10th June 2022 – Shabbat is almost here
And today we will enjoy an instrumental version by Klezmer Juice of a song about love by Matisyahu.
Hello, I hope you are well. Today, when this message reaches you, I am in Brussels. I started writing from home as I was about to embark in a few hours. I have a backlog of emails to answer, including some from recipients of this newsletter, sorry! After Brussels I’m going straight to Poznań and I’ve had to move a lot of things forward. I’ll catch up as soon as possible!
I am in Brussels for the annual meeting of the European Music Council, which I have attended as a delegate of the European Folk Network. Very European everything. So in anticipation of a few days of brainy debates, last Wednesday I decided to bring you a light-hearted-looking piece, with lovely melodies and the clarinet emulating Matisyahu’s voice. The clarinet in klezmer always seems to speak, to laugh, to cry. Its expressiveness captivates me. And this version by the band Klezmer Juice is beautiful. Let me dedicate this edition to my beloved husband, who is now a few thousands of kilometers far from me. I hope this music will accompany you on a wonderful Shabbat.
Then, please, spread the word.
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About Klezmer Juice
This picture is from Klezmer Juice Fan Page on Facebook. It is a cover of an album, as I recognice the logo of the label ARC Music.
Klezmer Juice is a music project by Gustavo Bulgach. About himself, on his website you can read:
“Musician. Composer arranger and music producer. Creative Director for the Klezmer arts institute of Los Ángeles. Klezmer Juice and “El Bulgui Unión” band leader.
We are the band featured in the hollywood hit movie “the wedding crashers”. I Blend Klezmer with the South American experience!!!“
According to Center Stage, Gustavo lived in Buenos Aires until 1992, when he moved first to New York and later to Los Angeles. His music menter is Bennie Maupin, a legendary saxophone and bass clarinet player. He encouraged Gustavo to represent himself, his family and his people in every single note you play. With Klezmer Juice he has several albums.
His father Samuel went to Argentina from Kiev (at the time that it was Russia) and he helped build a Synagogue that would expanded to a school. Gustavo used to attend the Hassidic services. He learnt music in his house, with the singing of his mother, as well as with several private lessions in Argentina and at the USA.
About Matisyahu
I was tempted to put up an older picture of Matisyahu, from when he looked like a Hasid with the kippah and beard (for example, as here) but he has long since changed his appearance so I show him as he is today. This picture is from Wikimedia, by the user Emha.
For me musically, the most interesting thing about Matisyahu was that Klezmer Juice made the album based on his melodies. This is a completely personal opinion of mine based on my own particular tastes. But it has to be said that he is a world-renowned artist. His full name is Matthew Paul Miller and he was born in 1979 in Pensilvania, USA. If you want to learn more about him, this is a reasonable short bio. As a curiosity, Matisyahu plays a rabbi who has to perform an exorcism in the film The Possession. I love films of this genre.
About the song Unique Is My Dove
Unique is My Dove is a song included in the album Youth, released by Matisyahu in 2006. You can listen to it here. The lyrics are available here. It is inspired by a phrase of the Song of Songs.
The version by Klezmer Juice is included in the album The Klezmer Tribute to Matisyahu, that you can listen to, here. It was released in 2006 too, a couple of months after the release of Youth by Matisyahu.