Doyna (improvised introduction) by Shoko Nagai
 An Alter Nigun [An Old Tune] traditional, arr. Isle of Klezbos
Abi Gezunt [So Long As You’re Healthy] words: Molly Picon / Itzik Manger, music: Abraham Ellstein, arr. Isle of Klezbos & Metropolitan
Klezmer Klezmerengue adapted from Yosl, Yosl (music: Nellie Casman), arr. Rachelle Garniez & Isle of Klezbos

Shoko conjures her opening to this medley on the piano’s strings as well as its keys. The band joins in with stirring yet subdued Russian Jewish instrumental themes that build to soulful intensity before making way for a seriously swinging Yiddish vocal. This beloved tune entered Yiddish repertoire in 1938 during an all-singing routine of housework choreography with Molly Picon starring as yet another scrappy gamine lead in her second Polish/American movie feature, “Mamele” [Little Mama – for a marvelous, highly idiomatic fourth verse, watch her at the ironing board too!]. We feel she might have appreciated the gals on horns, rhythm section and especially scat vocals, as well as our party-pleasing closer: Klezmerengue mixes the Second Avenue Theater standard “Yosl, Yosl” with riffs from Dominican classic “Caña Brava.”
[Our Abi Gezunt medley and Klezmerengue are also heard in various arrangement permutations, both as studio and concert recordings, on Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos as well as several tracks by Metropolitan Klezmer.]


A bisl zun, a bisl regn
 A ruik ort dem kop tsu legn  
Abi gezunt -- ken men gliklekh zayn.

A shukh, a zok, a kleyd on lattes
 In keshene a dray fir zlotys
 Abi gezunt -- ken men gliklekh zayn

Di luft iz fray far yedn glaykh  
Di zun zi shaynt far yedn eynem, orem oder raykh

A bisl freyd, a bisl lakhnn  
A mol mit fraynd, a shnepsl makhn  
Abi gezunt -- ken men gliklekh zayn

A little sun, a little rain,  
A quiet place to rest your head 
 So long as you’re healthy -- you can be happy.

A shoe, a sock, a dress without patches,  
Three or four coins in your pocket  
So long as you’re healthy -- you can be happy.

The air is free for everyone,  
The sun shines for every single person, poor or rich. 

A little joy, a little laughter, 
 Once in awhile a drink with your friends,  
So long as you’re healthy -- you can be happy. 

09 Doyna / An Alter Nigun / Abi Gezunt / Klezmerengue

Composer: Eve Sicular, arr. Isle of Klezbos © 2003 Rhythm Media Records | BMI

“The tune is now dedicated to the memory of my Oma, Lisl Lichtenstern Weinberger (born 1907 Vienna; died 2003 NYC), though I’m happy to remember that I wrote and first performed it while she was still with us. The music begins with an Old World sensibility more easterly than the Austro-Hungarian capital of Waltz, moving with optimistic melancholy through anxiety, menace, humor, and the unexpected. The opening phrase is rhythmically transformed from a melodic hook ending which fascinated me on certain Central European 78’s, and one harmonic build was inspired by a threatening Beethoven passage. This was the first full-length musical piece I ever wrote.” – Eve Sicular 
 [Also heard in studio recording on Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos.]

08 East Hapsburg Waltz

Composer Pam Fleming © 2013 Infinite Room RPM | ASCAP

“Since I have played extensively in both Reggae and Klezmer worlds, it seemed natural to compose a klezmer-reggae song, incorporating the two feels. The minor melodies of Klezmer, lifted by the alluring lilt of the Reggae ‘bubble’ (the off-beats in the piano) and ‘One Drop’ rhythm in the drums during the verse, with ‘Steppers’ beat (‘four on the floor’) through the bridge, make this combination a perfect marriage of different cultures. Shoko's piano solo extends this mood, rising up to the trumpet cadenza finale.” 
– Pam Fleming


07 Mellow Manna

Traditional, arr. Eve Sicular & Isle of Klezbos

A terkisher dance in modal melodic vein (hijaz is one of the classical Arabic scale systems, closely resembling the Yiddish freygish mode), based on a theme within the 1916 recording by illustrious cymbalom player Joseph Moskowitz mysteriously titled “Chasen Senem.” [Also heard as both studio track & live-concert reprise on Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos CD.]

