In 1984
the Yiddish Folk Art Institute was established in the US and the subsequent year
hosted the first Klezkamp - a residential festival of Yiddish music, language,
dance, art song, folk song, folk history and poetry. It was followed by the development
of similar events elsewhere in North America and Europe. These events have been
an essential feature of the klezmer revival.
Over in Europe Giora Feidman
left the Israeli Philharmonic and forged a new career playing klezmer music, winning
over new audiences and making a huge impact in Germany with his performance as
a klezmer clarinettist in a play about the Vilna ghetto. His workshops in Germany
and Switzerland inspired a new generation of klezmorim in Europe - both Jews and
gentiles. This European revival was further encouraged by US klezmer groups coming
over to Europe to tour.
In England, one of the first signs of the revival
was an event which accompanied the 1987 Anne Frank exhibition in Sheffield, a
klezmer concert by a group of players from Sheffield and Leeds. This was followed
by a series of local workshops for young people and adults led by Ray Kohn and
several day workshops. These supported the development of klezmer bands elsewhere
in the North of England. Further national workshops in Sheffiled and Leeds led
to the establishment of a network of klezmer enthusiasts, a newsletter and then
a website.
By the early 1990s bands
such as Burning Bush (formed by singer and broadcaster Lucie Skeaping) and Gregory
Schechter's Klezmer Festival Band were successfully performing in concert, on
radio and tv.
The Jewish Music Distribution became a useful source of recordings
and books and the Jewish Music Institute (JMI) was established at London University's
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Merlin Shepherd (of Burning Bush,
then Budowitz) led the way in teaching klezmer in the traditional way at workshops
around the country and led the teaching of klezmer at the first JMI Klezfest in
London in 2001. As well as providing an environment for learning klezmer, dancing,
Yiddish language, song and culture, the annual London Klezfests are an opportunity
to hear top musicians from around the world and provide a showcase for the 'next
generation' of klezmorim.
The last 20 years has seen a growth of bands playing
and recording a whole range of klezmer music - some aim to recreate the sound
of late 19th century klezmorim, others show influences of jazz, rock and other
musical traditions, some include sephardic music, others include Yiddish song
(both traditional and new compositions). Klezmer music is heard in films and theatres
as well as on radio and t.v., it is again played at weddings, barmitzvahs and
other simchas.
Yale Strom describes the new generation of klezmorim as bale
kulturniks (Yiddish for owner or master of culture) rather than revivalists, meaning
those who are returning to a culture and transmitting it to others. He describes
5 generations or waves of klezmorim in the US. The first were those who were born
and trained in Eastern Europe before World War II, their recordings and music
form a core repertoire for the following generations. The second generation were
those who were US born or came there as children and their music shows the influence
of swing. The third generation were those in the 1970s who learnt from the previous
two generations. The fourth generation started playing in the 1980s, learning
from the previous three but started 'pushing the boundaries' of the music. The
fifth generation began playing in the 1990s, learned from the third and fourth
rather than earlier generations but had the assistance of the many resources that
had developed over the previous 20 years. They are pushing the boundaries even
further!
Unlike many other folk musics the Eastern European Jewish culture
which klezmer came from has disappeared. Klezmer music can be listened to on old
and current recordings and learned from those who have studied with earlier generations
of klezmorim. It can be enjoyed for it's own sake as well, but a knowledge of
the background and history of the culture it comes from can make a difference
-
"The music is much more than a flat two and a sharp
four. If you can talk the talk (Yiddish) you can really walk the walk" (John
Zorn)
"The musician will bring greater profundity to klezmer if he
or she understands some portions of the history, folklore, and language"
(Yale Strom).
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