NYS Music 202​1

Category: World/Reggae

  • The Yiddish Book Center Celebrates 40 Years of Yiddish Revival with the Klemzer Conservatory Band

    Two beacons of Yiddish cultural revival illuminate the 40th anniversary with a joyous virtual event, filled with music and conversation from members of the Klemzer Conservatory Band. 

    Forty Years in Yiddishland: The Yiddish Book Center Celebrates the Klezmer Conservatory Band
    Photo by Randy H. Goodman

    On January 24th, 2021, at 2 p.m. EST, the Yiddish Book Center will commemorate the international Yiddish cultural revival with a 40th anniversary video special. This event will be free and open to the public, accessible via Zoom, as well as stream live on the Yiddish Book Center’s Facebook page. Since there will be an interview section, it is required to register a virtual seat and submit questions. 

    In 1980, a revival of Yiddish culture bloomed in New England, led by two 24-year-olds, Hankus Netsy and Aaron Lanksy. Hankus Netsy began jam sessions in a genre of Eastern European folk music that was fairly unknown at the time. That year, the Klemzer Conservatory Band was formed at Boston New England Conservatory. Aaron Lanksy concurrently set out on a campaign to salvage Yiddish literature. With 70,000 books to be saved, Lanksy created the Yiddish Book Center, hitting their goal within six months. 

    40 Years in Yiddishland will include videos of acclaimed performances, ranging from “The Fool in the Flying Ship” with Robin Williams (1991) and “In the Fiddler’s House” with Itzhak Perlman (1997). Joining Netsy and Lanksy in conversation will also include well-known collaborators with the Klemzer Conservatory Band such as Itzhak Perlman and Joel Grey. 

    The two organizations have celebrated their shared history in the international revival of Yiddish culture, and this anniversary special truly encapsulates their forty years of activism. This event special is sponsored by several Jewish organizations, including Yiddish New York, Golden Land Concerts & Connections, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, and the American Society for Jewish Music, among several more. The event was also generously supported by Peter D. Mark, in loving memory of Eugene L. Mark. 

  • Best of 2020: Best Tours and Drive-In Shows

    NYS Music’s Best of 2020 series concludes with a look at the best Tours and Drive-In shows of a year we’d all like to forget. When the music industry shut down in mid-March, it was sudden and continues to last into 2021. Few bands got to go on a ‘real’ tour, given there were roughly 11 weeks in which to tour, and the coldest months of the year, at that. Still, a few bands went out on a Winter 2020 tour, making stops in New York State and surrounding areas. Be sure to check out the best Streams, Covers and Jams.

    moe best of 2020
    photo by JD Cohen

    Goose announced shows in Williamsburg for late January, 2020, and immediately added a second, and smaller third show, due to demand. Their shows at The Music Hall of Williamsburg were two of the best of their tour.

    One band, Twiddle, celebrated their 15th year as a band with a Roots Tour of their own, streaming the multi-week event that looked at the venues they got their start in across Vermont, wonderfully recalled by Ryan Dempsey. In addition to these shows, Twiddle performed at multiple Drive-In shows across the Northeast, including New Jersey and Essex Junction, VT.

    All that after a cross-country tour running from January through early March. The band had an impressive 2020, performing shows in Colorado to start 2020 with “Somewhere on the Mountain” in Frisco, CO and connecting with platform LiveXLive for their July Roots Tour.

    twiddle essex
    photo by Dave Decrescente

    When it came to Drive-Ins, there were quite a few across the Northeast – Drive-in-Live in Swanzey, NH, Jericho Drive-In in Glenmont, NY, South Farms in Morris Farms, CT, Fingerlakes Drive-In in Auburn, NY, Silver Lake Drive-In in Perry, NY and Radial Park in Astoria, Queens.

    Live at the Drive, featuring Buffalo’s Aqueous, was one of the first and the most successful series, with three weekends between Lockport’s Transit Drive-in and Perry Silver Lake Drive-In. Buffalo Iron Works produced the shows, with Josh Holtzman and Grace Vesneske’s new company Twenty6 Productions garnering credit for putting on shows that set a standard for socially distanced shows that were safe, well-run and comfortable for fans and staff alike.

    aqueous silver lake best of 2020
    photo by Paul Citone

    Goose also hosted numerous Drive-Ins across the Northeast and even ventured safely to Ohio, North Carolina and Maryland, as well as Swanzey and South Farms. Located in Morris, CT, South Farms was centrally located to the Hudson Valley from Albany to NYC, Western Massachusetts and Connecticut itself. As such, Goose, moe., Warren Haynes, Grace Potter, Allman Betts Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Citizen Cope and even comedian Bill Burr. Due to a recent Zoning Board ruling, South Farms won’t have live music for the time being, but they made some memorable moment in the time they were able to, in a key location in the Northeast.

    goose south farms best of 2020
    photo by Chad Anderson

    moe. and Disco Biscuits each hit the new Drive-In circuit, streaming online and giving fans thirsty for live music the remedy they sought. Shows in Yarmouth, MA became regular stops, with both bands heading to Cape Cod in October. Lafayette Apple Festival Grounds, just south of Syracuse, brought in Dirty Heads and Disco Biscuits, the latter of which performed three nights, culminating their Drive-In shows with a Halloween show and an audience well-prepared for the cold and mud but still got down to dance.

    What will come in 2021? Drive-In concerts will surely be a regular feature starting in the Spring, until the pandemic is under control, the population is inoculated with the vaccine, and venues are able to manage crowds of slowly increasing size. Will Drive-In concerts be here to stay? The collective effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 this year and into 2022 will determine the speed at which we can return to having live music back to where it was in early March of 2020.

    https://youtu.be/1uz8BpvENlg?t=4541