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Friday December 7, 2007

Chachkas take klezmer on a magic carpet ride

by dan pine
staff writer

It might have amused shtetl musicians of old to know that the ragtag klezmer style they created would one day become an object of worldwide veneration. After all, the earthy folk music was meant to be played by, well, folk.

Cue the Red Hot Chachkas, who don’t believe in keeping klezmer in a fusty, well-preserved box.

This popular Bay Area band has long viewed traditional klezmer as a starting point, not an end point, of their music. Led by violinist Julie Egger of Marin’s San Geronimo Valley, the Red Hot Chachkas respect tradition without being shackled to it, often grafting other styles onto a solid klezmer foundation.

The latest case in point: the band’s new CD, “Spice it Up.” The collection includes Irish, Appalachian, French, reggae, and more. As for originality, 12 of the 18 tracks were composed by band members.

The Chachkas play with Yiddish-accented fluency, their homegrown pieces flowing naturally out of klezmer tradition — and just as fun. Recorded in the studio without benefit of overdubs, “Spice it Up” shows how tight this band is, with every member seizing multiple moments to shine.

The CD opens with “Kostakowsky’s Sher No. 4,” a traditional piece originally published in 1916. The track sets the pace, with Egger and clarinetist Barbara Speed trading licks and mandolinist Tony Phillips and guitarist/accordionist Rob Reich doubling lines to fill out the sound.

It doesn’t take the band long to start mixing it up. Bassist Breck Diabel’s “Elena’s Waltz” has a Parisian feel. Speed’s lovely “Chosidl Diddle” kicks off with a reggae drum introduction. Speed also wrote “Stomp it Up,” which definitely shows off her chops. She wails like a latter-day Coltrane.

With “Der Rabbi in Der Arbes Gortin and “Little Rabbi,” Phillips tweaks (or “refurbishes” as the liner notes call it) old-time Appalachian tunes into klezmer-ready shers (Yiddish for tunes). Given that both forms of music sprang from poor and unelectrified cultures, the styles “refurbish” well.

Egger contributes several of her originals, including the avant-garde dirge “Suite Matthew” (dedicated to the late Matthew Sperry, a former bassist for the band) and “Little Gouda,” a sweet piece written in honor of Egger’s daughter, Hannah, that accelerates to a fast and furious tempo.

Ultimately all Jewish music traces its lineage back to the Middle East. The Red Hot Chachkas pay homage to this heritage on Egger’s mournful “Sholom” and the hypnotic “Son Kuslar,” a Turkish tune on which Phillips’ mandolin sounds positively oudish.

At 72 minutes, though, “Spice it Up” is longer than it needs to be, at least for this reviewer. Some songs, like the jazzy improvisation “Cholent” and the nine-minute blues jam “Rocky Hora,” stray a tad too far from the band’s klezmer roots. Although the band rocks on these tunes, the CD would have been more cohesive without them.

One other quibble: The CD is 100 percent instrumental, but after a while I found myself wanting to hear a human voice. Even an occasional Yiddish-flavored “dai, dai, dai” would have satisfied.

Overall, “Spice it Up” could easily serve as a model for modern klezmer innovation. For anyone hoping to discover what klezmer used to be, there are plenty of options besides the Red Hot Chachkas. But if you want to find out where klezmer is headed, this is the band to befriend.

“Spice it Up” by the Red Hot Chachkas is available at all online and retail outlets, as well as on the band’s Web site, www.redhotchachkas.com.

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