Formed in New York’s East Village in 1986, the Grammy Award winning Klezmatics are known for reinvented the klezmer genre during its ‘revival’.
Currently comprised of composers Matt Darriau (clarinet, saxophone and kaval) and Frank London (trumpet), Paul Morrissett (bass and tsimbl), Lorin Sklambers (lead vocalist, accordion, guitar, piano) and Lisa Gutkin (violin and vocals), the Klezmatics musical virtuosity and use of traditional dance music of Eastern European Jews continue to amaze and uplift audiences.
Their lyrics, sung in English, Yiddish, Bavarian and Aramaic, addresses social rights and anti-fundamentalism over a mix of klezmer, Latin, Celtic, Afro-Caribbean, Balkan, gospel and folk flavoured music.
Over the course of their career, the Klezmatics have released six albums and have collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America), classical violinist Itzhak Perlman, poet Allen Ginsberg, Jewish gospel singer Joshua Nelson, Israeli vocalist Chava Alberstein and avant-garde composer John Zorn.