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Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi PresentsC I T Y O F T H E F U T U R E

Y I DDISH SONGS FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

City of the Future: Some Thoughts on a World Premiere Recording

by Eric A. Gordon

Reading the brief biographical entry on Shmuel (Samuel) Vladimirovich Polonski in the Encyclopedia of Soviet Composers and Musicians (Moscow, 1981) and Tatiana Halevo (see below), we learn the basic outlines of a life ardently devoted to music. Born in 1902 in Gaisino in the Podolsk region of Ukraine, Polonski grew up in a traditional Jewish environment, the son of a klezmer violinist father and a mother who knew and sang a treasury of folk songs. Shmuel himself became a master of improvisation on woodwind instruments and played in an itinerant klezmer orchestra.

But the world was changing fast: He was 15 years old in 1917 when the Russian Revolution broke out. From the age of 17 to 20, he served in the Red Army, and by his early 20s was already leading musical ensembles and choruses.

Polonski’s catalogue of works includes numerous compositions, both instrumental and vocal, based on Jewish themes, and others based on the folk cultures of Belarus and elsewhere. City of the Future is a contemporary recreation of the 19 songs in his 1931 songbook Far yugnt/For Youth. There was in fact another collection, 30 lider far kinder/30 Songs for Children, published in 1930, also including lyrics by leading Soviet Yiddish poets such as Kulbak, Feffer, Kvitko and others. Another project, perhaps?

Obviously not one of the leaders of Soviet music, Polonski was, however, central to Soviet Jewish music. He composed and conducted, enlisting the collaboration of major poets, and published his work. It’s worth noting that Polonski died at the age of 52 in 1955 – two years after Stalin – so until we learn more, we presume that he was left personally unscathed by the anti-Jewish Terror of the 1940s and 1950s; but there is scant reference to him after his move to Moscow in 1945, when he returned from the internal eastward evacuation that saved millions of Soviet Jews, and Jews from elsewhere in Europe as well.

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Polonski occupied the space allowed for and created by Soviet Jewish musicians in a world that had, to say the least, its uncertainties. In 1931, the Great Purges of the mid - 1930s were still unforeseeable, not to mention a new World War and the Holocaust, wherein 20 million, or possibly 25 million Soviet citizens lost their lives in the defense of the motherland, and of course the postwar crackdown on Jewish culture. The 1931 songbook predates the Stalin cult of personality: His name appears not once. In 1931, there were Yiddish schools, theaters, choruses, and the autonomous Jewish republic of Birobidzhan in the Far East had just been established. Polonski’s Foreword proposes that this collection form the basis of a new Soviet Jewish repertoire for use in the Yiddish school system.

The year 1931: While the rest of the world languished in a profound economic depression, the USSR was building and growing, and even importing skilled workers. At that particular moment in the arc of Russian, Soviet, and world history, this 29 - year-old composer had reason to be hopeful. Addressing himself to youth, Polonski optimistically presumed that other songbooks and new traditions would emerge.

But perhaps there are deeper messages in these songs. Polonski might have guessed that with growing urbanization, industrialization and assimilation, the future of Yiddish in the Soviet Union could not be extremely bright. (These same larger historical forces operated everywhere, not only in the USSR.) Polonski surely knew that the Yiddish schools were not attracting a large number of Jewish children, nor would Birobidzhan ever draw a significant population of Jews. Most parents wanted their children in Russian - language schools to ease their integration into modern society.

It gives me a chill to imagine 10 - year - old boys in Soviet Yiddish schools singing the Itzik Feffer song “Red Army” in 1931. Ten years later they would be young men of twenty and heading for the front to defend their homeland from the Nazi invaders. I know it’s hyperbole to say this, but I can’t resist making the claim that this song (and similar ones in other Soviet song books for youth) saved the world from fascism!

We find in these songs, published with solo piano accompaniment, a level of musicianship and modernity – even of experimentalism in places – and a technical range well beyond the capacities of most children’s choruses. Some of these are more properly characterized as art songs. The lyrics, many of them, are by the most respected names in the Soviet Yiddish pantheon. Undoubtedly Polonski used some of these songs in the Jewish Philharmonic Choir that he directed in Minsk for more than a decade, 1929 – 1941.

once. In 1931, there were Yiddish schools, theaters, choruses, and the autonomous Jewish republic of

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What I am suggesting is that while Polonski wrote these songs in utter sincerity, it was not in reality the Yiddish schoolchildren whom he was ultimately addressing. Polonski poured all his craft into these songs as a record of a given uplifting moment in time, and as a legacy to the future. In a very real sense – that became more real as the terrible tragedies of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s unfolded – Polonski wrote these songs for the future, for us to discover and cherish. Now a large percentage of the Jews in the former Soviet Union are gone, the USSR itself a puff of smoke, the ideal of socialism a burning ember. The big-name poets featured here were all liquidated in a frenzy of Stalinist anti-Semitism. And yet these artifacts remain of a time of progress, building, pride, and hope. They celebrate great upheavals and changes, ask important questions, and immortalize ephemeral moments of rustic pleasure. Their honest, forward-looking spirit offers us new pleasures and new courage to make a better world in our own time.

As a performance of all 19 songs in concert, the songbook was first presented by the Mit Gezang Yiddish Chorus of the Southern California Arbeter Ring (Workmen’s Circle), directed

by Kathryn Rowe, on August 10, 2008. That audience, and another a year later in Tucson, Arizona, are for all practical purposes the only people who have heard these songs. Only two or three of these songs at most ever escaped the pages of the songbook into the known Yiddish repertoire, “A krenetse” and “Fabrik lid” (“Hirsh Lekert” was an already extant folksong, and appeared as the first number in the songbook, as if to say, “This is the history we came out of.”). The rest are all first-time recordings that we hope will be received with interest and joy.

[Those who read Russian are referred to Tatiana Halevo, “Forgotten Music of Soviet Jewry: Samuil Polonskij,” in Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual International Conference on Jewish Studies, Vol. I, The Moscow Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization, Moscow, 2010.]

Polonski’s Songbook, 1931

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Yale Strom’s Artist Statement:In 1931, Yiddish culture was thriving in the former Soviet Union. There were Yiddish schools, theatres, choirs, literature and discussion groups. In 1928 The Jewish Autonomous Region, better known as Birobidzhan, had been established as an independent oblast, a homeland (located past Siberia along the Amur River) for Jews where Yiddish along with Russian were the official languages of the state. (To learn more about Birobidzhan, you can see my documentary film, “L’Chayim, Comrade Stalin!”.)

Shmuel Polonski was a 29-year-old composer who wanted to spread the joy of Yiddish and the Soviet way of life through his songs, which were to be sung by youth choruses. Polonski set his original compositions to poems by such renowned Yiddish poets as Peretz Markish, Izi Kharik and Itzik Feffer. His music is noted for its experimentalism, and demands a high level of musicianship and vocal range for any singer, especially for children.

After thoroughly going through each song’s melody and reading the lyrics, I decided that if these songs were to have any relevancy for today’s lovers of Yiddish song, I could not just recreate Polonski’s arrangements. Many of his melodies were similar in their march-like feel and I knew this would quickly become rather boring for the listener. Consequently, I composed introductions to many of the songs using klezmer, classical, Russian folk and jazz motifs. I also arranged the songs in such a way as to take advantage of the different timbres of the singers who are on this recording. For example, in the song “The Factory” I gave this a cappella piece a Khasidic flavor, whereas “October” was arranged as an art song and “Young Forces” has a carnival klezmer feel. The seven singers you will hear on this recording represent some of the best interpreters of Yiddish song performing today. This recording brings a freshness to a genre of Yiddish songs that still resonates today. I hope this project encourages Yiddish singers to once again sing these songs that represent a golden era of Yiddish culture in Soviet Jewish history.

From left to right: Norbert Stachel, Peter Stan,Yale Strom & Elizabeth Schwartz

From left to right: Jeff Pekarek , Yale Strom & Elizabeth Schwartz

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Artist Biographies:

Yale Strom (violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, playwright) is a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Roma communities. Initially,

his work focused primarily on the use and performance of klezmer music among these two groups. Gradually, his focus increased to examining all aspects of their culture, from post-World War II to the present. From more than 3 decades and 75 such research expeditions, Strom has become the world’s leading ethnographer-artist of klezmer music and history.

