New Orleans jazz often accompanies life cycle events like weddings and funerals. Folk music is closely associated with social change. Klezmer music does both.
Klezmer originated in Eastern Europe by Ashkenazi Jews. It’s a genre that can be both melancholy—usually incorporating minor chords—and danceable. On Saturday, Jan. 24, a Grammy Award-winning klezmer group will perform at The Sheldon. The Klezmatics are recognized for their mastery of the ancient Yiddish songs that are also inspired by contemporary music. TV viewers have seen and heard the Klezmatics on “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Sex and the City.” Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg, the group’s founders, recently offered the Jewish Light a preview of their upcoming performance.
Can you describe how The Klezmatics approach klezmer music?
Sklamberg (lead vocals, accordion, guitar, piano): We draw from a diverse group of musicians from different worlds and focus on songs of hope and social change. We draw on that and Woody Guthrie’s material with songs that speak to our current world situation.
You’re commemorating 40 years together on this tour. To what do you attribute that longevity?…