in 2010 we were invited by audition to the International Jewish Music Competition in Amsterdam. Of the hundreds of submissions, only 24 groups were invited, and during the 14 minute first round of competition, each group had to perform the same compulsory piece -- A Glezele Yash. Most of the groups there were klezmer bands, and most of them spoke a lot of Yiddish -- neither of which play to our strong suit. So we figured out pretty quickly that if we did this song straight, we'd get killed.
So we took the civil rights background of the composer, arranged the song in such a way as to honor that, and add a little of one of our favorite kinds of music, mixed it all together and voila. When we got done, the judges just looked at us open-mouthed. Then they put us through to the semi-finals!
Hope you enjoy.
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