If you think Klezperanto is just another Klezmer Band, then you best think again.
Klezperanto is a six-piece band co-founded by clarinetist Ilene Stahl, and they play music that is deeply rooted in traditional klezmer but moves well beyond the boundaries of that genre.
At a Klezperanto show, you’ll hear Mediterranean melodies, Romanian surf tunes, 1970s cop show themes, as well as traces of funk, zydeco and even some cumbia (a style of Colombian Latin dance music).
Kelzperanto’s music is high energy, extremely danceable music played by a group of technically accomplished musicians who bring a strong sense of fun to the stage. To fully appreciate the music of Klezperanto, you need to experience them live, and you will get the chance to do that when they perform at the West Whately Chapel on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Watermelon Wednesday concert series.
Stahl, who graduated from Hampshire College in 1987, started playing with the Boston Klezmer Conservatory before she even completed her undergraduate degree. Once she graduated, she moved to Boston, and in 1999, with the late accordion player Evan Harlan, she formed Klezperanto as a vehicle to play other types of music. Stahl continues to play in the Boston Klezmer Conservatory, and many of the band’s shows are projects with famed violinist Itzhak Perlman.
“I like a lot of other different types of music, yet I happen to play the clarinet,” said Stahl, calling from her home in Greenfield. “It was pretty clear that my opportunity to play this type of music was only going to come by forming a band to play them. So we formed Klezperanto to play everything but traditional klezmer music.”
The band has accomplished this goal, and in the process provided Stahl with an outlet to delve into a variety of different sounds, including cumbia music, which she is very passionate about.
“I really love Latin dance music, most particularly the cumbia tradition, which is a big band,” said Stahl. “There was a golden age of big band dance music from Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, and those big bands often featured clarinet and the other instruments we have in Klezperanto, so it’s a really good fit.”
And as a child growing up in the 1970s, she has a fondness for theme songs from the television police shows of that era and has great fun playing a number of these with Klezperanto.
“That was great stuff — I love it!” she exclaimed. “When I chose the clarinet as an instrument to play, there are things people don’t tell you when you are eight years old. One of them is if you want to play really cool music, like be in a garage band, the clarinet is not the instrument for you. But now I know, and I kind of feel like ‘Well, this is my axe!’”
In addition to Stahl, the band features some of Boston’s finest musicians: Mark Hamilton on trombone, Andrew Stern on banjo and guitar, Kirsten Lamb on bass and Grant Smith on drums.
The group recently suffered an enormous loss when accordion player Roberto Cassan passed away in August after suffering a heart attack while vacationing in Italy.
“Roberto Cassan was a wonderful musician and wonderful person who was adored by everyone who was lucky enough to know him and to work with him,” said Stahl. “We were all blindsided by this, and I gave a lot of thought with whether we were able to go forward with this concert that is going to happen a month from when he passed.”
But Stahl said she realized Cassan would want the band to continue and play this show in Whately. She also feels that the best way to honor his memory is to get out there and deliver a really great concert. Michael McLaughlin, a colleague of the band and well respected Boston-based musician, will play accordion at this show.
Stahl, who has always loved the Pioneer Valley (her father is from Springfield), moved to Greenfield in 2004. Her bandmates, however, remain in Boston, so Klezperanto rarely performs in Franklin County. They did play the Arts Block last November and set the dance floor on fire with that show. They are now looking forward to returning and playing the very intimate West Whately Chapel.
“We are not the usual kind of thing in the lineup for Watermelon Wednesdays, but I was delighted to be invited to play,” she said. “We are going to do the concert as unplugged as we possibly can. It’s an intimate space, and it will be a unique opportunity to hear us in a new way.”
And a Klezperanto show is certainly something special to hear!
“We formed this band to play music that is instantly appealing,” Stahl said. “We put a lot into our arrangements and in crafting this music, and it has a lot of flash and dazzle. That part makes it fun and challenging for us.”
Stahl also wants the audience to know that they are going to hear a lot of interesting juxtapositions of kinds of music that are familiar and unfamiliar.
“It will be a really fun concert, and the West Whately Chapel is a beautiful magical setting, and it’s a great opportunity and a great challenge for us to play there. We’ll scare the bats out of the belfry, for sure!”
Tickets are $25 and available at www.watermelonwednesdays.com. Tickets will be sold at the door if available, advance tickets strongly recommended.
For more information about the band, go to www.klezperanto.com
Killer Song Sessions at
Montague Bookmill
Since we are on the subject of intimate music venues, I should mention that on Saturday night at 8, the Montague Bookmill will host three original singer/songwriters for a night of harmonizing, finger-picking, strumming and storytelling.
Heading up the lineup is Austin and Elliott — singer/guitarist Chris Elliot and percussionist/singer Lisa Austin of Montague. The duo, who describe their music as “traditional folk with a modern edge,” released a new album “Cradle and Crow” earlier this year. The disc highlights the couple’s harmonies and sharp songs about “love gone wrong and death done right.”
The evening will also feature Boston-based singer-songwriter Lisa Bastoni who has a new album coming out later this month called “The Humming of the Moon Behind the Trees.” This album will featured her longtime collaborator (and Red Sox’s organist) Josh Kantor on upright bass and keyboards as well as guest appearances by The Mastersons, Kelly Hogan and more. For this show Bastoni, will be joined by her husband and Western Mass. native, author Christopher Boucher on electric bass and banjo.
You will also hear Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler, who call themselves the Lied-To’s (taken from an Everly Brothers song “When Will I Be Loved.”) This duo, who also hail from Boston, play folk, rock and country-tinged music with subject matter focused on relationships, particularly the negotiation of these relationships in the wake of hard times and burdensome pasts.
Chris Elliott was responsible for assembling this evening of music and chose Bastoni and the Lied-To’s based on his long friendship with both acts, which dates back to the Cambridge (Massachusetts) folk scene in the early 2000s. Austin & Elliott have shared the stage with both of these artists many times before. Each act will perform a 40-minute set.
If you are a fan of contemporary folk influenced singer-songwriters, this sounds like a show you will not want to miss.
The Montague Bookmill is located at 440 Greenfield Road. There is a suggested donation of $10 for this show.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at: soundslocal@yahoo.com