Beyond the Pale (Brave Old World album)
Beyond the Pale is an album by the klezmer band Brave Old World, released in 1994.[2][3] The album title refers to the Pale of Settlement.[4]
Beyond the Pale | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Genre | Klezmer | |||
Label | Rounder[1] | |||
Producer | Frank Dostal | |||
Brave Old World chronology | ||||
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Production
The album was produced by Frank Dostal.[5] It contains original songs as well as interpretations of traditional Yiddish songs.[6] Founding member Joel Rubin departed the band prior to the recording sessions.[7] The opening and closing tracks, about the fall of the Berlin Wall, were written in 1990.[8][9]
"Rufn Di Kinder Aheym" ("Calling the Children Home") was inspired by the New Orleans cornetist Buddy Bolden.[10] A cimbalom was employed on "Yismekhu".[11] Leon Schwartz taught the band a few of Beyond the Pale's songs.[12]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Globe and Mail wrote that "the dance tunes are as irresistible as ever, but the underlying spirit is not chutzpah or even nostalgia so much as a deep sadness and urgent compassion."[14] The Washington Post concluded that "much of the recording might be described as a meditation on the art of playing klezmer music in the Berlin of the 1990s, and the mixed feelings such an experience would necessarily call up."[15]
AllMusic called the album "appropriately reflective klezmer from Germany, where even the high-spirited freylekhs have a somber edge and Kurt Bjorling's probing clarinet is part accusatory finger, part triumph of intellect and love over will."[13]
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Berlin Overture" | |
2. | "Brave Old Hora" | |
3. | "Basarabye" | |
4. | "Big Train" | |
5. | "Waltz Roman À Clef" | |
6. | "Borsht" | |
7. | "Oy, Di Dreydlekh" | |
8. | "Di Sapozhkelekh" | |
9. | "Yismekhu" | |
10. | "A Tish-Nign" | |
11. | "Bobover Wedding March" | |
12. | "Rufn Di Kinder Aheym" | |
13. | "Doina Extravaganza" | |
14. | "Berlin 1990" |
References
- Strom, Yale (April 19, 2011). "The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore". Chicago Review Press – via Google Books.
- Wood, Abigail (April 8, 2016). "And We're All Brothers: Singing in Yiddish in Contemporary North America". Routledge – via Google Books.
- Ran, Amalia; Morad, Moshe (January 12, 2016). "Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas". BRILL – via Google Books.
- Rogovoy, Seth (January 1, 2000). "The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music, from the Old World to the Jazz Age to the Downtown Avant-garde". Algonquin Books – via Google Books.
- MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 113.
- "American Klezmer: Its Roots and Offshoots". University of California Press. August 19, 2002 – via Google Books.
- Davidow, Ari (Fall 1995). "Klezmer! — Beyond the Pale by Brave Old World". Whole Earth Review (87): 92.
- Dempsey, Dale (June 9, 1996). "KLEZMER MUSIC: JEWISH GENRE GIVEN REBIRTH IN GERMANY". Dayton Daily News. p. 1C.
- Mills, Kathleen (July 5, 1996). "Brave Old World works to transform tradition". The Herald-Times.
- Kreiswirth, Sandra (April 11, 1997). "A TOUCH OF KLEZ – An Eastern European tradition puts down strong roots in America". Daily Breeze. p. K22.
- Baade, Christina L. (Summer 1998). "Jewzak and Heavy Shtetl: Constructing Ethnic Identity and Asserting Authenticity in the New-Klezmer Movement". Monatshefte. University of Wisconsin Press. 90 (2): 210.
- World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 590.
- "Beyond the Pale - Brave Old World | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- Bernstein, Tamara (22 July 1994). "RECORDINGS". The Globe and Mail. p. C1.
- Page, Tim (9 June 1996). "Klezmer: Revival of the Traditionalists". The Washington Post. p. G1.