Review: Hodu

Review: Hodu
PHP

There seems to be a growing number of Jewish bands these days, and I find that to be very encouraging. One of these new groups is PHP, who has released their debut album, Hodu. PHP has a contemporary sound and a good range of material in both Hebrew and English. Their music is enjoyable and inspirational.

The opening song is Hema, a Hebrew song that has a great groove, slightly Reggae. The lyrics and vocal harmonies are great, and they bring in some very nice touches, such as flute, a horn section, a ripping guitar solo, and a very cool keyboard sound.

Malchus is another great song, featuring a horn section break, and a trombone solo at the end. As a trumpet player, I really enjoy the blend of the horns with the guitars and keyboard. A good arranger can use this to great effect, and it shows here.

Waiting is my favorite track on the album. Beyond the nice vocals and English lyrics, the musicianship of the band really shows with some tasty acoustic guitar at the beginning and end, acoustic piano in a jazz style that reminds me of Dave Grusin, a nice synth string section, and innovative percussion. The chorus has a nice hook. I found myself unable to resist singing along.

I was, however, a bit disappointed with the title track, Hodu. Another Reggae-influenced song, I found it repetitive, with a lack of excitement in the vocals. There is some nice electric guitar, though. I’m just not sure why this was selected as the title track.

PHP gets back in the groove, though, with a very good song, Shiru Lo. I found it to be the best vocal arrangement on the album with a nice backing vocal harmony. Nice instrumental work, too, especially the Keyboard solo. And the wind sound at the beginning and end adds a feeling of lonely desolation.

A-minor Nigun is unique among these songs. I haven’t heard a nigun that grooves as well as this. The vocal harmonies and horn arrangement add a sense of joy to the great melody. And there are some great guitar solos.

Yedid Nefesh and Yik’raini round out the vocal tunes. Both are nice songs that give us more of that great PHP sound.

There are two instrumental tracks, Hallway Jam and Cabin Jam (& Hidden Track). Hallway Jam is a fine interlude between the vocals and is a change of pace for PHP. It has an acoustic folk song quality with some talented guitar and percussion work, as well as a rainstick (always a nice touch). Cabin Jam, on the other hand, has a real open jam feel to it, and is very listrenable. I love this sort of thing, and wish it could have gone on longer. Hidden Track is a short, fun bit. I won’t give it away, but it’s definitely worth listening to.

On the technical side, I was very impressed with the engineering and production quality of Hodu. The mix is great, with the vocals nicely balanced and the instrumentals clean and distinct. It sounded great on my home theater setup as well as on headphones, earbuds, and small speakers.

As I have only the AAC files and album cover art, I don’t have the full album credits or song details. And I couldn’t find these on the PHP website. Only the band members are listed there-

Pinny Farkas ~ Drums; Payis
Doni Joszef ~ Rhythm Guitar; artwork
Aryeh Kunstler ~ Bass; Vocals
Ahron Rosenthal ~ Guitar; Lead Vocals

I like PHP very much and highly recommend Hodu to anyone with an interest in their Jewish Jam style. It’s a wonderful debut for them and I look forward to hearing more from these rising stars.

Keith Wolzinger
Klezmer Podcast

Hodu
PHP Sameach Records
2008

Link:
PHP

Review: Spice It Up!

Review: Spice It Up!
Red Hot Chachkas

Spice It Up! is the second release by Red Hot Chachkas, of the San Francisco Bay area. The group has an eclectic sound with truly inventive arrangements of both traditional and original works. Many of the songs are composed or arranged by the band members. Some songs defy classification. They can be a blend of styles that merge into a wonderful sound that is a refreshing listening experience. All of the tracks are outstanding, but here are the the ones that really struck me.

Kostanowsky’s Sher No. 4 is a traditional sher dance that sets the tone for the album and is a jumping-off point for all that follows.

What happens when you combine Reggae with a nice Chosidl? The result is Barbara Speed’s Chosidl Diddle, which gives a new perspective on the traditional dance style. It works very well here, and the rhythm adds energy to this nice tune.

Speed gives us another great offering in Stomp It Up, a song that starts out as a Bulgar by the Clarinet, then changes to Bluegrass by the fiddle, with a nice clarinet/fiddle duet, and a somewhat Zydeco Accordion. There is a short open solo section, then we are taken through the cycle again for the finish. It’s a wonder how much music can be packed into two and a half minutes!

