On the evening of Saturday, Dec. 9, I stopped by the Green Bean coffehouse in downtown Greensboro. As I was there, I saw this band set up and noticed they had a mandolin and a clarinet. The band was Sinai Mountain Ramblers, the only Klezner..traidtional Jewish music... band in the area. I stopped by later that night and watched them perform. I must admit it was my frist glimpse of Klezner music since I saw the late John Candy and Eugene Levy make fun of the music in a "SCTV' comedy skit when I was about 12 or 13 years old. But, this music is really enjoyable. Much like polka, it is the kind of music which seems very unhip during one's Depeche Mode/Billy Idol teen angst years but one appreciates it as they realize just how awful Def Leopard proves to be once the angst has subsided. The band's web site said that the Sinai Mountain Ramblers started in 1997. Three friends who happened to share a love for playing string instruments and a common interest in traditional Jewish folk music got together on Sundays. They added a clarinet player in 1999. Sinai Mountain Ramblers play Klezner tunes from Eastern Europe and contemporary Jewish folk. The group studied Klezner music further in Montreal in 2001.
The band consists of:
Gary Silverstein- mandolin
Kurt Lavenstein- cello
Rich Lerner-guitar and percussion
Paul Fribush-clarinet and tsimbol
Other Klezner artists include: Michael Alpert (New York), Sam Glacer (LA) and Jack Gabriel (Denver).
In other Greensboro music news, my friend Bruce Piephoff, a folk singer/poet, is scheduled to release a new recording in February. The premiere party is scheduled at the Two Chicks Art Gallery in downtown Greensboro. Here are some useful links:
Sinai Mountain Ramblers
http://freethemusic.net/smr.html
Bruce Piephoff
http://www.brucepiephoff.com
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