From Berlin To Palo Alto: Daniel Kahn Brings Klezmer-Punk To Town, Today

The Oshman Family JCC presents Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird, a klezmer band from Berlin bringing Jewish punk cabaret into the modern day. The original radical Yiddish borderland bandits, the group offers the sound of "Alienation Klezmer"-a unique mixture of traditional Jewish folk music, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret, and punk rock. Concocted by singer/songwriter, polyglot poet, multi-instrumentalist, and activist Daniel Kahn, these furious, tender, and electrifying melodies are inspired by the struggles of Jewish revolutionaries and Kahn's own desire for a better world. The band's captivating fusion of accordion and punk rock has been described by Rolling Stone Germany as "the free-spirited attitude of the New York Tzadik circle, cabaret flair, and scraps of Tom Waits." This engaging cultural and musical journey will be presented 7:30pm, Thursday, November 15, 2018 at the Oshman Family JCC Schultz Cultural Arts Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. For tickets $25 General, $20 JCC Members and J-Pass holders) and more information, visit paloaltojcc.org/kahn or call (650) 223-8649.

Daniel Kahn is a Yiddish singer and songwriter who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Detroit's tumultuous political atmosphere greatly shaped Kahn's worldview at a very young age-witnessing the concepts of racism and union work generated an interest in folk music, political protest songs, and African American cultural production. By the age of 12, Kahn became involved in acting, and worked at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in Detroit. Though Kahn had some knowledge of Yiddish culture, it was not until he witnessed The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars that he became interested in the musical tradition. He moved to New Orleans in 2001, becoming more involved with klezmer and Yiddish. By 2004, Kahn was singing Yiddish and was invited to KlezKanada in Quebec. He completed the YIVO program in New York in 2008, after attending the Krakow Jewish Festival and traveling to Berlin, where he now resides. Though deeply interested in the use of Yiddish, Kahn views the language as no longer one of nostalgia, but a language ready for use with a contemporary audience.

In the four years that have passed since his previous album, Kahn has re-formed his band The Painted Bird with old and new friends: Klezmer veteran and clarinet/sax/brass master Christian Dawid from Berlin, Yiddish fiddle virtuoso Jake Shulman-Ment from New York, experimental contrabassist Berlin composer Michael Tuttle, and classic klezmer drummer Hampus Melin. Their album "The Butcher's Share" is a powerful and complex compilation of original pieces, translations, and adaptations that address major political and current events. These "apocalyptic Klezmer-punk anthems"-sometimes funny, sometimes sad-are a modern twist on history, traditions, languages, and cultures. New songs including "Freedom Is A Verb" and "99%" address eternal struggles of class and liberation, while ballads such as "Shtil di Nakht Iz Oysgeshterent" and "Arbeter Froyen" take old Yiddish ballads of resistance and revolt and make them radical and relevant again through poetic new translations. The band is currently touring Europe and North America with live performances featuring projections of images by legendary New York underground artist Eric Drooker.

Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (OFJCC) on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life serves the South Peninsula through educational, social, cultural, fitness, sports and other programs. The OFJCC is a multi-generational Jewish neighborhood where all are welcome and which fosters new personal and community connections through rich and rewarding experiences. The OFJCC provides a common ground for Jewish institutions, other local groups, organizations and individuals to work, learn and play together for the betterment of the whole community. The OFJCC's registered trademarks are Live Fully and J-Pass.For more information, visit www.paloaltojcc.org or call (650) 223-8700.

For tickets $25 General, $20 JCC Members and J-Pass holders) and more information, visit paloaltojcc.org/kahn or call (650) 223-8649.

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