In a return to traditional dance, Tanz Medley is a great example of the band’s Klezmer roots. Beckerman’s Hora, Belf’s Chosidl, and Pedotser’s Tants make up this set, with some creative drumming by Michael Arrow in the middle section. Time to get up and dance!


Little Gouda is my favorite track on the album. It has a little bit of everything. It starts with a melancholy Bass solo, then the Violin takes over the melody in a slow Hora tempo, followed by the Clarinet. The song then takes a fast tempo, and runs away with a bluegrass-style Fiddle/Clarinet duo. A transition to a Bulgar gives us room for solos by the Accordion, Clarinet, and Violin. Then everyone comes back in for a high-energy finish. This is a great showcase for the Chachkas.

Cholent is more progressive in style, a free improv by the Viola and Sax. It creates an interesting mood, and show’s the group’s versatility.

A pleasant surprise is when the Chachkas turn Barbara Speed loose with her Flute on Sholom and beautiful Alto Flute on Son Kuslar, the latter a Turkish-inspired offering that is a real gem.

Shofar is another Hora, but this one comes across with an Irish feel. It’s a lovely tune, and I think the style is great and shows another side of the group.

The last track, Rocky Hora, is my favorite song title (though it has nothing in common with the similar-titled movie). This is an extended piece, at just over nine minutes, and is a great solo vehicle for the band members. The band shifts gears again, switching the instrumentation to Sax, Electric Violin, Accordion, and Electric Mandolin. The piece is a bit edgier than the others, and is a great closer for the album. Just when I thought I’d heard all that the band has to offer, they surprise yet again.

The CD package includes descriptions of each song and some nice photos of the band members. If you choose to download the tracks instead, the same information can be found on the band’s website.

The recording quality and mix is excellent, sounding equally vibrant on earbuds and in my home theater. As they claim from the liner notes: “Everything on this CD was recorded live in the studio, with no overdubs or patches.” It takes great musicianship to do that, and it shows. My only complaint would be that there’s a bit too much room ambience on the clarinet.

With 18 tracks and over 72 minutes of music, you really get your money’s worth from the album. To sum up, this is a terrific recording by a top notch group. If you’re ready for a wide-ranging adventure in Klezmer, you should give the Red Hot Chachkas a listen. They really know how to Spice It Up!

Keith Wolzinger
Klezmer Podcast

Spice It Up!
Red Hot Chachkas
2007

Links:
Red Hot Chachkas
RHC On MySpace

Review: Sheynville Express

Review: Sheynville Express
Sisters Of Sheynville

Sheynville Express is the new release from Sisters Of Sheynville, the all-female Yiddish Swing-Klez group from Toronto. SOS, as they refer to themselves, bases their vocal style on the recordings of the Barry Sisters. But to pigeonhole them would be a great mistake. The sound is a great combination of a contemprory feel while holding true to the Swing tradition. Fronted by Vocalists Isabel Fryszberg and Lenka Lichtenberg, the three-part harmonies are intricate, but easy to listen to.

Probably the most inventive arrangement on the album is I’m An Old Cow Hand. Yes, it’s the old Western-style tune you may be familiar with, but they’ve added Jewish lyrics. “I’m an old cow hand from Bathurst and Grand” is a reference to a Jewish neighborhood in Toronto. After the second verse the song goes from a western swing into a German Goldenshteyn Bulgar, then to a latin clave, then a Western movie theme, and back to swing. I like the changing styles. Along with the new lyrics, this song covers a lot of territory.

Then there’s the Yiddish classic Chiribim. A favorite song for many, the middle section is infused with great jazz solos by Saxophonist Jane Fair and Pianist Fern Lindzon. Lindzon also provides the third vocal harmony on the album.

I must mention the outstanding rhythm section of Fern Lindzon on piano, Rachel Melas on Bass, and Lorie Wolf on Drums. These ladies are terrific! They shift between swing, bulgar, latin, and contemporory jazz with ease and absolutely nail each style.

The group is rounded out by the horns with Kinneret Sagee on clarinet, and guests Jane Fair on Sax and Rachel Lemisch on Trombone. They have a great sound, and Sagee’s Clarinet evokes the time of many of these songs, when Benny Goodman and Woody Herman were in their heyday.

While these songs are a combination of English and Yiddish, there is one absolute gem among them. Zivot je jen nahoda is a great song that starts in English, but comes around again in Czech, the native tongue of Lichtenberg. To hear this in three-part harmony is unusual and exciting. It’s clear the language is not easy to pronounce. I tried to sing along, but I almost hurt myself. (Not really, but I think I need some Czech lessons.)