His klezmer research was instrumental in helping form the repertoires of his klezmer band, Hot Pstromi, in New York and San Diego. Since Strom’s first band began in 1981, he has been composing his own New Jewish music, which combines klezmer with Hasidic nigunim, Roma, jazz, classical, Balkan and Sephardic motifs. These compositions range from quartets to a symphony, which premiered with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He composed original music for the Denver Center production of Tony Kushner’s The Dybbuk. He composed all the New Jewish music for the National Public Radio series Fiddlers, Philosophers & Fools: Jewish Short Stories from

the Old World to the New, hosted by Leonard Nimoy, as well as numerous film and dance scores. Some of his more recent Jewish “classical” pieces he has composed are his string quartets “The Somalia Quartet” based upon Somalian folk motifs, “In the Memory of…” based upon lost cantorial music Strom found in an abandoned synagogue in Carei, Romania, and his solo violin piece “Bessarabia Suite” he composed for violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine. Strom is also one of the very few top composers of Jewish music to carry on the tradition of writing original songs, with Yiddish lyrics, about humanitarian and social issues. His fifteen CDs run the gamut of traditional klezmer to “new” Jewish music. His latest CDs are “Borsht with Bread Brothers” (ARC Music), “Absolute Klezmer Vol. 2” (Transcontinental Music) and “The Devil’s Brides” (ARC Music). The latter CD is the soundtrack of the radio drama he co-wrote called “The Witches of Lublin” that has been heard on radio stations throughout the world and has won many audio awards. The radio play stars Tovah Feldshuh. Strom has performed with many world renowned musicians including Andy Statman, Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Mark O’Connor, Alicia Svigals, Mike Block, Salman Ahmad, Samir Chatterjee et al.Yale Strom was the first klezmer violinist to be invited to instruct master classes at both the American String Teachers Association and the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp. Strom’s research has also resulted in photo documentary books, documentary films, and photo exhibitions.

Yale StromYale Stromcomposer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, playwright) is a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Roma communities. Initially,

his work focused primarily on the use and

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He is the author of The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore (2002). It is a 400 page history with original photos and sheet music gathered by Strom during his sixty-plus ethnographic trips to Central and Eastern Europe. A Wandering Feast: A Journey through the Jewish Culture of Eastern Europe written in collaboration with his wife, Elizabeth Schwartz, is part cookbook, part travelogue (2005). He is also the author of The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook (2006). His photo documentary books for middle-grade and young readers have received rave reviews and his first children’s book based upon a true klezmer story, The Wedding That Saved A Town, was published in September 2008 and was chosen as “Best Children’s Illustrated Book” by the San Diego Book Association 2009. He wrote the first biography on the “Benny Goodman of klezmer clarinet”, Dave Tarras – The King of Klezmer published by Or-Tav Music Publications, and his newest book came out in October 2012 called Shpil! The Art of Playing Klezmer with Scarecrow Press.

New York’s Jewish Week writes: “He’s a gifted photographer and author, a talented docu-mentary filmmaker and has his own klezmer band… Strom’s multifaceted career is a wonder, and his work schedule is downright fiendish.” He has directed eight award-winning documentary films (At the Crossroads; The Last Klezmer; Carpati: 50 miles, 50 Years; L’Chaim, Comrade Stalin!; Klezmer on Fish Street; A Man From Munkacs: Gypsy Klezmer; A Great Day on Eldridge Street; A Letter to Wedgwood: The Life of Gabriella Hartstein

Auspitz) and has composed music for countless others. His newest documentary film will be released in 2016, American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs. He was the first documentary filmmaker in history to be given his own run at Lincoln Center’s prestigious Walter Reade Theatre, where The Last Klezmer broke previous box office records; this record was only exceeded by Carpati’s run there. The Last Klezmer was short-listed for an Academy Award, and Klezmer on Fish Street won the 2003 Palm Beach International Film festival’s Special Jury Selection award. Yale also directed the documentary A Man from Munkacs: Gypsy Klezmer for Hungary’s Duna Television.

His solo photo exhibit The Rom of Ridgewood, about Gypsy communities in Queens, New York, was mounted at the Queens Museum of Art; Fragments: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe 1981-2007 opened at the Anne Frank Center in NYC (fall 2014) and is traveling the country. He has had numerous solo and group photo exhibits (depicting Jewish and Roma life) throughout the U.S. and Europe. His photos are part of many collections including Beth Hatefusoth, The Skirball Museum, The Jewish Museum of NYC, The Frankfurt Jewish Museum and The Museum of Photographic Arts.

Strom’s original stage play …from man…to beast… to crawling thing, was given a fully-staged workshop in June of 2001 by the Streisand Festival (La Jolla, California).

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His new play The Education of Hershl Grynszpan was workshopped by the San Diego Rep, North Coast Rep as well as in New York City, Connecticut and Los Angeles. Yale was featured in the May 31, 2004 issue of Time Magazine for this play, and the scholarship behind it. He co-created the award-winning audio drama The Witches of Lublin (starring Tovah Feldshuh). Strom’s newest theatrical project is a play about the life of the artist Chagall.

Strom has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Europe and taught at NYU for the 4 years, where he created the course “Artist-Ethnographer Expeditions”. He is on the advisory board of the Center for Jewish Creativity, based in Los Angeles. At present he is Artist-in-Residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University.

Strom was the guest curator for the Eldridge Street Project’s A Great Day on Eldridge Street – a musical and photographic celebration of the newly restored Eldridge Street Synagogue that took place in October 12 -14, 2007. A Great Day on Eldridge Street is now an iconic photo capturing some of the greatest Yiddish singers and klezmer musicians ever gathered in one spot.

Jeff Pekarek began playing trumpet and guitar as a child, and by age twelve he was familiar enough with the piano to begin learning the art of arranging from his grandfather (a US Navy bandleader). Jeff discovered the double bass at fourteen and made it his life’s work. He became a contracted member of the San

Diego Symphony at seventeen, performing with the orchestra from 1975 - 79. In 1981, he became an independent bandleader, fronting several period music and folk music groups. Jeff has recorded extensively with various bands, including Keltik Kharma, Kick up the Dust, and the Peter Pupping Quartet (as Jeff Basile). He is also the principal arranger for Yale Strom, a collaboration which includes two documentary films, numerous chamber works and CD albums, three ballets, and the orchestral work ‘Aliyot’, performed by the St. Louis Symphony. Jeff also played bass with bluegrass legend Richard Greene. From 2004 to 2008, he worked as an arranger for Canum Entertainment. In 2006, he was the bassist for the theatrical documentary ‘Primal Twang’, backing up Dan Crary, Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Mason Williams and other major artists. Today Jeff continues to work as an arranger, bassist, cellist, and audio editor.

Norbert Stachel, a saxophonist and multi-woodwind instrumentalist, is widely recognized for being a unique soloist and also for his strong ensemble contributions in all kinds of musical genres. Norbert has recorded, toured, and performed with a variety of known and established names, as well as artists deserving wider recognition. He has worked with famous names including Aerosmith, Tower of Power, Roger Waters, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Ted Nugent, Eddie Money, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Prince, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Dream Theater, Diana Ross, Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, Cold Blood, Neil Diamond, En Vogue, The Temptations,

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The Four Tops, Sheila E, Quincy Jones, D’Angelo, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Quicksilver, Les McCann, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Andrew Hill, Charlie Haden, Benny Green, Russell Malone, Woody Herman, Kenny Burrell, Buddy Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, George Cables, Bobby Hutcherson, Lou Rawls, Eartha Kitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Zigaboo Modeliste, Flora Purim & Airto, Merle Saunders, Bob Weir, Hiram Bullock, Carlos Santana, & countless others.

Norbert is accomplished on all saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and ethnic wind instruments. Norbert has 30 + years experience playing jazz, classical, rock, R&B, Afro Cuban/Latin, salsa, klezmer, Middle Eastern, world, and most other forms of music. Norbert also composes instrumental & vocal music, and also arranges for any kind of instrumental ensemble or choir.

Instruments played: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone & Bass Saxophones; Eb Soprano, Bb, Bb Bass (low C), & BBb Contrabass (low C) Clarinets; Piccolo, C, Alto & Bass Flutes, as well as a variety of ethnic wind instruments.

Peter Stan is an accomplished professional accordionist who both performs and teaches. His heritage is Balkan Romani, although he was born and raised in Australia prior to coming to the U.S. when he was 12 years old. At an early age he began to learn how to play the accordion and was taught by his father, also an accordionist, for many years. His entire family is musical and they enjoyed playing together. Peter then went on to further studies with Matthew

Aldini (Queensboro Institute of Music), Dr. Jacob Nupauer, Stanley Darrow, and Joan Arnold. He has won prizes in several prestigious accordion competitions including those sponsored by the American Accordion Musicological Society and the Long Island Music Teachers Association.

Peter does a wide variety of performing as a soloist, with small groups, and with bands. He plays a broad range of musical styles including Balkan, classical, French favorites, klezmer, popular, and contemporary. He has also performed in movies, appearing with James Earl Jones and Armando Assante, and has done numerous studio soundtrack recordings. Peter has performed on radio, cable television, off-Broadway, and for the famous Mark Morris dance group.

