Chekhov’s Band: Eastern European Klezmer Music from the EMI Archives 1908–1913, 2015 (Renair REN 129CD)
Liner notes by Joel E. Rubin and Michael Aylward.
“This is a remarkable compilation of klezmer music… The album is compelling in what it has to tell us about the essence and origins of klezmer, its geographic and cultural influences and freedoms, and the nature of musicians who were often on the road searching for the next gig, the next rite, the next inn or concert hall or wedding… This is the fortuitous end product of a decade of research within the EMI archives and deserves to be widely heard. It should really become a major influence in terms of how the next experiments might happen. … this precious collection is an immersive, emotional and insistent wander back in time”
(Folk Roots)
“A great resource for klezmer researchers and musicians and it comes with a brilliant 40-page booklet of detailed notes”
(Simon Broughton, Songlines)
“Dieses Album ist eine Sensation. … Zeugnisse aus dem Herkunftsgebiet der Musik, vom Baltikum im Norden bis in die Ukraine im Süden, waren rar. Dies hat sich nun geändert. Grundlage für diese Neubewertung ist eine ungeahnt reiche kommerzielle Aufnahmetätigkeit im russischen Zarenreich, zu dem einst grosse Teile des jüdischen Siedlungsgebietes in Osteuropa gehörten. Die hier neu aufgelegten Dokumente und das ausführliche Booklet, an dem auch der Klezmerexperte Joel Rubin mitgearbeitet hat, würdigen den Wert dieser Zeitzeugnisse magistral”
(Georg Modestin, Jazz ‘n‘ More)
“The remarkable clarity of transfers from brittle shellac originals, plus the evocative illustrations and illuminating notes in the accompanying booklet are sufficient to recommend it as a soundtrack to a vanished world. But the vitality of this dusted-down music and the immediate appeal of klezmer as a performance style raise the compilation beyond mere specialist interest”
(Dirty Linen)