April 2006 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine

O
energy and refreshingly playful—proving that for a lucky few,
There is no doubt that the Klezmers work a room like
few others, improvising at whim and playing melodies that
are just as touching as they are resonant. (This is not your
granddaddy’s klezmer mind you, this is “Shalom Aleichem”
amplifi ed on loads of uppers and hops.) Although the band
has gone through numerous permutations over the years,
including fi ve drummers, two bassists, three fi ddlers and two
clarinet players, a devotion to virtuosity and exploration has
remained a norm. Of course, the style of the klezmer always
prevails, albeit in a special New Orleans induced form.
One other constant in the evolution of the Klezmer’s is
guitarist Jonathan Freilich. Freilich has been with the band since
its inception and is a guy who seems to have the supernatural
ability to be in two, three or even four places at once. Among
other projects near and far, Freilich is involved in Naked
On The Floor, Naked Orchestra, Poor Man’s Speedball, 007,
Drunken Masters, the Tom Paynes and is currently working
on a new project loosely called Klezmurder. In fact, let it be
known that during the time he gave the following interview,
Freilich was purported to be seen playing at least two gigs in
separate parts of the city and also giving yoga lessons in his
Bywater studio.
With transcendence of space and time aside, Freilich’s
impressive guitar playing is very real. Talented in jazz, folk
and reggae, Freilich is apt to inject traditional musical styles
with often unexpected melodic variations. When playing with
the Klezmers it is no different, and at any given time one
can hear Jamaican rock steady, jazz, New Orleans funk or
rock ‘n’ roll amidst the klezmer. Freilich’s fellow bandmates
(Glenn Hartman, Robert Wagner, Dave Rebeck, Dave Sobel
and Nobu Ozaki) only add to the band’s heightened level of
improvisation and musical know-how.
ANTIGRAVITY sat down with Jonathan Freilich to discuss
the ins and outs of klezmer music, the power of improvisation
and what it really means to stay in New Orleans.
ANTIGRAVITY: How did the New Orleans
Klezmer All-Stars get started?
Jonathan Freilich: It’s an old story…there were three of us
who used to play with Kermit Ruffi ns when Kermit fi rst went
solo and we used to wonder about all kinds of things. We
would wonder things like, “What would happen if you had
a second-line klezmer band? Or a marching klezmer band?”
Well, the three of us started doing these gigs at Kaldi’s…I
had grown up hearing this music from my grandfather in
Philadelphia and the two other guys had heard it on records,
and I suppose it started
because we were interested
in the music. Of course, our
big plans for having a second-
line klezmer band were
changed somewhat by the
realities of the effort it takes
to learn to play something
and the forces of music in
town. I guess those were the
things that actually ended up
shaping what we did…
AG: So it became a
mixture of klezmer
music and the music
that was being played
in New Orleans…
JF: I guess it’s sort of like that
and that’s how people think of
it…like we are some sort of
New Orleans-funky-klezmer
band. But, you can never tell
if people are describing what
they are seeing and what
they are hearing or if they’re
describing the sorts of
generic terms for things that
they hear marketing wise.
Above: Jonathan Freilich, photo by Zack Smith
AG: How might you describe the music of the
band?
JF:
Basically, what we are is a klezmer band [Laughs] and I
would leave it there. After that, it’s a klezmer band that
has the infl uences from the place in which it exists as all
klezmer bands do—in fact, as all bands do. You just have to
look at what the forces are and look at the people and the
individuals that are playing it. I mean, I’m a French Moroccan
from Philadelphia, another guy is New Orleans Irish-German,
there are others of various descriptions in the band, there is a
Japanese guy…so those forces and all those people and how
they came about playing in this band inform the music we are
playing here in this city…This is already a cultural thing that
is impossible to explain [Laughs]. So, I guess basically we just
play klezmer music, but there are still people out there that
have a problem with that.
AG: Are there many people that have certain
ideas about what is defined as klezmer music and
what is not? A lot of purists out there?
JF:
Well, I will say this: Klezmer music is an odd thing. Klezmer
music as a “kind” of music is something so very recent. I
mean, the sound of the music is very old but for the music
to be called “klezmer music;” that’s only about 40 years old.
There used to be klezmer musicians but this is a funny thing.
Of course, now it’s going through another resurgence. I see
these young kids in town that are playing this music and they
are pretty fun. They have never heard of our band or anything
like that so it’s pretty cool. But you know, it’s really like we
are playing Yiddish folk music fi ltered through the experience
of being a musician in New Orleans…But Klezmer music as
a kind of music? It’s kind of like asking where the juncture is
when rock becomes punk rock. I mean, some guy just says,
“I’m a punk rocker.” Whereas everyone else would just say
he is a rock-n-roller…that he just dresses funny [Laughs].
AG: When you all decided that you wanted to
form a klezmer band, how did you learn to play
the music?
JF:
Records. Early on, we had all these reissues of very old
records and old singles and all these 78s that were coming
out. There was The Klezmorim, “Streets of Gold” record
which was a big record back then. It was popular for two
reasons. First, R. Crumb did the artwork on the front, and
second, it was one of the fi rst widely distributed klezmer
revival records back then. Nowadays, there are lots of these
types of records fl oating around, but back then there weren’t
so much.
AG: I figure that there are a lot of people out
there who aren’t familiar with the music. What
are the reactions of those who see the band who
really have no idea what to expect?
JF:
Well, in New Orleans people are ready for it…but for
those who have no idea of what’s gonna happen…the
reactions are varied. Usually people freak out. They have no
idea about what they are hearing. There like, “What kind of
music is that?” But, by and large, people are very into the
speed of it and the activity of it. For those people who are
into improvisation, they get to hear a lot of improvisation
and the fellas in the band are very good improvisers and are
always improving. And sometimes—people leave screaming.
AG: But none have inflicted bodily harm?
JF:
No bottles yet, but we’ve emptied a lot of rooms. However,
sometimes we’ve been hired knowingly by bar owners to
empty rooms and they don’t care. They liked us and they
wanted us. There have been occasions where we have been
paid after everyone in the bar has left and the owner was
happy to give us money. He was like, “Thank god you are
in here and not that shit that I usually have to listen to”
[Laughs].
“We have lots of things to dig ourselves out of but we
all use the tools that we have whether you are an art-
ist or a painter or a street builder or a politician.”
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