Peter has been the lead accordionist with many bands including Slavic Soul Party, Harold Seletsky, The West End Klezmorim, and Hot Pstromi (Yale Strom). His wide range of performances includes playing at Carnegie Hall (1st Jazz and Jewish music concert), Merkin Hall, Irving Plaza, and Joe’s Pub in New York City; the International Accordion Festival in San Antonio, Texas; and the two-week annual Mayim Mayim Project in Fuerth, Germany.

He has toured in Hong Kong, France, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Denmark, Serbia, Zimbabwe and throughout much of the United States. In March 2008 Peter was interviewed by Francoise Jallot and appeared in a feature article about him and his work in the celebrated French magazine “Accordéon & Accordéonistes”.

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Elizabeth Schwartz is celebrated for her uni-quely dusky timbre: mult-iple reviews have hailed her “soulful”, “passionate” and “penetrating” vocals. She has drawn numerous comparisons to both Edith Piaf and Romania’s Maria Tănase. From her many appearances with

Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a solo artist, Schwartz has built a loyal following among fans, critics and collaborators. Her first recording of Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino vocals for the Naxos World label, Garden of Yidn, debuted on Canada’s Mundial Top World Music poll. It was hailed as “a landmark in modern Yiddish song” (Sing Out! Magazine). Her vocals can be heard on the soundtrack for the documentary film L’Chayim, Comrade Stalin!, as well as on the acclaimed Naxos World releases Garden of Yidn and Café Jew Zoo, Dveykes (Adhesion), with Yale Strom, Marty Ehrlich, Mark Dresser, Diane Moser and Benny Koonyevsky (Global Village Music), The Absolutely Complete Klezmer II (Transcontinental), Borsht with Bread, Brothers and The Devil’s Brides (both with ARC Music, UK).

In a historic, barrier-breaking concert, Schwartz was the first woman ever to sing in New York City’s 125 year-old landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue. She performs regularly across North America and Europe in venues ranging from jazz clubs to concert halls (including Carnegie Hall),

as well as synagogues and festivals. She regularly performs with Yale Strom, Alicia Svigals, Mark Dresser, Salman Ahmad and Samir Chatterjee and has recorded and concertized with many others, including Hungarian supergroup Muzsikas, Tsimbl maestro Kalman Balogh, Romanian panflutist Damian Drăghici, guitar legend Lulo Reinhardt, Márta Sebestyén, fiddle legend Mark O’Connor, Andy Statman, Tovah Feldshuh, violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine and others. Schwartz also performs with the Common Chords ensemble, which explores harmony, peace, understanding, improvisation and great music among the traditionally conflicted cultures.

She is the subject of the documentary film, Rumenye, Rumenye: Searching for Schwartz, directed by acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Radu Gabrea. As a writer, Schwartz contributes a food blog, Di Grine Cuisine: A Vegetarian Yiddish Eater, at Home and Abroad to theweiserkitchen.com, co-created the award-winning audio drama The Witches of Lublin, contributed a chapter on klezmer vocal technique to Shpil: The Art of Playing Klezmer (Scarecrow Press). She has written the book for the upcoming musical Chagall in which she also performs.

Elizabeth SchwartzElizabeth Schwartzis celebrated for her uni-quely dusky timbre: mult-iple reviews have hailed her “soulful”, “passionate” and “penetrating” vocals. She has drawn numerous comparisons to both Edith Piaf and Romania’s Maria Tănasemany appearances with

Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a solo artist,

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Judy Bressler is a third generation performer after her mother Hannah and grandfather Isidore Lipinsky and comes from a family which includes Yiddish theatre luminaries Menashe Skulnick

and Lucy Gehrman. So pure and expressive is Judy’s a cappella voice, it inspired Tony award winning choreographer Bill T. Jones to create new Boston Ballet repertoire.

Judy’s studies of the performing arts began at the age of six in NYC at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. While studying contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music, she became a founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and is the featured vocalist on all 10 of the band’s recordings. She is heard with Itzhak Perlman on In the Fiddler’s House and Live in the Fiddler’s House, recorded at Radio City Music Hall. She was a featured vocalist in the documentary film A Jumpin’ Night in the Garden of Eden and was featured with Joel Grey in his vaudeville review Borscht Capades ‘94. Judy Bressler’s Klezmer Kabaret has presented in small ensemble an evocative mix of English and Yiddish material, and Cabaret Jude took a solo one-woman show entitled Three Generations in Yiddish Theatre: Stories and Songs with Judy Bressler to the 2006 Warsaw Festival of Jewish Culture. She appeared with Itzhak Perlman and

his Klezmer All Stars again in 2009 in Moscow and most recently with them at Carnegie Hall for the National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene in 2015. She is currently also a teacher naturalist on environmental issues, leading school children on hiking trails for the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, and is an active member of the organic CSA Moose Hill Community Farm. Judy Bressler has appeared across the United States and abroad in some of the world’s most prestigious venues and events and become one of the most widely heard Yiddish performers of her generation, acclaimed and loved by critics and audiences alike, singing songs with universal appeal that touch the very heart of what it means to be a human being. She lives in Sharon, MA with her husband of 34 years, Irving Epstein; their daughter, Talya Epstein, is a dancer/performance artist living in Brooklyn, NY.

Tripp Sprague is a jazz saxophonist based out of the San Diego area. Tripp also plays flute, chromatic harmonica and EWI. He has performed extensively with the area’s top jazz musicians including singer Kevyn Lettau, bassist Bob Magnusson, as well as Tripp’s brother guitar player Peter Sprague. Tripp’s musical versatility has lead to invitations to perform with international acts such as jazz singer Mose Allison, Kenny Loggins, Motown legends Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, and The Temptations. Tripp has recorded on numerous CDs with such artists as Kim Carnes and Todd Rundgren. Tripp also co-produced and performed on the self titled CD from the group “Blurring the Edges” which won the Best Pop-Jazz

Judy Bressler Judy Bressler a third generation performer after her mother Hannah and grandfather Isidore Lipinsky and comes from a family which includes Yiddish theatre luminaries Menashe Skulnick

and Lucy Gehrman. So pure and expressive is

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album at the San Diego Music Awards. In 2006 Tripp released a straight ahead jazz CD featuring all his original compositions entitled Wall to Wall. Tripp also runs a recording studio from his home where he has produced and recorded CDs for numerous local artists.

Vira Lozinsky, the Grand Prize winner of the third International Jewish Music Competition in Amsterdam, is one of today’s outstand-ing Yiddish singers. An enchanting performer in every way, Vira’s mellifluous alto voice is powerful, warm,

expressive and pure. She has collaborated with a variety of musicians in different projects and live performances throughout the world.

Vira was born in 1974 in Beltz, Moldova, to a family of Jewish artists. She started playing the violin at the age of six, but her real passion was always singing. As a child she was exposed to the cultures and musical styles of different ethnic groups living in Moldova like Moldovans, Romanians, Jews, Roma, Russians and others. After moving to Israel at age 16, she earned her BA in Musicology and Yiddish literature at Bar-Ilan University. In 2000 she graduated with honors from the vocal program of Israel’s prestigious Rimon school of Jazz & Contemporary Music.

Yankl Falk was intro-duced to Yiddish song by

zeyde (grandfather) Benny Schnable (z’l). Yankl is perhaps best-known for his work with Hungary’s premier Yiddish ensemble,

Di Naye Kapelye, with whom he recorded three CDs of Carpathian Jewish roots music. For more than 20 years, Yankl has been the featured vocalist with Don Byron’s Music of Mickey Katz. His other collaborations include work with Polka Madre (Mexico City), Di Fidl-Kapelye (Amsterdam), Klezmocracy (Portland), the Black Cat Orchestra (Seattle). A traditional singer of Jewish liturgy, Yankl has served as a traveling High Holidays cantor throughout North America.

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell is a vocalist who has worked primarily in the field of opera in the San Francisco Bay and New York Metro areas for the past fifteen years. Highlights of his operatic career include roles in the West Coast premiere of Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and in the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Appomattox with the San Francisco Opera Company.

More recently, Anthony has devoted himself to the music of Sidor Belarsky (1898 - 1975), one of the twentieth century’s most prolific performers of chazzanut, Chassidic nigunim and Yiddish song. In his unique explorations of Jewish and African-American diaspora culture, Anthony’s work has been inspired simultaneously by the sounds of tradition and a continuity of historic hopes for a redemptive future.

Vira Lozinsky,Vira Lozinsky,Prize winner of the third International Jewish Music Competition in Amsterdam, is one of today’s outstand-ing Yiddish singers. An enchanting performer in every way, Vira’s mellifluous alto voice is powerful, warm

expressive and pure. She has collaborated with a

Yankl FalkYankl Falkduced to Yiddish song by

Benny Schnable (z’l). Yankl is perhaps best-known for his work with Hungary’s premier Yiddish ensemble,

Di Naye Kapelye, with whom he recorded three

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Over the past three years, Anthony’s work in Jewish Music has brought him to the stages of the JCC in Manhattan and San Francisco, the Gershman Y in Philadelphia, Symphony Space, the Winter Jewish Music Concert in Miami, FL, the Ideacity Conference in Toronto, KlezKanada, the Montreal and Berkeley Jewish Music Festivals and the Ashkenaz Festival, a week-long celebration of Jewish arts in Toronto.