Blues Stay Away From Me is a lovely change of pace as a slower song, as is Halfmoon, an original by Isabel Fryzsberg, done in a similar style

Another pleasant surprise is Lichtenberg’s arrangement of Sheyn vi di Levone, a well-known Yiddish swing song. This time it is done at a halftime tempo, which allows SOS to bring out more nuance, giving the song a very different feeling.

For Klezmer lovers there is A Vaybele a Tsnie, a Freylachs that is high energy and makes you want to get up and dance.

The album also includes such classics as Ketsele Broyges, Yidl Mitn Fidl, Di Grine Kuzine, and Ooh, Mama!. These are all very well done and enjoyable to listen to. This is what makes Yiddish really swing!

The last song, Ay, Ay, Hora, is a great closer. It is in a fast two and gives a last taste of the great SOS sound.

Speaking of the SOS sound, the recording and engineeering quality on the album is outstanding. Every vocal and instrument is clear and well-defined, and the mix sounds great on everything from earbuds to my home theater. Much credit goes to Producer Eric Stein, of Beyond The Pale and the Ashkenaz Festival, for bringing out the best the group has to offer.

I really liked the musical arrangements of Fern Lindzon, who has a great understanding of the varied musical styles on the album. The vocal arrangements by Lenka Lichtenberg are wonderful as well, highlighting the vocal talent of these gifted singers.

The 16-page CD booklet is nicely laid out, with both Yiddish and English lyrics and plenty of photos. One of the pages is about the concept for the album and the background of the band.

While these ladies are not really sisters, and there is no place called Sheynville (they say it is really a special place in their hearts and minds), the music here is genuine and impassioned. It left me wanting more. So stamp my passport, I’m hopping on the Sheynville Express!

Sheynville Express
Sisters Of Sheynville
2007

Keith Wolzinger
Klezmer Podcast

Links:
Sisters Of Sheynville
SOS On MySpace

Review: Budowitz Live

Review: Budowitz Live
Budowitz

Budowitz Live is the latest release from Budowitz, a klezmer group that brings new life to the music of the Eastern European Jews. I first became aware of Budowitz in 2001, but it was only recently that I took the next step and became seriously interested in the the group and the truly wonderful music that they bring to the world.

The group is fronted by Josh Horowitz (Tsimbl/Accordion) and Cookie Segelstein (Violin) who together wrote most of the arrangements on the album. They are joined by Christian Dawid, a favorite Clarinet player of mine, and string players Tamas Gombai, Sandor Toth, and Zsolt Kurtosi. Some of the songs are original compositions, but blend completely into the soundscape that Budowitz so ably lays out for us.

The 2-disc set is taken from live performances in Switzerland and is organized into suites from ten geographic regions of Eastern Europe, including Mogiolev, birthplace of my paternal grandfather. I find it particularly helpful to regionalize these songs, as there is a clear distinction between the musical styles and emotional impact these songs convey, based on the locality of the people who originated them. Budowitz takes us on tour with them through the villages and countryside of these areas, evoking a strong sense of place and community from each song.

You know, being slightly Geekish, I always have to say something about the quality of the sound. For those of you who opt to get the CD, or a high-quality download, you’re in for something special. This has to be one of the most pristine live recordings I’ve heard. Live recordings can be dicey, especially when using two venues for the performances. Budowitz assembled a first rate team for recording, mixing, editing, and mastering this intricate material. The mix sounded great on computer speakers, earbuds, and my home stereo. But, when I tried it on my home theater system and switched to the DTS Neo:6 mode and listened in 6.1 surround, I felt like I was in the front row of the concert. Trust me, give it a try!

Finally, I want to mention the 12-page insert booklet that comes with the CD package. Produced by Horowitz and Segelstein, the booklet does not contain lengthy “liner notes”, but rather, short descriptions of each song, stating its purpose and origin. That’s enough for me. We don’t all have to be musicologists to enjoy great music. We also are treated to four pages of a photo collage that give us a glimpse into the life of the group while on tour (plus what appears to be some klezmer-loving pets!).

What more can I say? I’m a brass player, but I love this album. If you are into string/tsimbl/accordion style klezmer you will love the authentic feel and presence this album delivers. I highly recommend you make room on your shelf or hard drive for Budowtitz Live!

Budowitz Live
Budowitz
Golden Horn Records
2007


Keith Wolzinger
Klezmer Podcast


Links:

Budowitz

Golden Horn Records

Klezmer Podcast