This is music that breathes with a human pulse, alternating between wild, foot-stomping exuberance and a deep, ancestral yearning. It captures the sound of a laughing clarinet and a weeping violin locked in a permanent embrace. The arrangements are dense and sophisticated, yet they never lose the raw, communal energy of a village celebration.
What sets this ensemble apart is their impeccable technical pedigree. Founded within the New England Conservatory, they bring a jazz-like improvisational wit and chamber-music tightness to traditional Yiddish folk forms. It is not just a revival; it is a high-fidelity reimagining of a lost musical world, played with the fire of a group that knows this music is meant to be lived in, not just studied.
Start with 'Dancing in the Aisles' to hear the band at their most infectious. It perfectly demonstrates how they can turn a room into a whirlwind of motion while maintaining the intricate, polyphonic layers that make Klezmer so emotionally complex.
The Klezmer Conservatory Band is a Boston-based group which performs traditional klezmer music; it was formed by Hankus Netsky of the New England Conservatory of Music in 1980. Originally formed for a single concert, they have gone on to release eleven albums. Netsky is the grandson and nephew of traditional klezmer musicians. He was inspired by jam sessions with Irish musicians to attempt something with klezmer music. He recruited many of the musicians from the New England Conservatory of Music's Third Stream department with the majority having jazz or folk backgrounds. In 1988, the band featured in a documentary on klezmer called A Jumpin Night in the Garden of Eden. It has also provided soundtracks for a number of films and theatrical productions including: Enemies, a Love Story Religulous Joel Grey's Yiddish music review Berschtcapades '94 The Fool and the Flying Ship, narrated by Robin Williams Shlemiel the First, a musical based on a play by Isaac Bashevis Singer
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