{"id":10070,"date":"2013-02-26T08:49:53","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T13:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=10070"},"modified":"2013-02-26T08:49:53","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T13:49:53","slug":"coming-up-joel-rubin-and-uri-caine-give-klezmer-a-forward-twist-at-the-music-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/02\/26\/coming-up-joel-rubin-and-uri-caine-give-klezmer-a-forward-twist-at-the-music-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming up: Joel Rubin and Uri Caine give klezmer a forward twist at the Music Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joel<\/a>
Clarinetist Joel Rubin and keyboard player Uri Caine perform together at the Music Gallery on Saturday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Dacks, artistic director of Toronto’s Music Gallery, describes how he and his venue connected with modern masters of klezmer for a concert this coming weekend:<\/em><\/p>\n

This Saturday sees one of my most anticipated shows of the season become reality at the Music Gallery.<\/p>\n

I was excited to book clarinetist Joel Rubin and keyboardist Uri Caine<\/a> because the show exemplifies so much of what I wanted to do in my first year of programming at the Music Gallery: Present intimate music that maximizes our beautiful space, bring in new forms of creative music which extend the Music Gallery\u2019s 36-year heritage, and work with partners where each party steps out of their comfort zone to reach for something greater.<\/p>\n

As a bit of background, I must admit that I didn\u2019t grow up with any great love for klezmer. My parents came out of folk and jazz backgrounds and during the ’70s when I was a kid, klezmer may have been at its lowest ebb in popularity. For many, it was considered an unpleasant reminder of the Old World that North American Jews were trying to move on from.<\/p>\n

Personally, I remember always finding the music both corny and schmaltzy. But then the klezmer revival took hold with David Krakauer<\/a> and others (shout out to Toronto\u2019s Flying Bulgars<\/a>) digging deep into the roots and drawing new pictures with the many, many ingredients and subtleties of the music.<\/p>\n

Rubin is widely credited for either pushing the movement along with his own art and by educating others \u2013 his day job is teaching at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

It was through the efforts of the Knitting Factory and Tzadik record labels that I finally connected with the klezmer renaissance by way of my love for avant garde jazz. It turns out that those liquid lightning solos match up incredibly well with freer elements.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Caine comes in.<\/p>\n

He told Offerings<\/em> magazine last month (if you are not familiar with Toronto\u2019s zine dedicated to deep listening<\/a>, pick one up at select downtown locations)\u00a0that he hadn\u2019t thought much about klezmer either until he started playing with Don Byron<\/a>, who should also be mentioned as an important figure in modern klezmer.<\/p>\n

Rubin and Caine recorded Azoy Tsu Tsveyt<\/a><\/em> for Tzadik a couple of years ago and the pairing brings out the best of both of them.<\/p>\n

When asked to describe the record I usually say, \u201cit\u2019s like (Miles Davis\u2019) In A Silent Way<\/em>, klezmer style.\u201d There is a coolness about it thanks to Caine\u2019s electric piano which has the effect of throwing Rubin\u2019s solos into a starker, more open-ended context.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s as though suddenly it\u2019s possible to hear more of the ornamentation, freewheeling phrasing and nuance in the clarinet\u2019s buttery tone than ever. Plus, Rubin just seems to be digging even deeper than usual to come up with his brilliant melodies. Check out “The Pianist”:<\/p>\n