Daniel Kahn: Born in Detroit, studied drama at University of Michigan, where he, as alum Arthur Miller before him, won the Hopwood Award three times - for his playwriting, screenwriting, and poetry. His work in Detroit-area theatre earned him an Oakland Press award for acting in Old Wicked Songs at the Jewish Ensemble Theater and nominations for his music in Threepenny Opera and Dybbuk for Two. In New Orleans, he worked as producer, composer and director for Brecht’s Man is Man at The Ark. As a singer-songwriter he co-founded the Earthwork Music Collective. Relocating to Berlin, Germany, in 2005, he founded the punk-folk-“alienation klezmer” band Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird. Having been called “the Johnny Rotten of Yiddish” or “a Jewish Bob Dylan”, he has produced over a dozen albums, several for the Oriente label, winning many critical awards, including the German Record Critics’ Association’s album of the year for 2011’s Lost Causes. He has toured the world as a singer, translator, activist, journalist, poet, and teacher, collaborating with such luminaries of the Yiddish culture revival as Adrienne Cooper, Alan Bern, Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Michael

Alpert, and Theodore Bikel who, not long before his recent passing, remarked that he considered Kahn as “carrying on the mantel of my work”. He is a founding member of The Unternationale (with Psoy Korolenko), and The Brothers Nazaroff (with Psoy, Alpert, Jake Shulman-Ment and Bob Cohen), the latter of whom is the subject of an upcoming documentary film and a Smithsonian Folkways album, The Happy Prince. At Berlin’s renowned “post migrant” Maxim Gorki Theater he works as a director, playwright, composer, actor, and music curator, creating a space for progressive contemporary Yiddish performance in a broad inter-cultural and cosmopolitan context. Most recently he co-wrote and directed a German-Yiddish adaptation of Romain Gary’s Genghis Cohn, about a former Nazi who is possessed by the Dybbuk of a dead Jewish comedian. This fall in New York he is performing in New Yiddish Rep’s production of Death of a Salesman in Yiddish, in the role of Biff. Next year, he will compose songs and a score for a new production of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Enemies, A Love Story.

Fred Benedetti was born in Sasebo, Japan and began playing the guitar at age 9. In 1986 he was one of 12 guitarists chosen worldwide to perform in the Master Class of Andrés Segovia at USC where Guitarra Magazine wrote, “…Fred Benedetti amazed the audience with his performance of the (Bach) Chaconne…”. He has also been a performer for the master classes of Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening, Federico Moreno-Torroba, George Sakellariou and David Grimes. Fred has performed in the United States,

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England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Taiwan and Mexico and locally with the San Diego Symphony, the San Diego Opera, the Starlight Opera, the American Ballet Company, the Old Globe Theatre, Luciano Pavarotti, and jazz artist Dave Brubeck.

Presently he is a full-time professor of music at Grossmont College where he is chair of guitar studies, and is a member of the guitar faculty at San Diego State University with George Svoboda, Robert Wetzel and Celin Romero. Fred is listed in the prestigious “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers -2002” and received an “Outstanding Faculty Award” in 2001 from SDSU, the “NISOD” Excellence in Teaching award from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and an “Outstanding Chair” award in 1990 from Grossmont College.

Equally at home playing classical music or contemporary music, he records on the SBE label and Domo Records with four noted ensembles: Keltik Kharma (a Celtic band); The Odeum Guitar Duo, given the honor by the magazine, Acoustic Guitar, as being one of the ten best independently produced guitar CDs for the year 2000; “Blurring the Edges”, a recipient of the 1994 San Diego Music Awards “Best Pop-Jazz” album of the year featuring jazz musicians Peter, Tripp and Hall Sprague; and the acclaimed Benedetti/Svoboda Guitar Duo.

As a BMI affiliated composer, Fred has written numerous contemporary pieces for the international CD library company Network Productions and as a studio musician for 20 years

his playing is featured on over 60 CDs, numerous movie soundtracks and TV commercials. He has shared the stage with Mason Williams, Eric Johnson, Doc Watson, Albert Lee, Doyle Dykes, Dan Crary, Art Garfunkel, Basia, Michael Franks, Mark O’Connor, Michael Hedges and Ottmar Liebert, and has recorded with Willie Nelson, Juice Newton, Paul Overstreet, Patty Loveless, Tom Barabas, Big Mountain, Matthew Lien, Ronny Robbins and William Lee Golden. He has performed for dignitaries such as the King & Queen of Malaysia, Mikhail Gorbachev and President Jimmy Carter.

Fred performs on guitars built by Miguel Rodriguez, José Ramirez, Simon Marty, James Goodall, Gioachino Giussani, Robert Godin, Robert Hein and Bob Taylor.

Duncan Moore began playing drums at the age of 8 in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. After attending the University of Iowa, where he studied percussion with Tom Davis, he relocated to San Diego in 1977. Since then, he has established himself as a busy professional drummer and percussionist in the southern California area. During his 38 years in San Diego he has worked with a number of local and nationally known artists including: Joe Farrell, Mose Allison, Ray Brown, Kenny Burrell, Joe Chambers, Billy Childs, Conti Condoli, Hal Crook, Curtis Fuller, Geoffrey Keezer, Roger Kellaway, Mundell Lowe, Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Bob Sheppard, Bobby Shew, Tom Scott, Ernie Watts, Steve Wilson and Mike Wofford. Besides live performances Duncan

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maintains a home recording studio, where he records drum tracks for numerous jingles, soundtracks and music libraries. He has also done recording for Seaworld and Disney on Ice shows. Duncan has also recorded drum and percussion tracks for the following movies and TV shows: Cable Guy, Commander and Chief, Search for John Gissing, Kate and Leopold, Mind of the Married Man and Man About Town.

Duncan has performed frequently on “ClubDate” an award-winning show on PBS, with Bobby Shew, Mike Wofford, Holly Hofmann, Peter Sprague and Bob Magnusson. Duncan has taught at numerous jazz camps, and clinics, and currently teaches drumset at Mira Costa College in Oceanside, Ca.

Michael Alpert has been a pioneering figure in the renaissance of East European Jewish music and Yiddish culture since the 1970s. He is internationally known for award-winning performances and recordings with Brave Old World, David Krakauer, Itzhak Perlman, Theodore Bikel, Daniel Kahn, Frank London and others. A native Yiddish speaker and one of the few contemporary singers adept in the traditional style of pre-war East European generations, he is a celebrated innovator in Yiddish song, with original compositions on social and political themes. Alpert was Musical Director of the PBS Great Performances special Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler’s House, and is featured in film and broadcast media worldwide. An important link to Old World Jewish musicians, he is a leading teacher and scholar of the Yiddish cultural arts

and has played a central role in the transmission of Ashkenazic music and dance. He is a Senior Research Fellow at NYC’s Center for Traditional Music and Dance, and has taught at Oxford, Columbia and Indiana Universities.

Hershl Hartman has been a professional Yiddish/English/Yiddish translator over many decades, as well as a Certified Secular Jewish vegvayzer/Leader, Education Director of the L.A. Sholem Community and Sunday School for 48 years. (Michael Alpert is a graduate.) Hershl has specialized in Soviet-Yiddish poetry for programs commemorating the August 12, 1952 execution of leading Yiddish poets, writers, cultural and social figures in the Soviet Union. Naturally, it was he to whom the Southern California District, Arbeter Ring (Workmen’s Circle) turned for translations in the program for its premiere performance of Polonski’s songs; we asked him to also transliterate the Yiddish texts and to assist our singers in adhering (mostly) to the Voliner dialect adopted by the Yiddish theatre and performing singers. While adhering to the original rhyme-pattern of some of the lyrics where possible, Hershl’s main objective in translation was to preserve the meter, which is most important in song.

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1. Who Did It(words: Itzik Feffer, vocals: Michael Alpert, tenor saxophone /clarinet: Norbert Stachel, accordion: Peter Stan, violin: Yale Strom, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek)

Look there at the cottage, not far from here,Who was it that built it, who did it?Who renewed it with plaster and brick?A shirtless lad from the marshes!

Look there at the pony prancing alone,Who fed it in the pastures, who did it?Who made it so young, who made it so clean?A shirtless lad from the marshes!

Look there at the bread, so homey and fresh:Who threshed the grain now, who did it?Who brought it from the fields to have on our plates?A shirtless lad from the marshes!

Ver Hot Es?Tut a kuk afn shteebl, vos shteyt do nit vayt,Ver hot es geboyt, ver hot es?Ver hot es mit leym un mit tseegl banayt?A naketer yung fun dee blotes!

