Grammy Winners The Klezmatics to Play the Frederick Film Festival

March 25, 2013 - PRLog -- (Frederick, Maryland) The Frederick Film Festival (the F3), which runs from June 28-30, has, from their very first year, offered musical events to build excitement into the festival no matter what the interests of the audience members. 2013 is no exception as can be seen as the F3 presents the acclaimed national band, the Klezmatics for a show on Saturday night, June 29, following a presentation of the documentary film “The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground.”

Together since 1986, the Klezmatics have embraced, stretched, reworked, and redefined the type of Eastern European Jewish music for which they were named. While they are often called a “Jewish roots band,” the Klezmatics have led a popular revival of this ages-old, nearly forgotten art form and made it their own.

Their music is rooted in but is not a strictly traditional variety of the klezmer genre. Rather it is a comfortable hybrid that appeals equally to those with no previous exposure to the music and those already familiar with it. On their Grammy-winning 2006 album Wonder Wheel, the Klezmatics set a dozen previously unsung Woody Guthrie lyrics to music, widening their stylistic base by largely diverging from klezmer.

Over the years the Klezmatics have collaborated with such brilliant artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, signer Arlo Guthrie, poet Alan Ginsberg, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and Israeli vocal icon Chava Alberstein, plus many other prominent artists working within multiple genres.

The Klezmatics have appeared on TV programs as diverse as Late Night with David Letterman and Sex and the City, and have also guested on numerous radio programs, including the BBC’s John Peel Show and NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. They’ve recorded a version of the ska classic “Do the Ska (KlezSkaLypso)” on the Skatalites tribute CD Freedom Sounds and written music for the Pilobolus Dance Theatre’s Davenen. Their music was also incorporated into a new work by choreographer Twyla Tharp in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Martha Graham’s birth.

To call them a “klezmer band” is to engage in reckless understatement. The magazine Time Out New York said of them, “the Klezmatics aren’t just the best band in the klezmer vanguard; on a good night, they can rank among the greatest bands on the planet.”

On Saturday night, June 29th, at the Frederick Film Festival, they’ll definitely be the greatest band in the city.

The show will be preceded by a showing of the film The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground introduced by director Erik Anjou who will be available for questions afterwards. Anjou spent more than four years researching, traveling, fundraising, filming, interviewing, editing, and generally becoming an extension of the band. His film is a fascinating portrait of a fascinating group of musicians.

The evening will be a big one for the Frederick Film Festival community. A great expression of the F3’s belief that great film and great music work together the same way a soundtrack and a film do. Each adding a greater dimension to the other.

A great community event to celebrate F3! More information available at:
FrederickFilmFest.com
Or by calling the Weinberg at:
301.600.2828

Media Contact :
Frederick Film Festival
Frederick, MD 21705
301.600.2828
info@frederickfilmfest.com
http://www.frederickfilmfest.com