“Whitechapel Mayn Vaytshepl, a fantastic CD from Klezmer Klub, is a collection of songs that celebrates the old Jewish East End. The CD is wonderfully infectious, and filled with London references. Some of the songs are handed down by oral tradition. Other numbers are new interpretations of folk songs and dances, played in the klezmer tradition, revivifying the spirit of the past. Klezmer Klub's work in bringing this music to life is particularly welcome - but this is not just something worthy. It's some of the most uplifting music that's appeared in a long time. Please visit their website and treat yourself to a copy ...”

Posted by YR HEARTOUT on SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010

http://thelondonnobodysings.blogspot.com/

“Klezmer Klub has put together a CD, Whitechapel Mayn Vaytshepl, which collects together some of the songs, street chants and dances, performed by Jewish immigrants in London’s East End before the Second World War. Many of these songs have been handed down through oral tradition, and are rarely heard today. That is what makes the Klezmer Klub’s CD so valuable. The group, which comes from a mix of backgrounds, has painstakingly collected the lost songs and brought them to life again.

Some of the songs are traditional folk or dance numbers, which the group gives new life to with its glorious mixture of acoustic instrumentation.

Where Klezmer Klub really succeeds is in tackling this project with a perfect mix of seriousness and irreverence. On one hand the group is perfectly serious about exploring the musical roots of London’s Jewish community. The social history aspect is important, and the timing crucial. But the group’s findings are presented in a form that is great fun and can be accessible to anyone who loves to dance and sing. It really does not matter if the listener doesn’t know their klezmer from their tango. There is fun to be had, and making learning enjoyable is a great achievement.”

Kevin Pearce, March 9th 2010

http://worldmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/london-musical-roots-celebrated

“Klezmer Klub’s inroad into Yiddish London breaks any stereotypical sentimental nostalgia and instead confronts the listener with the variegated reality of immigrant life, sometimes harsh and sometimes funny… beautifully poised full-band renditions of elegant instrumental klezmer tunes… raw emotion and beauty… musical quality, wonderful energy and spot-on arrangements… an important contribution in the years of research and work to put together this CD. Now that the band has invited us to join them in their rediscovered Whitechapel, I highly recommend that you take up the invitation.”

Abigail Wood, Jewish Renaissance Magazine. Vol 9 issue 2, January 2010

“Songs from the past that tell us how to live now…give voice to the stuff of life and how we deal with change… as relevant today as ever… something vital clearly still pulsates through these melodies.”

Diane Samuels, Jewish Chronicle 25/12/09

“…songs about London that range from the poignant to the playful… given a modern feel and sung without nostalgia. A celebration of the Yiddish East End. Buy it and enjoy!”

David Rosenberg. Jewish Socialist magazine January 2010

‘Whitechapel, Mayn Vaytshepl’ is a joy and a gift—a release and a relief from the anodyne sentimentality of so much that passes for ‘Jewish music’, an astringent yet exuberant freshet of Jewish life, full of irony and wryness, making links between struggles then and no less acute struggles now. This is real ‘Jewish continuity,’ and wonderful music to boot. 

Klezmer Klub gigs are wonderful occasions—passionate enthusiasm, humour, and accomplished musicianship make it hard to stay in your seat, even if you also find it hard to get up. They don’t rest with the same old repertory; Yiddish music is so much richer than most of us realized. There’s something about being at their gigs that is like being in conversation—their musical conversation with each other, and their conversation with the audience, or rather, with the participants. It’s not quite like being a passive audience. Whatever it is they do, it’s contagious, and lovely. 

Rabbi Sheila Shulman,  London, January 2010

‘“WOWEE - I love the CD - great concept, great execution - love the street sounds, energy, smart unknown content - great r&d, and I love your singing! You sound wonderful, it is such a pleasure the whole thing!!”

Adrienne Cooper, Singer, New York, December 2009

“A vibrant CD full of the bustle and boisterousness of Saturday markets along the waste itself. It’s a CD full of the heart songs of historic community. Peopled by folk whose language rolls off the tips of their fingers; whose eyes water with age but are always bright; who put the world to rights because heaven gave them each the right to believe they could.

Klezmer klub have captured here the essence and the singing soul of what the poet Avraham Stencl numbered as one of our greatest townships. This is emotional touchy feely history beyond photographs.”

Derek Reid, Social historian/Folklorist, London, January 2010

“Hearing Klezmer Klub’s CD, and playing drums and percussion with them at a friends 70th birthday party re-connected me to my Yiddish east London roots, to my Russian grandma and to her crowded childhood growing up in Whitechapel and surviving in a large immigrant family. This is a great CD - buy it!”

Rory McLeod, Musician, Orkney, December 2009

Our first review was in the Yiddish Forverts on-line edition from the USA. For you Yiddish speakers here is the link:

http://yiddish.forward.com/node/2394