Olé? It was a Klezmer Summit

By Eric George Tauber

VISTA, California — When Todd Salovey directed his first Jewish Arts Festival, his daughter was a babe in his arms. Today, she’s a young woman living in Israel and like her, the festival has grown healthy and strong, imbued with a profound knowledge of her heritage. Such was the sense of the Klezmer Summit, June 2nd at the Avo Playhouse in Vista.  The feature act: Klezmer Juice playing South American “Yiddish Tangos.”

Even saying “Yiddish Tango” may sound a bit like “Brisket Burrito” or “Tortilla Borsht”, but only if your concept of “Jewish” is limited to shtetlach and Brooklyn.  Actually, there are Jewish communities throughout Central and South America.  Gustavo Bulgach, the leader of Klezmer Juice, grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a descendant of shtetlniks expelled from Ukraine.

But I get ahead of myself. Opening the show was the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir smartly dressed in black suits and cobalt blue kippot with matching vests and bow ties.  They came out swingin’ with “Bei Mir Bist Du Shayn” and a medley of peppy selections from the siddur.

Their English/Hebrew mix of “You raise me up” gave me goosebumps.  Originally written as a modern hymn, there’s something about it that reaches one’s neshama and elevates to the heavens.

Choir and house alike had the most fun with “Simchas Toyreh” sung in Yiddish.

Keep an eye out for their first CD, “Heritage” now in the works and don’t miss the JAM Hanukah Concert at the JCC Nov. 24th.

Klezmer Juice:  With Gustavo leading on clarinet, they began with a haunting intro to “Oseh Shalom.” Then they got cooking with a rapid-fire medley of traditional klezmer tunes. Toss in some smokin’ hot R&B riffs from base guitarist Ethan Philips and you’ve got one helluva show.

We got the spicy Spanish flavor from Pablo Suñé on acoustic guitar and Dr. Luminoso on the accordion, looking pretty sharp in his white top hat, I might add, playing a variety of “Yiddish Tangos”.  I can’t go into detail about each one, but I bought the CD “Jewfro”and -coming from a critic who regularly covers concerts- that’s saying something.

Stage left was left open for the dancers who –at one point- included a large chunk of the audience snaking their way in a delighted frenzy of feet.  The three professional dancers came from the Bay Area, and they did a very nice job of leading us in a series of simple, yet fun Jewish folk steps. We got more than a concert that afternoon, we got a workout.

When the audience wasn’t dancing, the tangos were presented by the pros.  As an art form, the tango is very sensuous. Frankly, I think we would have enjoyed the dancing more if both partners hadn’t been men. Yes, this is the 21st century, but they were playing to an older house and that’s pushing people a ways out of their comfort zone.

Speaking of the house, it was pretty full, but I couldn’t help noticing that I was one of the younger ones, and I’m no kid.  I know this music can speak to younger generations because some of the musicians were pretty young and totally into it.  So the next time you come to a Klezmer Summit, or any concert of klezmorim, bring someone who can listen with a fresh set of ears. That’s how we’ll keep this piece of our heritage alive.

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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts.  He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com