THE KLEZMATICS “TOWARD THE LIGHT”
We return to the road this December for Toward the Light, this year’s celebration of Hanukkah centered around the marriage of our melodies to American folk icon Woody Guthrie’s playful and poignant lyrics.
In 1942, Woody moved to Brooklyn, New York, and soon, through raising his three children and inspired by his mother-in-law, the Yiddish poet and social activist Aliza Greenblatt, became involved with the Coney Island Jewish community. He wrote songs about Hanukkah, Jewish history and spiritual life. After his death in 1967, these treasures lay forgotten in boxes for almost thirty years, until they were rediscovered by Woody’s daughter, Nora. A chance encounter with the Klezmatics at the Tanglewood music festival inspired her to ask us to write new music for her father’s unsung words, which resulted in the acclaimed album Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah. This delightful collection of songs, including “Hanukkah’s Flame,” “Hanukkah Gelt,” “Honeyky Hanukkah” and the title track, is among the best of Woody’s work and the Klezmatics’ musical settings have become a perennial addition to the Hanukkah song tradition.
For this year’s tour, the band will play additional holiday material and revisit gems from our nearly 40-year musical journey, inspired by the universal hope for the restoration of light and peace around the world. Additionally, the band is planning the release of a new Happy Joyous Hanukkah EP, featuring recently unearthed recordings of our favorite songs along with cover versions by other artists.
More about the band…
The Klezmatics have changed the face of contemporary Jewish culture through our uniquely original and expansive work in the fields of klezmer music and Yiddish song, blending klezmer’s aching East European Jewish tunes with raucous Latin stomps, wild jazz riffs and provocative Balkan, Middle Eastern, African and American rhythms. Our career achievements span 13 full-length recordings, countless international concert tours and festivals across five continents, and collaborations with renowned icons of music, theater, television, radio, cinema and dance. The Klezmatics are the subject of an acclaimed documentary film (On Holy Ground) and the recipients of numerous international accolades, including a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album. During our nearly 40 years together the Klezmatics have collaborated with such brilliant artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and Israeli vocal icon Chava Alberstein, plus many other prominent artists working within multiple genres.
The Klezmatics are globally-renowned world music superstars — and the only klezmer band to win a Grammy award. The Klezmatics emerged out of the vibrant cultural scene of New York City’s East Village in 1986 with klezmer steeped in Eastern European Jewish tradition and spirituality, while incorporating contemporary themes such as human rights and anti-fundamentalism and eclectic musical influences including Arab, African, Latin and Balkan rhythms, jazz and punk. In the course of nearly forty years and thirteen albums, they have stubbornly continued making music that is wild, mystical, provocative, reflective and ecstatically danceable.
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