The Well

When Israeli singer Chava Alberstein produced a documentary film on 20th-century Yiddish poets in 1995 (“Too Early to Be Quiet, Too Late to Sing”), the writers’ stories provoked Alberstein to set some of their poems to music. The results are gathered on The Well, with vocals by Alberstein and music performed by the Klezmatics. The compositions reflect Alberstein’s wide range of influences, from klezmer and traditional Jewish music to French chanson, German cabaret, American folk, and Middle Eastern styles all popping up. (Steve Huey, AMG)

(Xenophile, 1996)