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Aaron Alexander: Midrash Mish Mosh
ByThen there's the textures: two drummersAlexander and Michael Sarindriving the rhythm, weaving a tighter web than you encounter with most klezmer sounds; reed player Greg Wall; clarinetist Merlin Shepard; trumpeter Frank London; trombonist and guitarist Curtis Hasselbring; and bassist Fima Ephron.
"Radical Jewish Culture" is a phrase coined to tag the music on John Zorn's Tzadik label, and the collection has offered some excellent stuff, including Steven Bernstein's Diaspora Hollywood; Charming Hostess' Sarajevo Blues; Greg Wall's Later Prophets; and Septeto Rodriguez's marvelous Baila! Gitano Baila!, to name just a few. Midrash Mish Mosh has old rootsEastern European folk music, to be specificto which it adds the bright new branchings of punk rock and Ornette Coleman's Prime Time-like free jazz esthetic.
In its pure form, klezmer has a very free-wheeling, often madcap quality, sinuous clarinet and violin lines snaking around each other with frenetic energy. On Midrash Mish Mosh Alexander has created a beefier sound with denser rhythms and a feeling of forward-moving modernity. All compositions are from Alexander's pen, idiosyncratic and quirky sounds, a Hasidic 21st Century Dixieland of sorts. Original, energetic, and different from pretty much anything you'll hear out there.
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Track Listing
Kleyzmish Moshpit; Kaddish For Carmen; Peep Nok A Mol; Balagan Balaban; Debkavanah; Yiddishe Kop; Khosidl For The Mixed Marriage; Der Rumsisker Maggid/Shema; Khosn Kalleh Haskalah
Personnel
Aaron Alexander
drumsMerlin Shepherd--clarinet; Greg Wall--tenor sax, clarinet, soprano sax; Frank London--trumpet; Curtis Hasselbring--trombone, guitar; Brad Shepik--guitar; Fima Ephron--bass; Michael Sarin--drums; Aaron Alexander--drums; Randy Crafton--rik (track 5)
Album information
Title: Midrash Mish Mosh | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Tzadik
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