06 Revery in Hijaz

Composer: Jerzy Petersburski; arr. Eve Sicular & Isle of Klezbos

 Born into a famous family of Warsaw Jewish musicians, Jerzy Peterburski composed several tunes which helped set off the tango craze in Poland. This poignant melody was first a hit as “To ostatnia niedziela” [The Last Sunday], with a Russian recording released in 1936 as “Utomlyonnoe Solntse.” The lyrics of the 1933 Polish original describe a pair of lovers about to part forever after one last tryst. The 1936 remake tells a similar story and became a ubiquitous nostalgic classic, later featured on numerous Soviet film soundtracks, notably Yuri Norstein’s 1979 animated masterpiece “Skazka Skazok” [Tale of Tales], as well as Nikita Mikhalkov’s eponymous feature [translated commercially as “Burnt By The Sun”] and Krzysztof Kieślowski's Polish feature "White,” both released in 1994. These Yiddish lyrics were learned from an online video, as sung by an unnamed Odessan woman; alas, this YouTube version has since vanished from the Internet. Thanks to Yelena Shmulenson for referring us to this gem, and for her transcription and translation of these lyrics, which closely follow the Russian version; and to Yuri Vedenyapin, whose verse made us wonder.

ISLE of KLEZBOS live concert recording at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, featuring:
Debra Kreisberg - alto saxophone
Pam Fleming - trumpet
Melissa Fogarty - vocals
Shoko Nagai - accordion
Saskia Lane - upright bass
Eve Sicular - drums | bandleader & arranger
Recording engineer: David Merrill

05 Weary Sun Tango

Composer: Debra Kreisberg © 2013 Rock City Road Music | BMI

“Noiresque is an evocative klezmer-jazz soundscape that creates a seamless interplay between jazz 3/4 time and the traditional 'hora' rhythm. The melody and harmonic motion weave in and out of bebop, blues and the signature freygish klezmer mode with mysterious yet playful abandon.” 
– Debra Kreisberg

04 Noiresque

Words: Yoysef Kerler, music: Vladimir Shainskiy, arr. Isle of Klezbos

Professor Dov-Ber [Boris] Kerler, son of Yiddish writer Yosl Kerler, writes: “The song's text is included as a poem in my father's longer cycle entitled ‘Mayn zeyde Yosele badkhn’ [My Grandpa Yosl the Wedding Jester], which was dated by him in his 1972 edition: Vorkuta, 1953. This means that it was originally written as a poem, albeit in the style (or genre) of Drinking Songs, by a person who was at the time a political prisoner in the Vorkuta labor camp. He was imprisoned in early 1950, then in Vorkuta he first worked in the coal mines and was later [around 1953] reassigned to another physically less demanding work just 10 years after he courageously fought and was nearly fatally wounded in battle -- in February 1943 (for the latter he was awarded the ‘For Bravery’ medal, a Soviet version of the Purple Heart, I guess).” Yosl Kerler’s poem was later set to music by Vladimir Shainskiy, who became one of the best-loved Soviet composers for his many popular Russian songs. “Yash” was originally recorded in 1961 by Nechama Lifshitsaite, during Krushchev’s post-Stalin ‘thaw.’

03 A Glezele Yash

Track two from Isle of Klezbos' new album Live From Brooklyn.

