Dirty Linen

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #127 (December 2006/January 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Holiday Recordings & Books

The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics
Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah
Jewish Music Group JMG-18050-2 (2006)

It is, indeed, a happy and joyous occasion. This album, which was originally issued by the Guthrie Foundation a couple of years ago, has now been made widely available on a commercial basis (with the addition of four newly recorded instrumentals). As the story goes, Guthrie's daughter, Nora, found boxes of old lyrics written by her dad and farmed some out to various artists. The batch with Jewish themes, mostly about Hanukah, went to the Klezmatics, who crafted gorgeous melodies and rhythms to complete Guthrie's visions. (Folk fans would also do well to check out the other recently released collection, Wonder Wheel, which isn't a klezmer or Hanukah outing, but similarly features the Klezmatics creating beautiful music to accompany Guthrie's odes to life in Brooklyn during the 1940s and 1950s.) Several of the songs here are very much aimed at children, such as the opening number, "Honeyky Hanuka," "Hanukah Tree," and "Hanuka Bell," which the band sets to its familiar klezmer gestalt. They are also reminiscent of the nursery songs that Guthrie himself once recorded. But there are also some absolutely devastating grown-up moments, such as "The Many and the Few," a plaintive song about the origins of the holiday featuring a duet between Lorin Sklamberg, the band's lead vocalist, and Susan McKeown. Similarly, there are a pair of show-stoppers at the end of the album: "Hanuka's Flame," which speaks to the spirit of an eternal flame, and "Hanuka Dance," which is truly a children's song, but is dished out so gorgeously by Sklamberg that you feel as if you're being carried away on a cloud of sensuous song. This is a must-have for anyone who loves Guthrie, folk, or klezmer, not to mention a hankering for Hanukah. Spin those dreidels and spin this disc.

-- Ed Silverman (Milburn, NJ)

Duck Baker
The Salutation
Day Job DCD107 (2001)

First recorded in 1987 and out of print for a number of years, this reissue of Duck Baker's The Salutation contains some unusual and rarely played Christmas Carols along with some better-known selections like "The Wexford Carol" and "I Saw Three Ships." Baker is a gifted guitarist who brings a delicate, almost classical approach to his arrangements of these tunes. The melodies and tunes are drawn from sources in France, Wales, Spain, Sweden, and England, and it's good to see Baker go beyond the tried and true holiday selections into something different and exciting. A most lovely collection.

-- Jim Lee (Simi Valley, CA)

Christmas in the Trenches
by John McCutcheon & Henri Sorensen
Peachtree (2006); ISBN 1-56145-374-9; 32 pp; $18.95; hardcover; book w/CD

Based on the Christmas Truce of 1914, John McCutcheon's story and song are fictionalized accounts of the remarkable events during World War I, when soldiers from both sides unofficially made the fighting stop in order to interact in moments of unity. The noted instrumentalist's tale is heartwarming; Henri Sorenson's illustrations absolutely stunning; the CD all-encompassing as it contains the words, music, and an especially meaningful rendition of "Silent Night/ Stille Nacht." The project is timely for several reasons, the perfect gift for virtually anyone on your holiday list: young or old, followers of any religion -- or not, lovers of music or art, residents of red or blue states. It will facilitate discussion and possibly be the first small step toward conflict resolution, and, without discounting his wonderful body of work, it could be the most important contribution of McCutcheon's career.

-- Ellen Geisel (Ballston Lake, NY )

Peter Ostroushko
Heartland Holiday
Borderland Productions BLP 01 (2005)

Although Peter Ostroushko's Heartland Holiday was recorded in concert nearly two years ago, there is a timeless quality to the songs he chose for this seasonal collection. "Stille Nacht/Silent Night" and "The Little Drummer Boy" are among the most beloved of all Christmas songs, and Ostroushko's treatment of them is true to tradition. Ostroushko plays fiddle and mandolin on the album and is accompanied by an ensemble that includes four vocalists, piano, accordion, guitar, bass, and percussion. His pairing of familiar Christmas favorites with traditional Ukranian, Finnish, and Appalachian tunes is perhaps the greatest strength of the album. A striking example of this is the English folk carol "Holly and the Ivy," which is combined with a pair of Ukrainian carols. Several Ostroushko originals and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" are included as well.

-- Annette C. Eshleman (Austin, TX)

There are 19 more Holiday recordings and books reviewed in issue #127.

[cover #127]