Klezmer At The Writer's Block

 There was a mention in the Anchorage Daily News that there would be a klezmer concert in Anchorage.  That doesn't happen often.  The last real klezmer concert we went to was in San Francisco in 2012.  To learn more about klezmer music, go to that link.  

The bookstore is pretty small.  I estimate there were about 30 folks in the small room where the concert was centered and a few more in the main room.  So this was cozy.  

What we got in Anchorage was two of the members of the San Francisco Yiddish Combo - husband and wife, Jason Eckle and Rebecca Roudman.  [I'm sure about Rebecca.  Jason's name comes from The Dirty Cello website.]

The combination of klezmer music (and klezmer adjacent music) and the cheeky but informative banter between songs made this a fast moving and rousing hour or so of music.  

I made the video on my phone and I'm experimenting just uploading it directly to Youtube.  Usually I've used Movies on my Mac.  What I saw of the video quality was pretty awful and I may redo it. [The video on the blog actually looks ok, so I'll leave it.]  The music is the key, but also the infectious smile and enthusiasm  of cellist  Rebecca Roudman were also important.  It's a short clip, just to give you a sense of the energy.

You can see more video on the Combo's website.

The guitarist, Jason, did most of the explanations between pieces.  But Rebecca was clearly the master musician.  Her fingers flew effortless from note to note.  She's truly a gifted and passionate cellist.  

So here's a little more about her from Oakland Symphony website.

"Rebecca Roudman

Cello

Equally at home as a renowned classical cello player or on the cutting edge of pop music, Rebecca Roudman is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most exciting crossover cellists.

As a member of both the Oakland East-Bay Symphony and the Santa Rosa Symphony, Rebecca is an experienced orchestral musician who has toured with orchestras to Brazil and throughout Europe. While developing her classical skills, Rebecca studied with both Larry Granger of the San Francisco Symphony and Gretchen Elliot, one of Janos Starker’s students. Rebecca has premiered numerous classical and contemporary works, many of 

which were written for her."

Because she played so effortlessly, the cello seemed to be an extension of her fingers.  I asked her afterward whether she took to the cello from the beginning.  She shook her head with an emphatic no.  I think she said she started at six and struggled.  It was ten years before she felt completely comfortable with the instrument.  

That's it.  Short and sweet.