
3. Der Terkisher-Bulgar Tanz
4. Kolomeika (Ukrainian Dance)
5. Naftule Plays For The Rabbi
6. Nifty's Freilach
7. Oh Daddy, That's Good!
8. Der Terk In America
9. Where Were You Before Prohibition?
10. The Dearest One In Bukovina
11. Der Heisser (Tartar Dance)
12. Hora With Onions
13. Returning From The River
14. Long Live Palestine
15. The Rabbi's Disciple
16. Der Yid In Jerusaleim
17. Bulgar Ala Naftule
18. Little Princess
19. Turkishe Yalle Vey Uve
20. Naftule, Play It Again
21. Araber Tanz
22. Nifty's Own
23. Fifteen Years Away From Home (Russian Dance)
24. Where There Are Two, Naftule Is The Third
25. Happy Holiday

Amazon.com

These days the New York City jazz scene is filled with klezmer-influenced musicians: guys like John Zorn and David Krakauer, who learn the minor-keyed melodies of their Jewish grandparents and subsequently tear it to pieces, driving forward while also looking back. There's just something magical about klezmer: it's all about energy and swing, but it's also (almost always) tinged with sadness. Which brings us to Naftule Brandwein. Brandwein was unique back in the '20s and '30s (he'd be unique now, too), a legendary self-promoter, drinker, gambler, but--most of all--player. Unlike that of Dave Tarras, the delicate and couth klezmer artist we all remember, Brandwein's music is loud and sweeping; he's a powerhouse on the clarinet. Rumor has it he played with his back to the crowd (à la Miles Davis) because he didn't want the competition stealing his moves. Decades later the jazz underground has. This is an essential album in the Yiddish-American musical canon and a gorgeous reissue of a musical genius. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Naftule Brandwein -- Troubled genius.......2007-02-22

Naftule Brandwein was one of the pioneers of American klezmer music. A brilliant clarinetist but so paranoid of being copied that he often played with his back to the audience. Even so, his musical genius is brilliantly presented in this compilation disc remastered from cleaned-up 78's. Don't miss this collection.

Mazl Tov!.......2007-01-13

The recordings are old and are perhaps typical of the day but Naftule shines through. Here are some of the wildest runs on a clarinet you will ever hear. Absolute genius!

AVERAGE.......2006-06-29

I am looking for a CD better than Klezroym, but I haven't found it yet.

Nothing like this in the world.......2003-10-05

Naftule Brandwein is the greatest clarinettist I've heard in my life. Klezmer music is obviously not for everyone, but I believe any musician, and certainly any clarinettist, ought to hear the unbelievable sounds and effects that Brandwein elicited from his instrument--much more varied and inspired, in my view, than what you hear from Dave Tarras, the Klezmer clarinettist to whom Brandwein is most often compared. Just listen to some of the excerpts that Amazon lets you hear on this page, and see if you're not tempted to buy this CD. Tarras sounds like a human being playing a clarinet; Brandwein sounds like he's from another world.

Unfortunately, like most mainstream music lovers, I had not even heard of Brandwein until recently, and the liner notes explain that his unpleasant temperament, combined with his inability to read music, had a lot to do with the frustrations of his career. That makes this CD especially valuable: it's not easy to find this music anywhere else. (Two recordings on this CD can also be found in the collection called Music from the Yiddish Radio Project, ASIN: B000060P7J.)

This is THE collection if you're seriously studying Klezmer.......2003-10-04

Ok, not everyone is actually "studying" klezmer music. If you want the clearest recordings, buy a modern CD from the San Francisco Klezmer Experience, Budowitz, Brave Old World, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Joel Rubin, etc.

If you want to learn from a master (kind of like all jazz players should be listening to Charlie Parker, Miles and Coltrane), then you must have this collection. It has the greatest hits (or maybe every recording) of Brandwein, who was absolutely far and away the most inspired klezmer clarinet player who recorded. Some love Tarras, some love others, but if you don't know "Nifty," then you don't know jack!

If you simply enjoy klezmer music, this is still a great album, as Brandwein is such a hot player the mono-78 sound quality is worth listening through. Actually, compared to the 78's from which we used to have to transcribe in the 80's and 90's, this is a really super clean sound. But there is still some static, so don't be surprised.

Oh, it's also nice to have some recordings at the end from the end of his life (when he wasn't afraid to use the lower register that Dave Tarras used to dominate in the old days). Those are at the end of the CD.

Average customer rating: Giora Feidman is incomparable!

In Jerusalem Manufacturer: Plane ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ravel, Maurice | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Jewish & Yiddish Music | Folk | Styles | Music Klezmer | Folk | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music Israel | Middle East | International | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Psalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music International | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00000AV4A

Tracks:

1. Schindler's List
2. Deux melodies Hebraiques: Kaddisch
3. Deux melodies Hebraiques: LEnigme Eternelle
4. Truat melech: Kol nidre
5. Truat melech: Ani maamin
6. Truat melech: Nigun shofar
7. Truat melech: Night Parade
8. Truat melech: Dance
9. Truat melech: A Prayer
10. Ani, yerushalaim
11. A Nigun: Moditz: Mimkomcha, Adam Rogers
12. 'Bekinor, benevel ... Zamru lo': Dance
13. Alokim eli ata

Customer Reviews:

Giora Feidman is incomparable!.......2004-10-25

Giora Feidman is probably the single greatest musician on the planet. Among the very best musicians of the past century. He was also Leonard Bernsteind all time favorite musician. I have never heard and music so compellingly beautiful and passionate as that which comes from the Clarinet of Giora Feidman. I own several of his albums, when i first heard him, I had difficulty identifying what the instrument was. He plays the clarinet in such a way that it is no longer merely a clarinet, but a conduit to a great power. You must own a recording of Gioras

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