Earthy, dirty, drone-y, funky, featuring leading klezmer musicians from Europe and the USA, specializing in the forgotten fidl-driven klezmer that once was heard across eastern Europe, from Vilnius to Bucharest. While many people associate klezmer with the clarinet driven American bands of the early 20th century, for most of its history klezmer bands consisted of fiddles, Tsimbl (dulcimer), a big drum and maybe a flute. These bands played not just at weddings, but also taverns, balls, markets -wherever and for whoever would pay, sometimes high class, sometimes sweaty late vodka-fueled nights with the local farmers. Judelman's Klezmer Kompanye gets back to those roots, exploring the sounds and repertoire of the olderstyle bands and regional styles that preceded the more modern ‘big band’ sound.

Grounded in years of research and travel and late nights with just a fiddle and a bottle, this band leaves the polite historical recreation to the museums and brings to the stage Yiddish music that is proud, loud and ready to party!

Led by Berlin-based fiddler Craig Judelman, and featuring Di Naye Kapelye’s Bob Cohen, multiinstrumentalist Shaun Williams, Kharkiv based flautist Daria Fomina, Latvian singer Sasha Lurje and Brooklyn based fiddler Zoe Aqua, this band shows the breadth and depth of Ashkenazi Jewish music. From the local Jewish dance music of Ukraine, Belarus, Transylvania, Poland, to ancient religious melodies and popular songs of the 19th and 20th centuries, they present Yiddish music as it is rarely performed today. Jewish musicians throughout eastern Europe have entertained their neighbors for centuries,absorbing the local rhythms and dances and this band continues the tradition, showing how connected our cultures have always been