The Klezmer Accordion: If only they could speak…but wait, they can!, a presentation by Joshua Horowitz

Lecture 24 of Joshua Horowitz’s series The Promiscuous World of Jewish Music

Monday, November 9, 11am California/2pm New York/ 7pm UK/ 8pm most of Europe
There is a Zoom limit of 100 participants.
Length: 1 – 2 hours.
Donations to Josh Horowitz are accepted and appreciated.

Zoom Meeting ID: 967 8901 9038
Password: 156230

Since the beginning of time…no, let me start again…since at least as early as the turn of the 20th century, the accordion has been used in klezmer music in various guises and styles of performance. In this lecture, we’ll ask geeky obscure questions, like, “Whatever happened to the Saratov tremolo?” and, “Did Max Yankowitz really only rarely use his left hand?” and “Why doesn’t Misha Tsiganoff ever spell his name the same way twice?” Beyond this, we’ll try to figure out whether Nathan Hollander ever collaborated with Florence Foster Jenkins to create a new musical style that so studiously avoided artifice (or even correct notes), that they created a new aesthetic all on their own.

Join Josh in an exploration of the elusive, misleading cultural and musical history of the instrument and its players through recordings, videos, analysis and discussions. We’ll hold the early era of klezmer accordion music under the microscope and trace the development of three broad style categories – the Oriental, the Russian and the Balkan – and watch how they contribute to modern day approaches and try to figure out what has been lost altogether and what can be salvaged.