ANDY STATMAN AND HIS TRIO
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 24th
DOORS AT 8:30pm $15
Jewish Music Cafe
401 9th street (btw. 6th & 7th ave.)
Park Slope Brooklyn
more info at http://www.jewishmusiccafe.com
About Andy Statman: A driving force behind the neo-klezmer movement since its inception in the early 1980s, Andy Statman, newly signed to Sony Classical, remains an extraordinary paradox: a musician devoted to musical tradition who also continues to break new artistic ground. A celebrated mandolin player in the “Newgrass” movement of the 1970s, Andy Statman (clarinettist/composer/bandleader) has recently reinvigorated yet another realm of traditional musicmaking – klezmer – with his own particular blend of virtuosity, and originality.
The Hidden Light (SK 60814), Andy Statman’s first release on Sony Classical, draws upon his commitment to traditional repertoire as well as his singular capacity as a composer in the klezmer revival style.
Fronting a quartet that features such jazz luminaries as pianist Bruce Barth, drummer Bob Weiner and bassist Scott Lee, Statman leads the listener into equal measures of traditional and new music. This recording marks a new direction for Statman, in that it combines the spiritual depth of klezmer captured here in the niggunim, melodies from the mystical Chassidim of Judaism with the improvisational qualities of jazz.
A founding member of the Newgrass collective “Country Cookin'” in the early seventies, he marked his turn to klezmer with three recordings by the Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra. Subsequent releases included a collection of traditional Jewish songs with mandolin – great David Grisman and another collection of klezmer recordings with Itzhak Perlman.
Just a PS about Andy’s recent recording history: “The Hidden Light” is almost nine years old, and he never did another CD for Sony Classical.
However in the past few years he has released “Awakening from Above” (featuring his clarinet playing) and “East Flatbush Bles” (featuring his mandolin playing), both with his present trio, on his own label “Shefa”; a collaboration with David Grisman, “New Shabbos Waltz,” on Acoustic Disc; “Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge” for Mayon (Chabad); and an archival CD, “Avodas ha-Levi,” for Jon Zorn’s Tzaddik label. He also puts in a cameo appearance on Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder’s recent instrumental CD.
Andy plays almost every Monday and Thursday night at the Charles Street Shul off Sheridan Sq. in the West Village, usually with his trio.
Each performance is a new journey!
An Andy Statman performance is a gift: if you are an observant Jew, I imagine it is a transcendent gift. If you are not an observant Jew, but recognize the heritage his music is drawn from, his performance is an asthetic gift. I’ve been following his career since his days as a bluegrass musician, having seen him perform with David Bromberg in Boston in the late 70s and, more recently, in several of his gigs at Barbes here in PS. Not to be missed.