Today on the podcast, Susan Hoffman-Lankin-Watts. Susan is a fourth generation (at least!) Philadelphia klezmer musician and one of my favorite trumpet players in this music. If you want to hear the spirit of the old world come from the bell of a trumpet, listen to Susuan. The daughter of klezmer drumming legend Elaine Hoffman-Watts … Continue reading Susan Watts →

Hi everyone, the Radiant Others Podcast is back! I’m so excited to share this conversation with the great klezmer accordionist Sanne Möricke, from Berlin. We got to talk back in November when we were working on a project (as yet unnamed) with Michael Winograd in Brooklyn. Sanne is one of my favorite klezmer accordionists and … Continue reading Sanne Möricke →

Welcome everyone, to the 6th episode of the Radiant Others Klezmer music Podcast!! What can I say about the band Veretski Pass? Veretski Pass takes its name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These three musicians, Cookie Segelstein, Josh Horowitz, … Continue reading Veretski Pass →

Welcome everyone, to the 5th episode of the Radiant Others Klezmer music Podcast!! I had the pleasure of talking to ethnomusicologist and historian Mark Slobin at Klezkanada back in August. We had a great talk about the arc of cultural revivals, the creation of Ethnic identity in the US, and of course, the early days … Continue reading Mark Slobin →

Welcome everyone, to the 4th episode of the Radiant Others Klezmer music Podcast!! This episode also marks the beginning of our 2nd mini-season! Today I’m excited to present two conversations with two great Yiddish singers, Shura Lipovsky and Josh Waletsky. Shura and Josh both compose new Yiddish songs and each in their own way, show … Continue reading Shura Lipovsky/Josh Waletsky →

Welcome everyone, to the 4th episode of the Radiant Others Klezmer music Podcast!! This episode also marks the beginning of our 2nd mini-season!

Today I’m excited to present two conversations with two great Yiddish singers, Shura Lipovsky and Josh Waletsky. Shura and Josh both compose new Yiddish songs and each in their own way, show off some of the best of what Yiddish song has to offer. We talk about European Judaism, communist summer camps, the early days of Kapelye, and writing new Yiddish songs. Really great stuff.

Songs

Shura: From her album Vaytinke

Dushinke Mayne

Di Tsayt

Josh: From his new album Pasazhirn/Passengers

The 99%

Gut Morgn

Huge thank you to everyone who’s listened and shared the previous episodes. You can find them here, or by scrolling down to earlier posts on this page.

Welcome to the 3rd episode of Radiant Others: A Klezmer Music Podcast! Today on the podcast, historian, musicologist, tsimbalist, and Yiddish dancer, Zev Feldman. Zev Feldman is one of the most central figures of the klezmer revival. He was instrumental in introducing the great clarinet virtuoso Dave Tarras to a wider audience and has released … Continue reading Zev Feldman →

Welcome everyone, to the very first episode of Radiant Others: A Klezmer Music Podcast! My name is Dan Blacksberg and usually I’m playing trombone when a microphone is front of me instead of talking. Maybe some listeners will know me as a klezmer trombonist, maybe some of you know me through the avant garde jazz … Continue reading Michael Winograd →

Welcome to the 2nd episode of Radiant Others: A Klezmer Music Podcast! Today, I’m talking to tsimbalist, composer, and musical organizer Pete Rushefsky.

As one of the few people really dedicated to the tsimbl (Jewish hammered dulcimer), Pete Rushefsky has played with almost everyone in the American and European klezmer scene, including artists like Itzak Perlman. As the executive director of New York’s Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Pete does loads of vital work behind-the-scenes, organizing tons of events in the NY area, overseeing the newish Yiddish New York, and helping musicians find funding for their projects.

I really enjoyed talking to Pete about his childhood musical explorations, his pretty impressive start in klezmer music, and his ideas about what the klezmer scene is missing today. I hope you’ll have as much fun listening to Pete as I had talking to him.

Thanks again to the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History for their help with this 1st season!

Please rate and review this in iTunes or wherever you listen to it, and please share it on facebook, twitter, or wherever you social media. And send me your questions and feedback at [email protected].

Musical selections (and where to buy them):

“Prince Carol Sirba”: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/rushefsky

“Chazin’s Sirba”: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/klezmershack

“Rabinovitsh” from Joel Rubin’s Midnight Prayer (Courtesy of Traditional Crossroads):

http://traditionalcrossroads.com/epages/79bbb619-3828-417a-8326-55a761667bd1.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/79bbb619-3828-417a-8326-55a761667bd1/Products/%22CD%204332%22

“Peshrev” & “Sacred Esplanade”: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/peterushefskyjakeshulman

I’m thrilled to release Radiant Others: A Klezmer Music Podcast into the world!

I hope you’ll join me as I sit down for in-depth and informal conversations with musicians and other artists whose work has made them an integral part of the klezmer world. With this podcast, I want to give folks who were instrumental in the period of time most of us call the “klezmer revival” a platform to tell their stories and share their ideas about music. The time I spent listening and talking to the musicians in this world who I looked up to was completely integral to who I am today as a musician and a person. Even just listening to the stories of these folks late at night places like at Klezkamp and Klezkanada made a big impact on me when I was coming of age. I hope listening to these conversations can provide you all with some of that same inspiring feeling I had back then.

The first episode features one of my closest friends and musical collaborators, Michael Winograd. Michael is one of the top klezmer clarinetists around. He’s an incredibly creative, hardworking and prolific guy, and I wouldn’t be where I am without him. We’ve played so much music together for so long and in so many contexts and genres. I think he’s the perfect conversation partner to start this show off right!

I will be releasing these episodes in mini-seasons or 3-4 episodes each, once every two weeks for the duration of the season. I plan on offering these seasons every couple months, so this first season will debut this month, and then my plan is to have a set of new episodes for you in October. That’s my current plan, and I expect to re-evaluate as I get deeper into this.

Please subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here!

Thank you for listening and stay tuned for our next episode in 2 weeks!!!

Dan Blacksberg

Musical Selections for Episode 1:

Sher 199 & Freilachs for Gwen Stefani from Bessarabian Hop http://www.allmusic.com/album/bessarabian-hop-mw0001648110

Murder & Kolomeyke from Storm Game https://open.spotify.com/album/1KHM266sLkmubnbWntiMrf

You can find out more about Michael Winograd at http://www.michaelwinograd.net/.