Schmaltz & Pepper made their auspicious festival debut at Toronto Summer Music in 2024. Since then, along with performing, they’ve been in the recording studio coming up with their first release as an ensemble.
The idea is to fuse elements of classical chamber music, jazz, klezmer, and Yiddish swing into a unique sound.
The album is self-titled, and consists of 11 tracks. The album release party will be held on May 18 at Heliconian Hall.
Schmaltz & Pepper is made up of Eric Abramovitz, the principal clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and arranger Drew Jurecka, violinist/vocalist/composer Rebekah Wolkstein, JUNO-nominated bassist Michael Herring, and JUNO-award winning pianist Jeremy Ledbetter.
The pieces on the forthcoming are written by members of the ensemble, including Eric Abramovitz’s Stirring the Pot, inspired by the warmth of a bustling kitchen during Jewish holidays, and Mozart the Mensch, which re-imagines what the Viennese composer might have sounded like if he had been Jewish.
Rebekah Wolkstein contributes several tracks, including a few written with husband/violinist Drew Jurecka. The Yiddish Bullfighter is a piece inspired by the real life figure of Sidney Franklin (Sidney Frumkin), an Orthodox Jew from the Bronx who became a respected bullfighter in Spain. Her Gefilte Fugue takes a klezmer motif and gives it a Bach-style treatment.
Schmaltz & Pepper: Members
Eric Abramovitz: Clarinet, Composer, Arranger, Co-leader/Founder
Eric Abramovitz is a native of Montreal, where he graduated from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music with a Bachelor’s degree, followed by graduate studies at the University of Southern California. He became the Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2018, and was appointed Principal Clarinet in 2021. Eric has also held positions with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Barbara Symphony, and often performs as guest principal clarinetist with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.
Rebekah Wolkstein: Violin/Vocals/Composer/Co-leader/Founder
Rebekah is a chamber musician, and founder and leader of Payadora Tango Ensemble. Payadora’s third CD, titled Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango, which prominently featured Wolkstein’s compositions and violin performance, reached No. 1 on the European World Music Charts. Rebekah studied violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctorate in Violin Performance from the University of Toronto.
Drew Jurecka: Producer, Arranger, Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer
Drew Jurecka is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, and a GRAMMY-nominated producer and arranger. He studied violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and on graduating, he went on tour with Jeff Healey’s ‘ Jazz Wizards’ band for 5 years. He’s a busy session musician and arranger, and has contributed to tracks on over 300 albums, including artists like Dua Lipa, Dermott Kennedy, Mastodon, Ron Sexsmith, Jill Barber, Donovan Woods, and others.
Jeremy Ledbetter: Piano
Over a 35 year career as a performer, and more than two decades as a musical director, bandleader, producer and arranger, Jeremy Ledbetter has studied, performed, and produced music in 26 countries on five continents. The JUNO Award-winning pianist performs regularly with a variety of high profile ensembles, including the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio, the Larnell Lewis Band, Rich Brown’s Abeng, the Joy Lapps Project, David Rudder (Trinidad), Eliana Cuevas (Venezuela), OKAN (Cuba), Mark Kelso’s Jazz Exiles (Canada), Alexis Baro (Cuba), Marito Marques (Portugal), and others.
Michael Herring: Bass
JUNO-nominated double-bassist and composer Jeremy Ledbetter writes and performs across several genres, including jazz, folk, world, and pop/rock. He performs and contributes original music to various ensembles, including the Michael Herring Quartet, Way North, a collaboration with Petr Cancura, Rebecca Hennessy and Richie Barshay, and jazz ensemble Peripheral Vision. The latter has recorded six albums. He has also performed and recorded with musicians such as Joel Frahm, Ernesto Cervini, Kevin Breit, Ab Baars (ICP/Amsterdam), Dave Clark, David Braid, Mansa Sissoko (Mali, Africa), Kevin Turcotte, Bucky Pizzarelli, Percy Sledge, and Ernest Ranglin, among others.
- Find more details and tickets for the May 18 album launch [HERE].
If you can’t make it on the 18th, Schmaltz & Pepper will be appearing at festivals across Canada in summer 2025, including Toronto Summer Music, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Elora Music Festival, and the Tuckamore Festival in Newfoundland.
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