Judith Gennett wrote this review.
Looking for a spicy klezmer band? From Holland, De Amsterdam Klezmer Band might be the band for you. Assigned to Knitting Factory’s alternative sub-label, their music is at times so spiced up with Eastern European ingredients that it’s almost not klez. Fanfare Ciocarlia? Haïduks? No problem, we’ll just whip ’em in. But a hot band they are, with non-stop action and unusual choppy rhythms, perhaps best described as a sense of eastern funkiness.
Limonchiki, named after track 6, begins with a fairly traditional klezmer instrumental called “Di Naie Chuppe,” written by sax/vocalist J.D. Chajes in honor of trombonist Joop van der Linden’s wedding. The next two tracks are undeniably klezmer as well, but with more Balkan overtones, including the familiar emphatic rhythm of a Romanian brass band on “Der Terkische Yale We Yove/Valenstein Nigrum.” Also on part of this last set are vocals by Chajes, with the harsh punkiness you sometimes hear from a “foreigner” twisting the mood a bit into cosmopolitan, but perhaps influenced by someone like Haïduks’ Nicolae Neacsu…. “Matrosi” follows, with percussionist Alec Kopyt singing Russian cabaret hoarsely to plenty of slinky brass and accordion. Back on track with klez-gypsy fusion… I must admit it’s hard to figure the border… perky jazz-klez with more of Chajes’ vocals, this time more gypsy style, the familiar “Odessa Bulgar,” played crisply with snappy percussion — well, you get the point.
The band is heavily brass driven: sax, trombone, and trumpet, with clarinet and tinny accordion and relatively unobtrusive double bass. There’s no tuba, but sometimes this is hard to believe. The accordion might strike the rhythm, but sometimes it’s trumpets and brass. On the tune “Noushka,” bassist Jasper De Beer uses a guitarbanjo to mimic an Okinawan sanshin…. and a mild Russian flavour seems to weave in and out along with Romanian tinge. Near the end “A Chassid In Amsterdam” provides a comedic break with Yiddish rap verses. Despite the chili peppers and soul food, standard klezmer continues to guide, making “Limonchiki” an effective, deeply soulful party album that seldom drags. The last track (“Mala Loka”… a castle in Slovenia but also Spanish for “bad idiot”) is live Balkan-klezmer, so you can dance out the door with a true sense of celebration.
(Knitting Factory/JAM, 2001)
