| The earliest "roots" klezmer recordings you're likely to find are of Naftule Brandwein, the alcoholic clarinetist from the old country. They were done in the teens and 1920s and are therefore of low fidelity. He really was the original American klezmer. The tunes are great but the production values are, well, low. Generally not much in the way of arrangements.
One of his famous tunes worth studying is "Der Heyser Bulgar," as it's a great exposition of the "ahava raba" mode, where the song would be written in Gm but the dominant sense is that it's in D major with a flatted second and minor seventh. This is a very common mode in Jewish music.
A couple of great recordings from the 1950s are worth mentioning: Dave Tarras's "Tanz!", which features not only clarinetist Dave Tarras, a giant of klezmer, but Sam Musiker, who was perhaps even a greater musician who played in Gene Krupa's big band; and Mickey Katz's "Simcha Time: Mickey Katz plays music for Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and Brisses". Each of these albums has all-star musicians and great arrangements, and they are recorded well.
You'll hear a lot of klezmer influences in Benny Goodman's original records from the 1930s and 1940s; many of his musicians, e.g., Ziggy Elman, were klezmorim.
A lot of the compilation/anthology records are spotty - you'll get one great cut with three mediocre ones.
The Barry Sisters' recordings of Yiddish songs are excellent once you accept the fact that they're cheesy.
For sheet music, the Kammen series are the classics, but they don't give you much in the way of explanation or history.
Last edited by AGCurry : 08-14-2006 at 07:48 AM.
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