The two clips here — Op een Gopp above and A Chassid in Amsterdam below — are from the same concert. The show was part of this year’s Sziget Festival which is held annually on the island of Óbudai-sziget in Budapest, Hungary. I usually don’t do that, but the performance is so good and the electricity level so high that it was an easy choice. Here is a definition of klezmer:
Klezmer (Yiddish כליזמר or קלעזמער, pl כליזמר,כליזמרים, from Hebrew כלי זמר — instruments of music) is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations. Continue Reading…
This site offers a more extensive explanation.
The Amersterdam Klezmer Band seems to add elements of hip-hop to klezmer. That sounds odd. But the last half of A Chassid in Amsterdam shows that it makes sense. On a side note, the singer makes me think of Rocky Balboa’s brother-in-law Paulie.
The band’s story:
The Amsterdam Klezmer Band story started in 1996. A few boys from Amsterdam with a Jewish background got inspired by the catchy sounds of Klezmer and Balkan music and started busking. Since that time the band has evolved into a seven-member band now representing the finest amongst the Klezmer and Balkan music scene in Europe. Continue Reading…
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