KLEZMANIA! is a contemporary representation of klezmer music. Founded in May 1989 in San Francisco by Ben Brussell, KLEZMANIA! began to professionally perform klezmer music throughout the Bay Area and Los Angeles. As the group evolved, Brussell brought in players from a variety of backgrounds and expanded the repertoire to encompass the klezmer musical experience -- and beyond. Thus began a study and performance of a genre whose deep history emanates from the sands of the Middle East.
Brussell’s exploration into klezmer revealed to him a dense network of musical and historical roots that spans over 4,000 years. This intense multicultural mosaic is the music of centuries of tribal wandering throughout the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean. His fascination and pursuit with the sounds of the Middle East he describes as a logical progression from klezmer.
Much of KLEZMANIA'S! improvisation is based on Middle Eastern and Eastern European folk idioms and is considered a continual work in progress. The influence of classical and American jazz music reflects the fusion process that continues with modern klezmer musicians. Brussell refers to the format as definitive world music. A music that inherently lends itself to the creativity of what has been and what can be, while possessing the soul of the past -- and passion of human artistic expression.
Klezmer is from the word “klezeimer,“ which means musical instruments. Klezmer music is Eastern European folk music that parallels the duration of Jewish culture in Europe and Russia. Like most folk music found throughout Europe, the melodies and rhythms of klezmer came from the vocal practice found in ancient rituals and ceremonies. Musicians would hear these inspiring melodies and songs and translate them into the every day folk experience.
Klezmer musicians were travelling performers, moving from town to town, playing at weddings and celebratory events, adding songs to their repertoire as they went. As they traveled and expanded their repertoire, they incorporated varying styles and practices in music. This “fusion” process of assimilating different styles and techniques to the music gave klezmer a continuous life of the old incorporating the new.
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