The Barry Sisters and Yiddish Swing, with Andy Muchin

Lecture #64 in Joshua Horowitz’s series, The Promiscuous World of Jewish Music

The Barry Sisters and Yiddish Swing: How Clara and Minnie Bagelman personified and then outlasted Jewish music’s sunniest hybrid style, with
Andy Muchin

Monday, January 3, 2022, 11am Pacific Time (Please calculate your own time zone)

Length: 1 – 2 hours

Zoom Meeting ID: 967 8901 9038

Password: 156230

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Donations to Josh Horowitz are accepted and appreciated, but not required.

Broadcaster and music writer Andy Muchin takes a deep dive into the career of The Barry Sisters and the musical mash-up they helped to popularize, Yiddish Swing. Claire and Merna Barry, born Clara and Minnie Bagelman in the Bronx, NY, were among the earliest and best-known Yiddish Swingsters with their lively renditions of Jewish music set to a jazzy beat. With their sweet, tight harmonies and consummate artistry, the sisters performed on radio and television, in nightclubs, and on concert stages for nearly 40 years, including as stars of a 1959 U.S. friendship tour of the Soviet Union. They recorded mostly Yiddish songs on numerous 78 rpm discs and LPs from the late 1930s to 1973, their style evolving with the times. Andy will explore the Barry Sisters’ brilliant careers during and after Yiddish Swing—and take a toe-tapping detour to listen to some of the best Yiddish Swing recordings from artists as diverse as klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras and bluesy singer/instrumentalist Slim Gaillard.                                             

Andy has hosted the weekly “Sounds Jewish” radio show on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Radio-J.com since 2010. He has written about Jewish music for “The Forward” newspaper, “Moment” magazine, “J.-The Jewish News of Northern California,” and other publications.

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