Tut a kuk afn ferdl, vos tantst dort aleyn,Ver hot es gepashet, ver hot es?Ver hot es gemakht, azoy yung, azoy reyn?A naketer yung fun dee blotes!

Tut a kuk afn broyt, vu s’iz heymish un frish,Ver hot es maleytset, ver hot es?Ver hot es fun felder gebrakht afn tish?A naketer yung fun dee blotes!

2. Red Army(words: Itzik Feffer, vocals: Judy Bressler/Daniel Kahn, percussion: Duncan Moore)

There at the border, there at the field,Stand the fellows in their rows.Never thirsty, never tiredThe fellows stand on guard. (repeat)

There at the border, horses race,All the day and all night long.Every fellow must be readyBoth for sorrow and for joy. (repeat)

Gun on shoulder, sword in hand –Eyes peeled across the land.Never thirsty, never tiredThe fellows stand on guard. (repeat)

Our time’s a difficult one –Sword at side, at shoulder, gun.Blood trembles in the fiery breast –Either stand here, or eternally rest! (repeat)(Repeat first verse.)

Royte ArmeyDort bam grenets, dort bam feld,Shteyen yatn oysgeshtelt

Keynmol durshtik, keynmol meed, Shteyen yatn un men heet. (repeat)

Dort bam grenets yogn ferd,Gantse teg un gantse nekht.Ver a yat iz darf zayn greyt, Ee far troyer ee far freyd. (repeat)

Biks af pleytse, shverd af hent –Oygn shtendik vayt gevendt.

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Keynmol durshtik, keynmol meed, Shteyen yatn un men heet. (repeat)

Shver iz itster, undzer tsayt,Biks ba pleytse, shverd ba zayt.Tsitert blut in heysn layb – Oder shtey do, oder blayb! (repeat)(Repeat first verse.)

3. Young Forces Grow(words: Kartshev, vocals: Jack “Yankl” Falk/Michael Alpert, clarinet/baritone saxophone: Norbert Stachel, accordion: Peter Stan, violin: Yale Strom)

Young forces grow, flowing now like water;Young limbs grow, singing now together.

Fiery turbulence now unfurled and brightLight as summer’s dew – strengths beyond the night.

Young lads ride, out to the collectives,Numerous brigades flow, and flow, and flow.

In silvery dawns and fiery flutters,The lads flow on, the songs pour out.

In barns – machines veer about and hum,The lads do their work, purifying seeds.

The peasants converse, smiling now and prideful:“That’s what lads are like! That’s what lads can do!”

Young forces grow, flowing now like water;Young limbs grow, singing now together.

Vaksn Yunge KoykhesVaksn yunge koykhes, shtromen haynt vee vaser;Vaksn yunge gleeder, zingen haynt tsuzamen.

Fayerdiker broyz, viklt zikh fanander,Laykht vee zumer-toy – kreftn iz faranen.

Forn yunge yatn, forn in kolveertn,Gantsene brigades shitn zikh un shitn.

In zilberne fartogn mit brenendikn flater,Tseshitn zikh dee yatn, tsegeesn zikh dee lider.

In shayern – masheenes, dreyen zikh un zhumen,Arbetn dee yatn, reynikn dee zoymen.

Shmuesn dee poyerim, shmeykhlen zey un kveln:– “Ot vos yatn zaynen! Ot vos yatn kenen!”(Repeat first verse)

4. On the Slope(words: Leyb Kvitko, vocals: Judy Bressler, classical guitar: Fred Benedetti)

Sliding, sliding, sliding again.Warming up in every limb.Flaming cheeks and strength in hands;Every ear like fiery brands.

With a sled, without a sled,On one’s knees or the cap from one’s head.Hey, whatever, lad follows lad,The slope is smooth, and that’s not bad!

It suits the frost to be outdoors,The frost enjoys a slope that’s big.The frost enjoys it when one’s not tired.Hey! Let’s sing a song to him!(Repeat first verse)

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Afn GlitshGlitshn, glitshn, glitshn vider,Varem vert in ale gleeder,Flam in beklekh, kraft in hent,In dee oyern fayer brent.

Frost hot leeb tsu zayn in droysn,Frost hot leeb a glitsh a groysn.Frost hot leeb az m’iz nit meed,Hey! Lekoved eem a leed!

Glitshn, glitshn, glitshn vider,Varem vert in ale gleeder,Flam in beklekh, kraft in hent,In di oyern fayer brent.

Mit a shlitl, on a shlitl,Af di knee, tsee afn hitl.Hey, altseyns, yat nokh yat,Glitsh iz oysgegosn glat!

Frost hot leeb tsu zayn in droysn,Frost hot leeb a glitsh a groysn.Frost hot leeb az m’iz nit meed,Hey! Lekoved eem a leed!

Glitshn, glitshn, glitshn vider,Varem vert in ale gleeder,Flam in beklekh, kraft in hent,In di oyern fayer brent.

5. Hirsh Lekert(words: folk song, vocals: Anthony Russell/Michael Alpert/Elizabeth Schwartz/Judy Bressler, accordion: Peter Stan, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, flute/piccolo: Norbert Stachel, percussion: Duncan Moore)

On May Day, 1902, the newly-appointed Czarist Governor of Vilna [Vilnius], Baron Viktor von Wahl, ordered his troops and Cossacks to brutally beat down the Socialist-led workers’ demonstration. That evening, workers let loose a blizzard of protest leaflets from the balcony of the State Theater. Those arrested – 20 Jews and six Poles – were forced to run the gauntlet in jail, between rows of Cossack whips. On the following day, each prisoner was placed on a whipping board and dealt 20 to 30 blows. The Vilna Committee of the Bund – General Jewish Workers’ Alliance of Russia, Poland, and Lithuania – issued a call in Yiddish and Polish calling for vengeance, but was split over the idea of an individual, terrorist act.

On May 18, Hirsh (dim: Hershl, Hershke) Lekert, a young shoemaker and a Bund activist, spotted von Wahl entering the Circus Theater, waited until the Governor exited, and wounded him in his hand and foot with pistol shots. Lekert managed to shout “Long live freedom!” before being taken away. His hanging sentence was carried out on June 10 on the military parade grounds, where his body was immediately buried. The grave site was leveled by waves of cavalry and infantry. Hirsh Lekert became an international folk-hero among Jewish workers.

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(As his namesake, I have taken special pleasure in translating these verses from the much longer famous song in rhyme and in approximate meter. – Hirsh [Hershl] Hartman)

As Hershke left his house that fateful evening,He wished his family a cheerful “good night.”As Hershke reached the Circus turning,He waited there, devoid of fright.

As the Governor emerged at intermission,His glance was full of overweening pride.But Hershke came to carry out his mission:He shot the Governor in his right side.

As soon as the tyrants heard the shot,They came running, ever- rough.He was quite easy to spot,And immediately they dragged him off.

As soon as they had taken him away,A great excitement swept the crowd.One comrade told another in the fray:“It is our brother, who was not cowed!”

“Oh, brothers, do not forget me,Nor the hangman’s noose that I now wear;This legacy, brothers, you have from me:Vengeance must be taken, if you dare!”

Hirsh LekertAzoy vee Hershke iz fun shtub aroysgegangen,Gezogt hot er a “gutinke nakht.”Azoy vee Hershke iz tsum tsirk nor tsugegangenA kleyne vayle hot er dort farbrakht.

Vee der gubernator iz fun tsirk aroysgegangen,Mit zayn oyg hot er gevorfn gants vayt,

Azoy hot Hershke dem revolver aroysgenumenUn geshosn dem gubernator in a zayt.

Azoy vee dee tiranen hobn dem shos derhert,Azoy zaynen zey antkegn gekumen:Zey hobn eem gants gut bamerktUn hobn eem glaykh tsugenumen.

Vee zey hobn eem nor tsugenumen,Iz gevorn a groys geruder,Eyn khaver hot gezogt tsum tsveytn:“Meer hobn farlorn undzer bruder.”

Oy, breeder, eer zolt mikh nit fargesn,Dem shtrik, vos me hot farvorfn af mayn haldz,A tsavue, breeder, vil ikh aykh iberlozn,A rakhe zolt eer nemen far alts!

