Beyond the Pale (Brave Old World album)
| Beyond the Pale | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Klezmer | |||
| Label | Rounder[1] | |||
| Producer | Frank Dostal | |||
| Brave Old World chronology | ||||
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Beyond the Pale is an album by the klezmer band Brave Old World, released in 1994.[2][3] The album title refers to the Pale of Settlement.[4]
Production[edit]
The album was produced by Frank Dostal.[5] It contains original songs as well as interpretations of traditional Yiddish songs.[6] Founding member Joel Rubin departed the band prior to the recording sessions.[7] The opening and closing tracks, about the fall of the Berlin Wall, were written in 1990.[8][9]
"Rufn Di Kinder Aheym" ("Calling the Children Home") was inspired by the New Orleans cornetist Buddy Bolden.[10] A cimbalom was employed on "Yismekhu".[11] "Di Sapozhkelekh" used the Misheberak scale.[3] Leon Schwartz taught the band a few of Beyond the Pale's songs.[12]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide |  [5] |
The Globe and Mail wrote that "the dance tunes are as irresistible as ever, but the underlying spirit is not chutzpah or even nostalgia so much as a deep sadness and urgent compassion."[14] The Washington Post concluded that "much of the recording might be described as a meditation on the art of playing klezmer music in the Berlin of the 1990s, and the mixed feelings such an experience would necessarily call up."[15]
AllMusic called the album "appropriately reflective klezmer from Germany, where even the high-spirited freylekhs have a somber edge and Kurt Bjorling's probing clarinet is part accusatory finger, part triumph of intellect and love over will."[13]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Berlin Overture" | |
| 2. | "Brave Old Hora" | |
| 3. | "Basarabye" | |
| 4. | "Big Train" | |
| 5. | "Waltz Roman à Clef" | |
| 6. | "Borsht" | |
| 7. | "Oy, di Dreydlekh" | |
| 8. | "Di Sapozhkelekh" | |
| 9. | "Yismekhu" | |
| 10. | "A Tish-Nign" | |
| 11. | "Bobover Wedding March" | |
| 12. | "Rufn di Kinder Aheym" | |
| 13. | "Doina Extravaganza" | |
| 14. | "Berlin 1990" |
References[edit]
- ^ Strom, Yale (April 19, 2011). The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore. Chicago Review Press.
- ^ Wood, Abigail (April 8, 2016). And We're All Brothers: Singing in Yiddish in Contemporary North America. Routledge.
- ^ a b Ran, Amalia; Morad, Moshe (January 12, 2016). Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas. Brill.
- ^ Rogovoy, Seth (January 1, 2000). The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music, from the Old World to the Jazz Age to the Downtown Avant-garde. Algonquin Books.
- ^ a b MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 113.
- ^ American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots. University of California Press. August 19, 2002.
- ^ Davidow, Ari (Fall 1995). "Klezmer! — Beyond the Pale by Brave Old World". Whole Earth Review. No. 87. p. 92.
- ^ Dempsey, Dale (June 9, 1996). "Klezmer Music: Jewish Genre Given Rebirth in Germany". Dayton Daily News. p. 1C.
- ^ Mills, Kathleen (July 5, 1996). "Brave Old World works to transform tradition". The Herald-Times.
- ^ Kreiswirth, Sandra (April 11, 1997). "A Touch of Klez – An Eastern European tradition puts down strong roots in America". Daily Breeze. p. K22.
- ^ Baade, Christina L. (Summer 1998). "Jewzak and Heavy Shtetl: Constructing Ethnic Identity and Asserting Authenticity in the New-Klezmer Movement". Monatshefte. 90 (2). University of Wisconsin Press: 210.
- ^ World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 590.
- ^ a b "Beyond the Pale". AllMusic.
- ^ Bernstein, Tamara (22 July 1994). "Recordings". The Globe and Mail. p. C1.
- ^ Page, Tim (9 June 1996). "Klezmer: Revival of the Traditionalists". The Washington Post. p. G1.