Klezmerola
Piano Enterprises, PE101, $16.99

Jewish Music from Rare Piano Rolls (recorded 1916-1927)
Pianola Realizations by Bob Berkman

Klezmerola makes available for the first time Jewish recordings from a long-neglected source: Old piano rolls. Included is the only known Jewish roll by George Gershwin, recorded in 1916 and long thought lost.

The other artists represented are all unknown, but one rediscovery is already creating a stir in the Klezmer world: Samuel A. Perlstein, born in Russia in 1884. He managed a piano roll company in New York in the 1920s, and took the opportunity to record a number of Klezmer tunes as well as his own Jewish-themed compositions. He later went on to Hollywood and wrote film music but never forgot his roots. His "Hebrew Rhapsodie No. 1", which he considered his magnum opus, was never performed in his lifetime - except for his solo piano roll version.

"The word 'Klezmerola' denotes a Jewish pianola, or player piano," explains the CD's creator, Bob Berkman. "There never was such a thing, but if there were it would have been the perfect instrument to use for Perlstein's music. What you hear on the CD is actually a vintage Lakeside upright player, typical of the period."

What is not typical is how alive the rolls sound. The music has shape and color, achieved through a startling range of dynamics complete with well-placed accents and subtle pedaling. "That's my doing, my interpretation," says Berkman. "I'm a pianolist - someone who knows how to play the player piano."

SONG LIST
1. ODESSER BULGAR
2. YOSEL
3. KREPLACH IND WARENIKIS FRAILACHS
4. A GITTE NACHT DER KOLLI IND DEM CHUSEN
5. DIE GRIENE COSINA
6. CHUPEH TANZ
7. LEBEDIG IN FREILACH
8. GOTT IN SEIN MISHPOT IS GERECHT (Played by George Gershwin)
9. BULGARISH
10. DER SADEGUERER CHUSIDIL
11. HATIKVOH
12. A TENZEL FAR DIE MACHETUNEM
13. YIDELACH-BRIDERLACH
14. ROMANIAN VOLACH
15. HEBREW MEDLEY
16. SIMCHES TORAH CHUSID
17. HAVAH NAGILAH
18. VON DER CHUPPE and POLKA
19. SCHLUGT KAPURES CHUSIDEL
20. HEBREW RHAPSODIE No. 1
21. BEI MIR BIST DU SCHÖN

Mechanical music with a Jewish twist – A fascinating CD arrived. At the turn of the 20th century, player pianos were almost as popular as phonographs because the pianos could be played manually, or a perforated paper roll could be inserted and you could have “pre-recorded music” in your home. Seven different manufacturers – including ARTO, based in Edison’s home town of Orange, NJ – made rolls for the growing Jewish immigrant population emigrating from Eastern Europe. CD Producer Bob Berkman has compiled 21 of these rare rolls on the album Klezmerola. Berkman is listed as the “interpreter” because these rolls contained the notes but not the speed and the piano needed to be foot-pumped. Some of the songs are well known. Track 3 (too long a title to list here) is the basis for Benny Goodman’s swing hit “And The Angels Sing” and Track 11, “Hatikvoh”, is the Israeli national anthem. The roll for “Havah Nagilah” is played here by African-American J. Lawrence Cook, using the pseudonym Hilda Lustig. The CD ends with the Andrews Sisters’ smash “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”. The informative liner notes add even more to the pleasure of this entertaining CD.

Steve Ramm
In the Groove (magazine)