6. Girls Sewing at the Machines(words: Itzik Feffer, vocals: Elizabeth Schwartz/Judy Bressler, accordion: Peter Stan, violin: Yale Strom, baritone saxophone: Norbert Stachel, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, hand percussion: Bressler/Schwartz/Stachel/Strom)

Winter, Spring, and Fall and SummerIn my shtetl, from early dawn,In a narrow, alien room,Girls sit sewing at machines. (repeat)

A needle leaps and thrusts down sharplySharply as the girls who sew.As is her habit, in the evenings,Hodl and the girls to the clubroom go. (repeat)

Quietly, Hodl speaks her pieceAbout labor and the Comintern.Her words pierce through, just like the needle –As all the others listen and learn. (repeat)

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Winter, Spring, and Fall and SummerEvery day from early dawn,In a narrow, alien room,Girls sit sewing at machines. (repeat)

Neyen Meydlekh by MasheenenVinter, freeling, harbst un zumerIn mayn shtetl fun baginen,In a shmoln, fremdn tsimerNeyen meydlekh ba masheenen. (repeat)

Tut a shprung a sharfe nodl,Sharf, vee meydlekh, velkhe neyen.Iz gevoynt farnakht shoyn HodlInem klub mit meydlekh geyen. (repeat)

Shtil, a vort vet nemen HodlVegn mee un komintern.Shtekhn verter, vee eer nodl –Zaynen ale shtil un hern. (repeat)

Vinter, freeling, harbst un zumerAle teg fun free baginen,In a shmoln, fremdn tsimerNeyen meydlekh ba masheenen. (repeat)

7. A Stone on a Stone(words: Itzik Feffer, vocals: Jack “Yankl” Falk/Vira Lozinsky /Elizabeth Schwartz, piccolo/tenor saxophone: Norbert Stachel, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan)

Across towns and citiesWith a Comyouth* stride.A board on a boardand a beam on a beam.

Who whimpers and praysWith frosty sobs –A board on a boardAnd a stone on a stone.

Across towns and citiesWe are not alone;A board on a boardAnd a stone on a stone.

As long as the hand movesAnd the feet can go, too.A board on a boardAnd a stone on a stone.

On ruined roadsWith a Comyouth stride,The roof is now ready,And a city’s in pride.(Repeat first verse)

*Yiddish version (Komyug) of Russian (Komsomol) – Communist League of Youth

A Shteyn Tsu A ShteynIber derfer un shtetMit komyugishn gang.A bret tsu a bretUn a shtang tsu a shtang.

Ver yomert un betMit kaltn geveyn –A bret tsu a bretUn a shteyn tsu a shteyn.

Iber derfer un shtet,Zaynen meer nit aleyn;A bret tsu a bretUn a shteyn tsu a shteyn.

Biz s’loyft nor dee hantUn dee fis konen geyn.Iz a vant tsu a vantUn a shteyn tsu a shteyn.

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Af khoreven shlyakhMit komyugishn trot,Un greyt iz a dakh,Un greyt iz a shtot.

Fun morgn biz shpetMit komyugishn gang –A bret tsu a bretUn a shtang tsu a shtang.

8. Among the Highest(words: Izi Kharik, vocals/whistle: Elizabeth Schwartz, contrabass /balalaika: Jeff Pekarek)

In cowhide boots, smeared with cement,We stand on the heights of trembling walls.

On the highest scaffolds, on steel and on stone–We shape the distance as obedient clay.

Lost in our work, in labor – absorbed,While walls are surfeited with concrete.

From here we raise still higher our heads,And see how the air rises high in stair - treads.

And suddenly, we remain lost in thought:How good to live on and finish the roof.

And how good to live – in the wonder of light,Among the highest – we’ll be there, too.

Tsvishn Di HekhsteIn shteevl yukhtove farshmeert in tsement:Meer shteyen af hoykher mishkoyles fun vent.

Af hekhstn gekleter, af shtol un af shteyn – Meer knetn dee rakhves, vee horkhzame leym.

In arbet – fartrogn, in pratse – farton,Vern gezetikt dee vent mit beton.

Fundanen farvarfn meer hekher dee kepUn kukn vee s’loyfn in luftn dee trep.

Un plutslung inmitn, meer blaybn fartrakht:Es vilt zikh derlebn derboyen dem dakh.

Un gut iz tsu filn – in vunder fun shayn,Tsvishn dee hekhste – oykh meer veln zayn.

9. City of the Future(words: M. Shapiro, vocals: Daniel Kahn/Anthony Russell /Vira Lozinsky, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, classical guitar: Fred Benedetti, violin: Yale Strom, clarinet: Norbert Stachel)

I see it now, the city of plenty,Where there will be no great nor small;Where everyone is a creatorAnd every wanderer has a home.

This is the city of the new foundation,Where there’s no remnant of the past,And laboring as loyal partners:The giant, Human, with Nature bound.

And little streams of clearness flowThrough iron, steel and radio…And the city is one giant garden,And all the world, one giant town.

And masses of children, at early dawn,Carry joy from door to door…I see it now, tomorrow’s city,I hear its hearty, singing roar.

Shtot Fun TsukunftIkh ze zee shoyn, dee shtot fun shefe,Vu s’vet nit zayn kayn groys un kleyn,Vu yeder eyner iz a sheferUn yeder vogler hot a heym.

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Dos iz dee shtot fun nayem gruntfest,Vu s’iz fun alts nishto kayn shpur,Un s’arbetn in trayer shutfesDer reez, der mentsh mit der natur…

Un s’fleesn taykhelekh fun klorkaytDurkh ayzn, radiyo un shtol…Un s’iz dee shtot eyn groyser gortn,Un s’iz dee velt eyn groyse shtot…

Un makhnes kinderlekh tsetrognFarfree dee freyd fun hoyz tsu hoyz…Ikh ze zee shoyn, di shtot fun morgn,Ikh her eer zingevdikn roysh…

10. Village Pain(words: B. Kavinev/Yiddish:Y Fridman, vocals: Jack “Yankl” Falk /Michael Alpert/Daniel Kahn/Anthony Russell, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan)

The village was assaulted suddenlyBy an angry wind with dust and snow;And in the cottage someone toldOf Lenin’s death, in pain and woe. (repeat)

The walls of the cottage grow tight and dumb,The rafters, too, turn sadly numb.And hiding in a corner thereA grandma quietly sheds her tears. (repeat)

Tears shimmer – shining woe.Grey grizzled beards tremble in mourning.Blond-haired youths walk along in the frostAnd they shed their frosty tears at the gate. (repeat)(Repeat first verse)

Dorfisher VeyS’hot in derfl plutslung zikh fardreyt – A beyzer vint mit shtoybn un mit shneyen;Un in khatke vegn Lenins toytEmitser dertseylt hot n’teefe veyen. (repeat)

Vern vent fun khatke eng un shtum,Kukt der balkn troyerik farlozn.Un bahaltn in a vinkl dortHot a bobe trern shtil fargosn. (repeat)

Shemereern trern – heler vey,Tsitern grayz - groye berd in troyer.Geyen blonde yungen afn frostUn zey veynen frostik ba dem toyer. (repeat)(Repeat first verse)

11. My Youth(words: Izi Kharik, vocals: Anthony Russell, balalaika: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan)

My youth was not wrapped up in silks,No tender hand mussed up my hair.I grew up a powerful fellow A boy in ‘short pants made of wood.’* (repeat)

While yet alone in my strict, hard cradle,My eyes shone out like bits of daylight.I would hear my nearby father Singing in the freshness of dawn. (repeat)

Like a nimble bird father’s hammer fliesFalling and trembling between his knees.And I, somehow, like a tender mother, Come to love every note of his rich-laden voice. (repeat)

Now I grow up simple and strongWith my father’s two powerful hands;And in today’s highest proclamationsI recognize my father’s song. (repeat)*Yiddish expression for a headstrong child.

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Mayn YugntMayn yugnt hot keyner in zayd nit geviklt,A tsarte hant hot mayne hor nit gekrayzlt.Ikh bin gevoksn a kreftiker yingl A yingl fun hiltserne heyzlekh. (repeat)

Un in veeg nokh in shtrenger un harter,Mit oygn – tsvey shtikelekh tog.Fleg ikh hern, mayn noenter tate Zingt shoyn in frishn fartog. (repeat)

A flinker foygl fleet tatns hamer,Falt un tsaplt tsvishn dee knee.Un meer vert epes leeb vee a mame Yeder reer fin zayn zaftiker shtim. (repeat)

Itst vaks ikh a proster, un festerMit tatns tsvey kreftike hent;Un in hayntikn oysruf in hekhstn Kh’hob dos leed fun mayn tatn derkent. (repeat)

12. The Young Guard(words: Sergei Tretyakov [Yiddish: Yankev Fridman], vocals: Michael Alpert/Jack “Yankl” Falk/Vira Lozinsky, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan, baritone saxophone: Norbert Stachel, violin: Yale Strom)

In iron-fast reservesWe grow up spirited.We swear to be the first ones hereIn labor, battle, blood.

We know the price of labor, Of sorrows and of pain. We come from sickle and from hammer, From fields in sunshine’s light. (repeat)

In every house is our song,That rings and calls and glows;We bite deep and stubbornlyThe granite of those who know.

The gun is our comrade, No battle makes us fear; We stand ready to protect The free Soviet-power. (repeat)

Yunge GvardiyeIn ayzerne rezervn – fest,Meer vaksn ful mit mut.Mir shvern – zayn dee ershte do,In arbet, shlakht, un blut.

