Herald Rating: * * *
(Rouge)
Review: Graham Reid
Klezmer music - a kind of Jewish folk-jazz originally from Eastern Europe - underwent a rediscovery in the mid-80s and musicians of all persuasions were quick to recognise its potential.
It had that lively sound of the Swing Era but with a kind of flapper-period
jazzy looseness, was made up of appealing layers of gypsy folk instrumentation (fiddles, accordions, banjo and double bass), and in the hands of contemporary practitioners, droll and often self-parodying Jewish humour.
Auckland's Jews Brothers, on their second and considerably better album, match most overseas models in pianist Hershal's klezmer swing tracks (the title track, She's My Girl) and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Nigel Gavin's spiralling folk-jazz tunes (Thredbo, Thredbo).
There's also a studied "amateurism" at work here - tea-chest bass, Neill Duncan on "toys" and the kitsch romance of melodica - which belies the album's canny smarts, and its self-indulgent enjoyment of its own humour (In a Roumanian Village, Eine Kleine Swingele Liedele).
In this context Linn Lorkin's biographical Matus Radzivilover either comes as a tediously wordy clunker or a reminder of the price this culture paid for its wit. Otherwise this is thoroughly enjoyable stuff which doubtless comes up even more appealing when served up live.