Traditionals, arr. Eve Sicular / Isle of Klezbos 

This medley offers first a plaintive vocal and then a traditional ‘khosidl’ dance tune. Lyrics & translation below, as published in “Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive.” The medium-tempo instrumental chaser which follows is entitled“Chusidil #7” in Wolff ‘Nat’ Kostakowsky’s 1906 book “International Hebrew Wedding Music” (published at 310 Powell Street, Brooklyn NY).  
Ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin collected and translated this street singer’s tune in 1955 from Yankl Zipper, who had immigrated to Montreal and remembered it in Lithuanian Yiddish dialect from pre-WWII Europe. As noted by collection editors Chana Mlotek & Mark Slobin, a very similar supplicant melody is a central motif in the widely famous 1936 film Yidl mitn fidl [Yidl with the Fiddle], starring American-born Yiddish actress Molly Picon and made on location in Poland. It seems quite likely that the mendicant movie theme inspired a real-life busker’s song.

Hert zikh aynet, mayne libe mentshn, 
Ay, hert zikh aynet vos ikh vel aykh fregn do!
Ay, vi kumt es aza veytik,
In a kleynem, kleynem fidl?

Listen up, my dear people, 
 Listen to what I am going to ask you here! 
Oh, how does so much pain 
Come out of such a tiny fiddle?

02 Hert Zikh Aynet & Kostakowsky #7

Traditional, arr. Eve Sicular/Metropolitan Klezmer 
 
Kicking off with a freylekh dance tune from the wedding scene of 1932 Yiddish film “Uncle Moses” (starring director Maurice Schwartz in the title role), this arrangement also features a skotshne melody from traditional repertoire collected in the 1930’s by Soviet ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovski. [For more detailed notes, see Metropolitan Klezmer’s Surprising Finds CD; also heard on MK’s live concert album Traveling Show.]

ISLE of KLEZBOS 
Debra Kreisberg - clarinet
Pam Fleming - trumpet
Shoko Nagai - accordion
Saskia Lane - upright bass
Eve Sicular - drums |bandleader & arranger

01 Uncle Moses Wedding Dance

Eve Sicular, bandleader and drummer of Isle of Klezbos and Metropolitan Klezmer, talks about her grandmother and her musical documentary theater show based on a FIFA request and family lore. Adele Sicular was a community activist and focus for Hoover's secret FBI surveillance program. "J. Edgar Klezmer: Songs from My Grandmother's FBI Files" will be performed at Centenary Stage Company, in Hackettstown, NJ, February 12 through 15.

Eve Sicular talks about her grandmother and J. Edgar Klezmer

"When Israel Met Jenny," from the musical documentary theater project J. EDGAR KLEZMER: SONGS FROM MY GRANDMOTHER'S FBI FILES [music & lyrics (c) by grandchild Eve Sicular]. Lead vocals: Melissa Fogarty; narration: Yelena Shmulenson; spoken intro & drums: Eve Sicular; clarinet/sax: Debra Kreisberg; trombone: Reut Regev; piano/accordion: Shoko Nagai. Recording engineer: David Merrill. Bonus track featured on Metropolitan Klezmer's Mazel Means Good Luck CD.

Mazel Means Good Luck

J. EDGAR KLEZMER: When Israel Met Jenny

NYC-based ISLE of KLEZBOS approaches tradition with irreverence and respect. The soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-women’s klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. Band repertoire ranges from rambunctious to entrancing: neo-traditional folk dance, mystical melodies,Yiddish swing & retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking song, re-grooved standards, and genre-defying originals. ISLE of KLEZBOS concert footage has been broadcast internationally on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN World- Beat, and PBS In The Life, and the band’s live and studio recordings have also been heard on The L Word (Showtime), WFMU, Northeast Public Radio (Live at the Linda), and film soundtracks for Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, Esther Broner: A Weave of Women, and I Guess I’m Not Going to Get toVegas, among others. The band has also been commissioned to create a concert for artist Kiki Smith and studio recordings of Klezbos arrangements for multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Scissor Sisters. 

Isle of Klezbos

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