And now, Klezmer (sort of)

As many of you devoted readers know, the title of this blog is "Adventures in Klezmer."  Many of you have also put up with my general rants about baseball, traveling, and whatever else popped into my head that I thought was blog-worthy. 

Well, this summer, I have a few concerts booked here in Germany and the Klezmer (sort of) will begin! 

Since I've returned to Berlin, in addition to finding a room to live in, looking for some work, getting set up in Germany again, I've also begun rehearsals for the aformentioned upcoming gigs. 

It has been interesting, as, for musical reasons, I've replaced three of the five band members in Euro KlezFactor.  It's never an easy process to replace somewhere, but for the first time since I've begun rehearsing my music in Germany, I feel like my musical vision is finally being realized. 

It's a hard thing to put into words. While the previous musicians were good, with the current group, things are easier.  They just understand where the music is going more naturally, which allows me to be freer in my own playing.  Another benefit is that the musicians are bringing more of themselves into the music, which takes it into different directions that it has been in before.  What this does is makes the songs (some of which I've been playing for 8 years) feel and sound new again, which also adds vitality to my own playing.

We have several concerts coming up, beginning with one on June 28th at Kaffee Burger in Berlin.  In my eyes, this is the perfect venue to unveil the German version of KlezFactor.  It's part of a Yiddish music series called KB im KB (Klezmer Bund im Kaffee Burger).  The series, founded by accordionist Franka Lampe and singer/instrumentalist/songwriter Daniel Kahn, has been running monthly at Kaffee Burger since January.  Some great artists (including both Franka and Daniel, and Vancouver's Geoff Berner) have played the series and from what I've been able to tell, they've been well attended.  The bar itself is also more of a rock bar, so KlezFactor's more heavy influences overpower the venue.  We'll unleash the full electric power (the "Kleztricity" if you will)* of KlezFactor on the unsuspecting masses.**

Also, Friday brings another klezmer jam session at Cafe Oberwasser.  Should be great fun amidst all the soccer (football) that's going on around here!

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* No, I didn't make "Kleztricity" up right now.  It's the title of one of our tunes from our first album, The Golem of Bathurst Manor (available on iTunes and CD Baby)

** We hope there are masses.