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  • Tsuker-zis

    All About Jazz
    Sept 12 2009

    Tsuker-zis
    Frank London / Lorin Sklamberg | Tzadik (2009)


    By Eyal Hareuveni

    Eyal Hareuveni is an Israeli journalist who lives in Jerusalem



    Trumpeter Frank London and vocalist/accordionist Lorin Sklamberg have
    always attempted to introduce a fresh perspective when redefining
    traditional Jewish music. As founders of the Grammy award-winning
    alt-klezmer band The Klezmatics, they adapt ancient and traditional
    holiday songs of the Jewish diaspora into a modern, surprising sphere.

    Tsuker-zis, (sugar-sweet), their third installment of Hasidic
    religious songs and melodies, nigunim'after Nigunim (Tzadik, 1998) and
    The Zmiros Project (Traditional Crossroads, 2001)'are all exemplary
    for their vision. They dress the beautiful and touching melodies in an
    all-compassing, genre-crossing, unique blend of aesthetics.

    On Tsuker-zis, London and Sklamberg are joined by three colleagues
    from New York's Downtown music scene'Night Ark's American-Armenian oud
    master Ara Dinkjian, Psychedelic Furs' guitarist/electronics wizard
    Knox Chandler and North-Indian virtuoso percussionist Deep Singh. The
    three are known for their abilities to transcend genre and
    style. Here, they move freely between simple folk melodies and
    abstract, atmospheric electronica. They aid in spicing the sugar-sweet
    Jewish imagery that often serves as a metaphor for the divine
    sweetness of life, with surprising new tastes.

    The fourteen songs consist mostly of Hasidic holiday songs'Succos,
    Pesach (Passover), Rosh Hashana (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of
    Atonement), Purim, Simkhes Toyre and the fast days'and are imbued with
    reverential textures and a sense of communal joy and
    gratitude. Sklamberg's warm and beautiful tenor voice, combined with
    London's restrained and airy trumpet sound, introduce the original
    essence of these songs and melodies, while keeping their deep
    emotional expressiveness intact. At the same time, innovative
    arrangements manage to broaden and update messages that not only
    signify the nomadic diaspora, but also suggest a new and hopeful
    vision of a peaceful world where ancient cultures'Jewish, Christian,
    Islamic and Indian'can co-exist, blend and flourish together.

    London and Sklamberg have been working for over twenty years and know
    that more often the strength of these songs lies in careful and simple
    execution rather than in challenging and turbulent arrangements. Such
    is the case in "Our Parent, Our Sovereign," a prayer that is recited
    during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Sklamberg's straight-forward
    delivery retains its emotional power, but the arrangement, and mainly
    the distant distorted guitar, adds a doubting dimension to the
    religious text. On "The Lord Sent His Servant," Sklamberg and Dinkjian
    present the Ashkenazi song as a duet, but relocate it from its
    East-European origin to an imaginary Middle-Eastern territory.

    This beautiful project is the most successful in London and
    Sklamberg's nigunim series; a delight in the sweeping authenticity of
    its songs and the imaginative creativity of its arrangements.

    Frank London / Lorin Sklamberg at All About Jazz.
    Visit Frank London / Lorin Sklamberg on the web.


    Track listing: A Sukkah of Branches; Blessings Without End; Our Life
    is Sugarsweet; Our Parent, Our Sovereign; Increase our Joy; The Days
    Between #1; The Lord Sent His Servant; The Days Between #2; Heed Not
    the Accuser!; Elijah the Prophet Bought a Red Cow; Greeks Gathered
    Against Me (Intro); Greeks Gathered Against Me; Mighty, Blessed,
    Great, Prominent, Glorious, Ancient, Meritorious, Righteous, Pure,
    Unique, Powerful, Learned, King, Enlightened, Exalted, Brave,
    Redeemer, Just, Holy, Merciful, Almighty, Omnipotent is Our God; One,
    Two, Three, Four.


    Personnel: Frank London: trumpet, alto horn, flugelhorn, harmonium;
    Lorin Sklamberg: vocals, accordion; Knox Chandler: guitar,
    electronics; Ara Dinkjian: oud, saz; Deep Singh: tabla, dholki.


    Style: Latin/World
    Published: September 12, 2009

    http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php? id=34078
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