THE KLEZMATICS

For four decades, THE KLEZMATICS have thrilled audiences around the world. With their anniversary album, the Grammy Award-winning New Yorkers issue a musical call for solidarity, hope and resilience in a fractured world. The album responds to the upheavals of our time with songs poised between protest, faith and radical joy. Deeply shaped by experiences of migration and the collective memory of dispersed communities, they demand dignity, create connection and affirm the power of collective resilience.

Since their formation in New York’s East Village in 1986, THE KLEZMATICS have led the global klezmer revival, renewing the centuries-old Yiddish musical tradition with a progressive, contemporary approach. For 40 years, they have stood for music that brings together cultural memory, social commitment and artistic openness. Their album “We Were Made For These Times” draws on a long tradition of resistance and combines songs by Woody Guthrie, Holly Near, Dovid Edelstadt and Chaim Zhitlovsky with new compositions. At its heart lies the conviction that joy, community and resistance are inseparable – and that music remains one of the most powerful means of actively shaping the future.

Vocals, accordion, guitar, piano: Lorin Sklamberg

Trumpet, piano, keyboard, vocals: Frank London

Violin, vocals: Lisa Gutkin

Clarinet, saxophones, kaval, vocals: Matt Darriau

Bass, tsimbl, vocals: Paul Morrissett

Drums, percussion, vocals: Richie Barshay

40th Anniversary Tour “We Were Made For These Times”

Pressezitate

»The Klezmatics aren’t just the best band in the klezmer vanguard; on a good night, they can rank among the greatest bands on the planet.« (Time Out New York)

»Catchy, pulse-quickening party tunes and heart-warming melodies — just try to watch them and not a) weep or b) stop yourself dancing.« (The Jewish Chronicle)

»Balanced groove, grief, and collective resilience.« (All About Jazz)