Arts & Entertainment GuideJazz

Ashkenaz Festival

  • Harbourfront Centre
  • 235 Queens Quay W. View on map »
  • 416-973-4000
This biannual fest of Yiddish culture draws on the many forms of Jewish art that have grown out of the eastern European experience. Among the richest traditions is klezmer, the animated music that wails with the scales of Europe and the Middle East and pulses with the rhythms of communal dance. On its move to America in the 1920s, klezmer connected immediately with jazz, and the cross-pollination has become even more explicit with the work of New York composers John Zorn and Don Byron over the past three decades. The Sisters of Sheynville draw their principal inspiration from the harmonies of the Barry Sisters, stars of Yiddish radio in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. The group enriches its repertoire with other per­iod material, from Czech folk songs to country and blues. Aug. 31. Sirius Satellite Radio Stage. New York’s Klez Dispensers began as a student ensemble at Princeton, but it’s currently commemorating its 10th anniversary. The band’s music is a celebratory invocation of klezmer in the context of swing. Aug. 30. Sirius Satellite Radio Stage. Marilyn Lerner’s excellent piano work has always stood out, regardless of the context. Here she embarks on a series of duets with various musical partners: Yiddish art song chanteuse Adrienne Cooper, harmonica player Jason Rosenblatt, New York clarinetist Michael Winograd, and Philadelphia trumpeter and vocalist Susan Watts, as well as Lerner’s fellow Flying Bulgar vocalist David Wall. Aug. 31. Brigantine Room. Aug. 28 to Sept. 1. $10-$35. — Stuart Broomer
When:
Aug. 28/08 - Sep. 1/08
How Much:
Most events are free
Event Web Site:
http://www.ashkenazfestival....
Location

Large map

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