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Hatzel e David Krakauer Acoustic Klezmer Quartet al Firenze Jazz Festival
by Neri Pollastri
Hatzel / David Krakauer Acoustic Klezmer Quartet Giardino di Villa Bardini Firenze Jazz Festival 2025 Firenze 7.9.2025 All'interno di un'edizione del Firenze Jazz Festival decisamente variopinta, spiccava per qualità e --visti i tempi tristi --anche coraggio la “serata klezmer" proposta domenica 7 settembre 2025. Collocata nel maestoso scenario del Giardino di Villa Bardini, che domina tutta la città, vedeva di scena, uno dopo l'altra, due notevolissime formazioni: la prima, italiana, era il quintetto Hatzel--L'ombra, ...
Continue ReadingDavid Krakauer & Kathleen Tagg: Mazel Tov Cocktail Party!
by Chris M. Slawecki
When David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg announced the release of Mazel Tov Cocktail Party! , they included this accompanying statement: “This project riffs off a slip of the tongue by a conservative pundit who called Molotov Cocktails “Mazel Tov" Cocktails. We were tickled by the imagery of a “Mazel Tov Cocktail" lighting up the world with hope and joy—instead of being a destructive force... We wanted to take traditional, old dance forms and completely recast them to bring an overt ...
Continue ReadingBird Songs, Tripping Fantásia, Real Harmony & Klezmer-Hop
by Chris M. Slawecki
Alex Bird & the Jazz Mavericks You Are the Light and the Way Self-Produced 2021 You Are the Light and the Way presents an interesting challenge for a writer. Twelve new songs by Canadian vocalist Alex Bird (lyrics and music) and keyboardist Ewan Farncombe (music and arrangements) consistently sound like new “songbook classics"--in several places, as if Harry Connick Jr. magically composed music with Johnny Mercer. Bird, Farncombe and the ...
Continue ReadingDavid Krakauer, Julie Sassoon, Maximilian Hering, Kamasi Washington & More New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
If you need certainties to anchor your life in these confusing times, purchase the latest album by David Krakauer and you'll find that there are a few things that never fail to bring joy. The same goes for the heart-warming, and leg warming, old school soul and funk that is featured on this playlist, and the compelling projects by a number of international bands which guarantee a rewarding listening experience. Wrapping things up, the latest by Kamasi Washington.Happy ...
Continue ReadingAbraham Inc.: Together We Stand
by Chris M. Slawecki
"Ever since I formed Klezmer Madness! in the mid 1990's I've been exploring the possibilities of adding funk, jazz, and lately hip-hop influences to klezmer," explains David Krakauer, an expert clarinet voice in jazz, klezmer and classical music. So, when Krakauer learned during a 2005 tour with pianist, accordionist, singer, rapper, composer and producer Josh “Socalled" Dolgin that a friend of a friend was performing with Fred Wesley, the clarinetist determined to meet the trombone player to discuss exploring potential ...
Continue ReadingKrakauer's Ancestral Groove: Checkpoint
by Chris M. Slawecki
Clarinet master David Krakauer was born in raised in New York City. As he spread his considerable chops throughout NYC's classical, electronica and jazz scenes, he became known as a Klezmer specialist but just as often appeared as a soloist or member of various symphony orchestras, string quartets and chamber ensembles alongside a head-shaking variety of artists--Tzhak Perlman, Fred Wesley, John Zorn, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, the Klezmatics, and many others. “It's been just over 25 years ...
Continue ReadingKrakauer's Ancestral Groove: Checkpoint
by Glenn Astarita
Here, clarinetist David Krakauer derives influences from life's experiences and encounters, in alignment with his East European roots. And his Ancestral Groove outfit is once again up for the occasion. He's also revered for his important role in the New York City downtown scene amid stints and recordings for saxophonist, composer John Zorn's Tzadik records label. Krakauer's line of attack is often steeped in articulate formations of Klezmer, jazz and experimental processes. Indeed, he's a gifted technician and distinct stylist. ...
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