Metropolitan Klezmer: Surprising Finds

Metropolitan Klezmer's third CD is their most expressive disc yet, encompassing wonderfully diverse, dynamic studio and live tracks. Gorgeous, fun and virtuosically played, the eight-piece band's tight and imaginative arrangements bring new life to pieces ranging from rollicking to sinuous to dreamlike. In addition to traditionals (embracing Greek, Turkish, Rumanian, Russian, and Arabic roots of klezmer styles), the disc includes jumping Yiddish swing and lilting tango and new, original music, plus a Balkan-style adaptation of "Pick a Pocket or Two" from Oliver!; time-capsule archival transformations including tunes from the Soviet Yiddish theater of Moscow, a 19th-century ballad of the London underworld, and excerpts of 1960s reel-to-reel home audio featuring sweet singing by the grandfather of vocalist Deborah Karpel. Other unexpected treasures include a clarinet doyna and yearning hora by klezmer legend/original Greater Metropolitan Klezmer Band member Howie Leess, and vocal sample cameos by Yiddish stage and screen giant Maurice Schwartz. With bonus cuts from shows including Joe's Pub at the Public Theater and other NYC clubs, and lusciously detailed graphic design and liner notes with lyrics, translation and transliteration.