Klezmatics Possessed (Green Linnet) (star) (star) (star) (star)
Maybe they should have subtitled this “with Tony Kushner,” because the brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright contributes both lyrics and hilarious, touching liner notes to the album that put the whole exuberant thing in context. Then again, maybe not: The Klezmatics, with their infectious, alternately joyous and mournful tunes, are the creme de la creme in the current klezmer revival. Presenting both traditional and original songs, the group doesn’t so much add jazz or blues but rather marries those styles with the bouncy klezmer format, or the more typical Yiddish or Moroccan laments. Alicia Svigals’ violin is a revelation, and Lorin Sklamberg’s vocals — which can be as sublime as a cantor’s or as sly as a drunk’s — evoke the Jewish diaspora in both divine and uniquely American terms.
