The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore

Klezmer is Yiddish music, the music of the Jews of Europe and America, a music of laughter and tears, of weddings and festivals, of dancing and prayer. Born in the Middle Ages, it came of age in the shtetl (the Eastern European Jewish country town), where “a wedding without klezmer is worse than a funeral without tears.” Most European klezmorim (klezmer players) were murdered in the Holocaust; in the last 25 years, however, klezmer has been reborn, with dozens of groups gaining large followings throughout the world. The Book of Klezmer traces the music’s entire history, making use of extensive documentary material; interviews with forgotten klezmorim as well as luminaries such as Theodore Bikel, Leonard Nimoy, Joel Grey, and Andy Statman; and dozens of illuminating and stirring photographs.

Yale Strom is the author of six books on Eastern European Jews and gypsies; has made four highly acclaimed documentaries, including The Last Klezmer, and a feature film; and is the leader of two klezmer bands, with nine records to his name. He lives in New York City.