Dem prayz fun mee meer veysn, Fun laydn un fun payn. Fun serp un hamer kumen meer, Fun feld un zunen-shayn. (repeat)

In yeder hayzl – undzer leed,Vos klingt un ruft un gleet,Meer baysn sharf un ayngeshpartFun visn dem granit.

Dee biks iz undzer khaver, Undz shrekt nit op keyn shlakht; Meer zaynen greyt bashitsn Dee fraye ratn-makht. (repeat)

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13. This Will Be(words: Arn Kushnirov, vocals: Jack “Yankl” Falk, classical guitar: Fred Benedetti, violin: Yale Strom, flute: Norbert Stachel)

This will be our final struggle,Resisting the roar of autumnal leaf-fall;Praise to those who arrive on time,Praise to those who were not late.

Our deepest sky was burning,Our hard earth had split in two.We were, then, on time with our blessings,We were, then, on time with our cursing.

Every word then burned our tonguesAnd did not caress our ears;Now we are protected and secureFrom saying again the oft-repeated words.

Now we are protected and secureFrom the roar of autumnal leaf-fall,Praise to those who arrive on time,Praise to those who were not late.

Dos Vet ZaynDos vet zayn undzer letster shtrayt,Bayshteyn roysh fun harbstikn gebleter;Voyl tsu dee, vos kumen tsudertsayt,Voyl tsu dee, vos hobn nit farshpetikt.

Undzer teefer himl hot gebrent,Undzer harte erd hot zikh geshpoltn,Meer hobn demlt tsudertsayt gebentsht,Meer hobn demlt tsudertsayt gesholtn.

Yedes vort hot undz dee tsung gebreet,Un hot undz dem oyer nit getsertlt:Itst zaynen meer bavornt un baheetFun iberzogn shoyn gezogte verter.

Itst zaynen meer bavornt un bafraytFun roysh tsvishn harbstikn gebleter,Voyl tsu dee, vos kumen tsudertsayt,Voyl tsu dee, vos hobn nit farshpetikt.

14. The Song of the Collective Farmer(words: Yankev Fridman, vocals: Vira Lozinsky, contrabass/guitar: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan, violin: Yale Strom)

Ekh, what a time we’ve got now – It burns and glows, burns and glows.Hear the sound in the Soviet landOf our song, our song.

The strength of the collective grows,Quick and fast, quick and fast.It’s socialism that we build – Brightest red, brightest red.

A lovely tractor sings in the field,Sings its song, sings its song.Digging deep into the earth,Never tired, never tired.

Whoever fears the new machine – Go on back, go on back!As for us, the new machineBrings new luck, brings new luck!

Now the earth will start to bloom,Sated and fat, sated and fat.And the plants grow full and juicy:Leaf and branch, leaf and branch!

Oh my brothers, poor and needy,Into the collective, into the collective!Free yourselves from the rich landlord – That’s our call! That’s our call!

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Dos Leed Fun KolveertnikEkh, a tsaytele iz haynt – S’brent un gleet, s’brent un gleet.Hert vee s’roysht in ratnlandUndzer leed, undzer leed.

Vaksn koykhes fun kolveert,Flink un shnel, flink un shnel.Sotsyalizm boyen meer – Royt un hel, royt un hel!

Zingt a trakterl in feld,Zingt zayn leed, zingt zayn leed.Rayst uf breyt un teef dee erd,Keynmol meed, keynmol meed.

Ver es shrekt zikh far masheen – Gey tsurik, gey tsurik!Undz vet brengen dee masheenNayem glik, nayem glik!

Vet zikh erdele tsevaksnFet un zat, fet un zat.Un s’vet greenen ful un zaftikTsvayg un blat, tsvayg un blat!

Breederlekh, eer oreme,N’kolekteev, n’kolekteev!Traybt fun zikh dem baleguf – Undzer ruf! Undzer ruf!

15. Not to Worry(words: Peretz Markish, vocals: Anthony Russell/Jack “Yankl” Falk, accordion: Peter Stan, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, clarinet: Norbert Stachel, percussion: Duncan Moore)

Suddenly a tractor comes,Cuts the earth as straight as selvage.Brothers! Ha! Now what can you say?Brothers, not to worry.

Chorus: Forty children, twenty womenHave already seen it:Oh, oh, oh – the driver’s comin’Won’t he be the limit!

Some sort of cleats upon the wheel-treads,With an Adam’s apple, fatherMendl draws up, wants to speak out:“Most honorable folks – ”ChorusEveryone cheers and they stroke him:“Let a girl up for the driving!”And when a girl’s a tractor - driver,Brother, not to worry!Chorus

Breeder Nit GedaygetKumt a trakter plutslung onet,Shnaydt dos feld vee mit a krayke,Yeedn, ha! Vos zogt eer vayter?Breeder nit gedayget.

Tsuzing: Fertsik kinder, tsvantsik vayber Hobn eem batrakht shoyn: Oy, oy, oy – iz dos a trayber, Vet er taratakhtshen! (repeat)

Epes negl af dee reder,Un a gorgl, tate, hot er,Tseet zikh Mendl, vil a red ton:“Visokoblagorodiye!”TsuzingShrayen ale un me tapt eem: – Traybn zol a meydl deyke;Un az a meydl traybt a trakter,Iz breeder nit gedayget!Tsuzing

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16. A Well(words: Itzik Feffer, vocals: Judy Bressler/Vira Lozinsky/Elizabeth Schwartz/Jack “Yankl” Falk/Daniel Kahn/Michael Alpert /Anthony Russell, contrabass/guitar: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan, clarinet: Norbert Stachel, percussion: Duncan Moore)

Where the grasses now grow wetter,There’s a well that’s lost in thought.Come the maidens to draw water With the pails that they have brought. (repeat)

Like the polar bears in sunlight,Orchards’ lovely days go by.And in the farthest starlight, There’s a circle dance of guys. (repeat)

From the steppes there blow the breezesAnd a little fire glows.The girls walk on the grasses With their pails, in frocks and bows. (repeat)

The moon grows pale and whiter.There’s a drum that someone’s brought.Where the grasses now grow wetter, There’s a well that’s lost in thought. (repeat)

A KrenetseDort, vu grozn zaynen naser,Shteyt a krenetse fartrakht.Kumen meydlekh tsee’en vaser Mit dee emer ale nakht. (repeat)

Unter zun, vee vayse bern,Vaksn teg in groysn sod,Un in vayter shayn fun shtern Tantsn yatn in a rod. (repeat)

Fun di stepes vintlekh bloznUn a fayerl derbrent;

Geyen meydlekh af dee grozn Mit dee emer in dee hent. (repeat)

Vert dee levone blas un blaser,Ergets poykt men in der nakht:Dort, vu grozn zaynen naser, Shteyt a krenetse fartrakht. (repeat)

17. October(words: Shmuel Rosin, vocals: Anthony Russell/Judy Bressler/Elizabeth Schwartz, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan, flute/clarinet: Norbert Stachel, classical guitar: Fred Benedetti, percussion: Duncan Moore)

I recognized you in smoke and in flames,In wide-open, shaken-up days.You are loved, therefore, like a mother,And maybe, just maybe, still more.

You suffered enough and were tortured,And for us, for us, it was hard.Not for naught did heads lie here,For every tread of your earth.

And now, for your blooming and peace,For the smoke from your smokestacks today,Ready to give up their lives now,Are your best and dearest sons. (repeat)

OktyaberKh’hob derkent dikh in roykh un in flamen,In tsepralte tsetreyslte teg.Bistu leeb meer derfar vee a mame,Un efsher, un efsher nokh mer.

Host geblutikt genug un geveytikt,Iz geven, iz gevezn undz shver.Nit umzist hobn kep do geleygt zikhFar yetvider shpan fun dayn erd.

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Un atsind far dayn ufblee un sholem,Far dayn roykh fun dee koymens atsind,Zaynen greyt mitn lebn batsoln Dayne beste un tayerste zeen. (repeat)

18. Luminous Detachments(words: Z. Veremikin, vocals: Daniel Kahn, contrabass: Jeff Pekarek, accordion: Peter Stan, baritone saxophone: Norbert Stachel)

A joyful journey onward – Crowds of bright young fellows – The city sends the villageLuminous detachments.

When the night comes onIt is in no way frightful:We light up the blue roofsWith our bright-lit lanterns.

The brilliant moon shines downOn the snow-clogged road.She will lead us onRight into the village.(Repeat first verse)

Likhtike OtriyadnA freylekhe neseeye – Makhnes yunge yatn – S’shikt dee shtot dem dorfLikhtike otriyadn.

Falt shoyn tsu dee nakht,Iz es nit geferlekh:Iber bloyen dakhTsindn meer lamterndlekh.

