“I have one foot in tradition and one foot in the future. I believe an art form shouldn’t be set in amber. It needs to breathe,” says renowned klezmer violinist, composer and ethnographer Yale Strom, who will be in Phoenix to headline Klezmania at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society on Sunday, Aug. 7 at 3 pm.
Strom grew up with strong Jewish musical influences: his grandparents were Hassidic, his family sang zmirot around the Shabbat table and he recalls listening to his father’s cantorial albums. He became interested in klezmer music in 1981 when he heard The Big Jewish Band in San Diego, a band that was at the forefront of klezmer revival. Up until then he had been playing classical violin, with occasional forays into blues and folk, but thought it would be fun to try klezmer. “The band leader said basically, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ I came home that night and had this brainstorm: If you can’t beat ‘em, form your own,” Strom says.
He traveled to Eastern Europe in search of remnant Jewish music, on the first of over 75 trips to Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He met with people who had played or remembered Jewish music, and Roma (aka Gypsy) music, too. Yale began collecting and recording folk music that had been passed down through generations, but never recorded or written as sheet music. This became the focus of his ethnographic studies – and his life’s work.
Yale has explored klezmer from many angles – through writing books and plays, creating documentary films and of course, composing and performing music. In addition to penning tunes for his band, Hot P’Stromi, Yale wrote a symphony that premiered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, music for the Denver Center production of Tony Kushner’s “The Dybbuk” and the National Public Radio series “Fiddlers, Philosophers & Fools: Jewish Short Stories from the Old World to the New,” as well as numerous film and dance scores.
Yale’s original compositions incorporate jazz, classical and Roma motifs, along with improvisation. “It’s based in the tradition, but bringing it to a contemporary feel,” he says.”Some people might say, ‘Yale’s not playing that traditional piece the way it was played in 1916.’ Granted. OK. You’re right. And I would say to that person, the guy playing it in 1916 is not playing it the way the guy played it in 1816. Meaning, things change. People change. Cultures change. Time is a moving force.”
On Aug. 7, Yale and his wife, Elizabeth, will play a set on their own and a set with opening act, the Rural Street Klezmer Band, a group of local musicians based out of Temple Emanuel of Tempe.
Band leader and clarinetist Chuck Gealer says he is excited about the opportunity to perform with “the guru of Klezmer music.” They’ll also have some one-on-one time with Yale in a workshop prior to the concert.
Chuck describes his love for klezmer as “a way to get in touch with my heritage. It sounds kind of cliché, but it’s true. It’s fun to be able to play that kind of music, knowing that it’s part of your culture.”
According to Yale the concert will include “a nice eclectic mix” of traditional Yiddish songs, tunes that he’s collected in his field research or found in archives, and newer pieces that he composed. He will also share stories behind the songs, so that the audience will have some background and context.
Tickets for Klezmania, part of the Cool Summer Music series, are $10 for AZJHS and NowGen members, $18 for non-members. The Arizona Jewish Historical Society is located at 122 E. Culver St., Phoenix. For tickets and details, visit azjhs.org or call 602-241-7870.
