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    Our physical "Yiddish Silver Screen" CD comes in a beautiful six-panel illustrated gate-fold case, with cover art by Anya Ulinich and disc design by Lisa M. Kelsey. The eminently legible twenty-page booklet fits smoothly into notched tube insert, complete with detailed descriptions as well as full lyrics for all vocal tracks including original Yiddish plus both transliteration and complete English translations. Booklet and artwork layouts by Yiddish publications expert Yankl Salant, graphic designer for "Yiddish Silver Screen" (aka "zilberner kino" / זילבערנער קינאָ ). Illustrations include band photos as well as archival frame stills from numerous Yiddish cinematic works.

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about

Ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin collected and translated this street singer’s tune in 1955 from Yankl Zipper, who had immigrated to Montreal and remembered it in Lithuanian Yiddish dialect from pre-WWII Europe. As noted by collection editors Chana Mlotek & Mark Slobin, a very similar supplicant melody is a central motif in the widely famous 1936 film "Yidl mitn fidl" (Yidl with His Fiddle), starring American-born Yiddish actress Molly Picon and made on location in Poland.
It seems quite likely that the mendicant movie theme inspired a real-life busker’s song.

lyrics

Hert zikh aynet, mayne libe mentshn.
Ay, hert zikh aynet vos ikh vel aykh fregn do!
Ay, vi kumt es aza veytik
In a kleynem, kleynem fidl?

TRANSLATION:
Listen up, my dear people.
Listen to what I am going to ask you here!
Oh, how does so much pain come
Out of such a tiny fiddle?

credits

from Yiddish Silver Screen, track released November 24, 2023
traditional, arranged by Eve Sicular & Isle of Klezbos

Vocals: Melissa Fogarty
Clarinet: Debra Kreisberg
Trumpet: Pam Fleming
Accordion: Shoko Nagai
Double Bass: Saskia Lane

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Isle of Klezbos New York, New York

NYC-based ISLE of KLEZBOS approaches tradition with irreverence and respect. The soulful, fun-loving powerhouse all-women’s klezmer sextet has toured from Vienna to Vancouver since 1998. Repertoire ranges from rambunctious to entrancing: neo-traditional folk dance, mystical melodies,Yiddish swing & retro tango, late Soviet-era Jewish drinking song, re-grooved standards, & genre-defying originals. ... more

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