Shaynt op a levoneIber shlyakh farshneytn.Biz in same dorfVet zee undz bagleytn.(Repeat first verse)

19. Factory Song(words: Z. Smolyanski, vocals: Elizabeth Schwartz/Vera Lozinsky/Judy Bressler)

Machines buzz like bees,Walls shake to and fro.I stand at the machinesWith hands and heart aglow.

Thousands of pairs of shoesAre created here.The sounds of gears and leather beltsFill my joyous ears.

The morning sounds its siren,The siren sounds its call.Quiet down, machines:Rest now, after all.(Repeat first verse)

Fabrik-LidMasheenen hudyen beenen,S’tsitern dee vent,Kh’shtey do ba masheenenMit tsegleete hent.

Vern do geshafnToyznter por sheekh.Redelekh un pasnLoyfn azoy geekh.

Hudyet der baginenHudyet der hudok.Shtiler zayt masheenenRut abisl op.

Masheenen hudyen beenen,S’tsitern dee vent,Kh’shtey do ba masheenenMit tsegleete hent.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:Commissars of CultureThe Puffin Foundation: “continuing the dialogue between art and the lives of ordinary people”; Marilyn Ziering.

Komsomol LeadersLilke & Szlama Majzner Memorial Fund for Yiddish Culture, Kathy McElroy & David Newby, Dale Sanders IMO Marcelle Mékiès, Rebecca R. Weinreich, Tara Rose.

Radio OperatorsAnne Geffner, Eric A. Gordon, Ilana Katz IMO Marlyn Katz Levenson, Friends of Earl Robinson.

Tractor DriversBen Barenholtz, Judy Baston, Ken Feder, Trish and Bruce Friedman, Ben Froman, George Goldberg, Erica Hahn, Daniel Horowitz IMO Dr. Sylvia Teich Horowitz, Luis & Lee Lainer, Leo Baeck Temple, Roger Lowenstein, Donald & Irene Naftulin Family Trust, Nina Segrè & Frank Furstenberg, Workers Education Society (Chicago), Michael Zylberman.

Collective FarmersFrederick & Harriet Aronow, Rabbi Haim Beliak, Brenda Lewis Cooper, Ellen DuBois, Daniel Fox, Frances Goldin, Michael Goldstein, Fred Gordon & Kathie Dean, Ilse Gordon & Neil Shapiro, Larry Gross & Scott Tucker, David S. Horowitz IMO Dr. Sylvia Teich Horowitz, Naomi Jacobs, Sandra Kapin, (Arlene & A.P.) Katzman Family Trust, Anne Kaufman, Abraham & Joan Landzberg, Dr. Marc Lavietes & Rose Rosal, Robert Lerner, Stephen O.

Lesser, Sheila Liberman-Reich, Barbara & Ryan MacDonald, August & Rena Maymudes, Shannon Moller, Aaron Paley, Jack & Judy Rothman, Dr. Robert Schragg, Gladys Steinberg, Dr. Linda Stell, Ruth Tavlin, William Taxerman, Kenneth Turan, George & Jo Ubogy, Valley Beth Shalom Cantor’s Discretionary Fund, Chic Wolk, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring Br. 1054

BuildersTerry Baum, Alice Weiland Benjamin, Myra Boime, Fran Chalin, Martin Cohen & Michelle Markel, Robert L. Cohen, Kirsten Cowan, Henrique e Hadasa Cytrynowicz, Pat Downing, Zoe Favire Werth, Richard Fond & Marjorie Marks, Sarah Forth, Leslie Gersicoff, Gene & June Gordon, Robby Gordon, Janet Hadda & Allan Tobin, Marvin Kabakoff, Michael Katz & Linda Gritz, Roberta & Ray Klein, Dora & Mark Levin, Moshe & Adina Melnick, A. Nomenlozer, Richard & Rochelle Platkin, Howard Robinson & Kate Lehrman, Stephen F. Rohde, Larry Rubinstein, Sandra Shipow, Milton Simpson, Michael Slaughter, Henry & Carole Slucki, J. David Stanfield, Frieda & Eugene Shapiro, Trade Union Club of Southern California Communist Party USA, Jantje van Houwelingen, Hillel Wasserman, Stephen J. Wersan, Rev. Tim Yeager & Caroline Moores, Dr. Mae Ziskin.

In addition, the producers would like to recognize the following for their kind and in-kind support: Arbeter Ring (Workmen’s

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Circle) SoCal District, Sharon Arkin, Fran Chalin, Kirsten Cowan, Zoe Favire Werth, Lori Furth, Rita & Martin Hall, Ruth Judkowitz, Miriam Koral, Lilke Majzner, Glenn Mitroff & Dan Lippitt, Mitchell Patton, Jennette Pyne, Judy Richter, Kathryn Rowe, Sanda Schuldmann, Ruth Seid, The Sholem Community, Workers Education Society (Chicago), Rev. Tim Yeager and Caroline Moores.

We owe a very special debt of gratitude to Hershl Hartman, who sensitively translated the Yiddish texts into poetic English, and allowed their publication here, and for guiding the singers in a consistent “theatrical” Galician accent. A word about that: We have opted to employ this Yiddish pronunciation on the recording which, while not standard, is most often used in the Yiddish theater, and thus in the songs that emerged from the stage. The most recognizable feature of this accent is the modification of the “u” sound – as in “gut,” pronounced “goot” (good) – to an “ee” sound, i.e., “geet”. In the printed transliteration, however, we adhere to standard YIVO, thus “gut” is good. In our only departure from YIVO, we have rendered the sound “ee” of the letter yud or “i” in a word such as “eem” (him), to distinguish from use of the same letter in a word such as “bagin”.

Telekhaner Klezmorim in Telechany, Poland 1908

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The singers: Anthony Russell – bass

Jack “Yankl” Falk – baritoneMichael Alpert – tenor

Daniel Kahn – tenorJudy Bressler – altoVira Lozinsky – alto

Elizabeth Schwartz – contralto

Licensed from Yale StromPublished by Leaping Waters Music

Produced by Eric GordonMusical director: Yale Strom

Recorded at Studio WestMixed by Tripp Sprague

Sound engineer: Nick BrewerSound engineer (final mix): Tripp Sprague

Mastering: Tripp SpragueFinal master: Diz Heller at ARC Music Productions International Ltd.

Booklet photographs provided by Yale StromCover photographs:

Bottom right: Klezmers in Belorussia leading a Jewish wedding in the 1920s – courtesy of Yale Strom archives.

Top right: Former synagogue in Saveni, Romania – courtesy of Yale Strom, 2007.

Bottom left: The Elderberg Brothers in Lvova, Russia, before World War One – courtesy of Yale Strom archives.

Top left: The Lerman family klezmer ensemble in Plotsk, Poland before World War One – courtesy of Yale Strom archives.

Cover design/typesetting/layout: Sarah AshLiner notes: Yale Strom

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EUCD2296 HILDA BRONSTEIN SINGS YIDDISH SONG WITH CHUTZPAH!Hilda Bronstein and her band Chutzpah! perform an eclectic mix of beautiful traditional Yiddish melodies that touch the heart: tangos, wedding songs, foot-tapping swing as well as surprising Yiddish versions of favourite chart-toppers. These are songs performed with passion and Chutzpah! Complete Yiddish lyrics plus English translations.

EUCD2345 THE DEVIL’S BRIDES – Klezmer & Yiddish Songs – Yale Strom & Hot PstromiPassionate, mournful, exuberant klezmer and Yiddish songs played with violin, tsimbl, accordion, bass and vocals. Each track introduced by Miriam Margolyes; music from and inspired by the audio drama The Witches of Lublin, starring Tovah Feldshuh. Many photos, info about the music, artist biographies and original Yiddish lyrics, all translated into English, German, French and Spanish. Total playing time: 63:33 min.

EUCD2102 “BORSHT WITH BREAD, BROTHERS” – KLEZMER – Yale Strom & Hot PstromiExuberant and mournful Klezmer melodies with vocals, violin, guitar, bass, accordion, saxophone and percussion. The arrangements are spontaneous and unique and pay tribute to the past while creating something fresh and new. 36-page booklet with extensive information.

EUCD2255 KLEZMER & YIDDISH SONGS – Jontef • MidpriceKlezmer music and Yiddish songs, telling about the old ‘Shtetl’ of Eastern Europe, about the fiddlers and idlers, the coachmen, the jokers (Badchn) and about the teachers (Melamed) with their dreams and longings, their happiness and vitality. Lyrics in Yiddish, English, German and French.

EUCD2584 DISCOVER KLEZMER – with ARC Music • MidpriceA vibrant album with an eclectic collection of klezmer music, with bands hailing from Poland, the UK, Germany, the Americas, Sweden and Denmark. With colourful variety in styles and instrumentations from ‘ethnic’ to ‘jazzy’, the music exudes a particular charm, a kind of melancholic exuberance, at once happy and sad. Info about each of the pieces. Total playing time: 62:25 min.

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