Veretski Pass – December 3, 2016

Veretski Pass

Cookie Segelstein, violin, viola, scordatura violin; Joshua Horowitz, chromatic button accordion, cimbalom, piano; Stuart Brotman, basy (bass cello), bass, tilinca, baraban

Taking its name from the mountain pass through which Magyar tribes crossed into the Carpathian basin to settle what later became the Austria Hungarian Empire, Veretski Pass plays old country music with origins in the Ottoman Empire, once fabled as the borderlands of the East and the West. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Playing in an unbound, energetic “village style, this band of world renown klezmer veterans carries on the ancient tradition of klezmer musicians, playing music of all kinds, but with a recognizably Jewish sound.