From the Jewish Exponent

It’s Indie and Klezmer: Perfect Together?

2/3/2005

M.J. Fine

Members of Shtreiml get ready to klez out.

Some things are too hard to talk about, even among people who are close. And some things are too hard to talk about, especially among people who are close.

In a society as politically divided as ours, it seems best to avoid certain topics. Abortion. The Iraq war. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It can be hard to admit true feelings for fear of alienating people.

In that spirit, I make this admission: I don’t like klezmer.

Now, hear me out. I’ve got my reasons. For one thing, I’ve never liked horns. (Which is not to say I’ve never liked horn players; back in fifth-grade orchestra, Sam Leiber’s trumpet playing didn’t cool my crush on him.) For another, there’s not too much overlap between klezmer and my beloved indie rock.

How often do klezheads venture out to smokey bars and sweaty basements? How often do rock snobs visit swanky theaters and velvety shuls? Not often, I reckon.

Mitch Chanin, 30, is hoping to change that. He gets a chance Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m., with a bill featuring indie rockers Mirah and the Weeds, and a klezmer trio that includes members of Shtreiml.

It will all take place at the Rotunda, 4012 Walnut St. in Philadelphia.

As executive director of the Jewish Dialogue Group, Chanin’s used to bringing different voices to the table. The Philadelphia-based nonprofit provides a forum for Jews of all political and ideological bents to respectfully discuss the Mideast conflict. Wednesday’s show is a benefit.

With a pair of sisters and a married couple on the bill, family plays an important role in the lineup.

“I am half-Jewish, on my father’s side. When we were growing up, we celebrated all the Jewish holidays,” explains the Weeds’ Emily Ana Zeitlyn.

“I enjoyed the singing very much (especially ‘Dayenu’) and slamming my hands down on our wooden dinner table along with my parents, brother and sister.”

Zeitlyn, 32, started the Weeds in 1998 as an outlet for singing her wordy jazz songs. As she learned to play guitar, she says, she began writing “spare lyrics for spare basic rock chords.” Producer Devin Greenwood is all over the Weeds’ sultry new CD, “The Faraway Flying of Broken Beating,” but the live experience is just Zeitlyn and a drummer.

Her songs are getting wordy again, and she’s getting more proficient on the guitar.

She’s also exploring similarities between flamenco and Jewish music, though the Jewish thing doesn’t end there. Take this paradox from “Trial”: “You can never really hope to make it better/When you’re living each commandment to the letter.”

“It is possible that the analytical nature of Judaism makes its way into my writing,” she says. “I feel there is never a final answer; there is always a question at the end, an opening for further understanding.”

Zeitlyn calls her little sister “a fabulous rock star.”

Few who see Mirah perform would disagree. Her soft voice and thoughtful lyrics are commanding even amid the kitchen-sink instrumentation and studio effects of her five albums; on stage, with only an acoustic guitar, the effect is even more intimate.

Mirah, 30, violates indie-rock protocol to involve the audience, engaging even cooler-than-thou crowds to clap and stomp along. Sex and longing are her most common themes, but the thread of Judaism runs throughout.

“We always had Yiddish music growing up in the house,” says Jason Rosenblatt.

Rachel Lemisch’s mishpachah includes generations of klezmer musicians. Rosenblatt, 31, and Lemisch, 30, met in 1999 at KlezKanada, a klezmer/Yiddish-culture camp near Montreal. She came from Philadelphia to study trombone; he came from Montreal playing harmonica and piano. They made music together in Shtreiml before getting married last August and settling here.

Shtreiml takes old Yiddish folk songs and Rosenblatt’s own compositions, and gives them a blues-rock kick. For Wednesday’s show, Rosenblatt and Lemisch are teaming up with violinist Ilana Sherer, who they also met at KlezKanada.

Sherer got involved with the Jewish Dialogue Group after seeing the Fabulous Shpielkehs at a benefit last year. She has high hopes for Wednesday.

“I hope klezmer fans in the audience will feel free to talk to me about music,” says Sherer. “I hope they give lots of money to the JDG, too.”

One thing we can all afford is to be more open to things that may be difficult for us to hear. And in that spirit, I’ll start with klezmer.