Klezmer Music Is Having a Revival

When you hear the word “klezmer,” what comes to mind?

Images of a black-and-white world of shtetl dwellers plonking away on an accordion? Tevye fiddling on the roof? Maybe a grandparent or great-grandparent singing centuries-old Yiddish lullabies, or the derp-y music in the background of a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode?

What about music festivals and sold-old concert halls?

If you’ve been paying attention to the music scene, especially Jewish music, you may have noticed a small but influential — and growing! — group of artists who are reimagining traditional Ashkenazi music for a new generation of listeners.

Historically, klezmer music provided the soundtrack for life among central- and eastern-European Ashkenazi Jews. The word “klezmer” actually refers to the musical instruments that characterize the style, which often include fiddles, cellos, flutes and clarinets. While it is true that klezmer music both influenced and was influenced by a huge variety of other European folk music traditions, it was deeply rooted in Jewish religious life as well, and especially important for lifecycle events like weddings and even daily prayers.

Of course, most of the communities where klezmer flourished were decimated by the Holocaust. While it never totally disappeared — and even saw something of a renaissance among diaspora Jews in the 1970s — for many, klezmer music remains a relic of the past.

However, there are a handful of influential musicians working hard to change this, introducing new audiences to klezmer music and Yiddish songs that they are adapting for the 21st century.

Few people have done more to shape today’s klezmer revival than fiddler Jake Shulman-Ment. After years spent learning directly from archival recordings and master musicians, he has become one of the foremost interpreters of traditional klezmer. He’s performed at concert venues big and small all across the world, and is a true ambassador for the genre. His music even made it into the HBO series “Succession”!

Another important klezmer artist to check out is Sarah Gordon, founder and lead singer of the band Yiddish Princess. A native New Yorker whose mother, Adrienne Cooper, is also a klezmer musician, Sarah grew up attending “Klez Kamp” in Canada, where she connected with an older generation of klezmer musicians. Yiddish Princess is self-defined as a Yiddish rock band that combines elements of klezmer with contemporary rock and a heavy dose of Yiddish language.

Both were no doubt inspired by Daniel Kahn and his band, The Painted Bird, which formed back in 2005. Blending folk, rock and theater, Kahn’s work is a cross-cultural, time-bending form of musical political activism. Originally from Detroit, Kahn and his band have always been based in Germany, and many of their songs confront Nazism and its aftermath. Their Yiddish translation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” had a viral moment in 2016.

They’re far from alone. The Grammy-winning Klezmatics have spent decades pushing klezmer into new musical territory, collaborating with artists across genres while introducing countless listeners to Yiddish songs. Austrian singer-songwriter Isabel Frey combines Yiddish folk music with contemporary social themes, while Basya Schechter, founder of Pharaoh’s Daughter, weaves together Jewish, Middle Eastern and global musical traditions. Together, these artists illustrate the remarkable range of today’s klezmer music scene and the endurance of the Yiddish language.

At a time when so much public conversation about Jewish life focuses on antisemitism and loss, it feels especially meaningful to celebrate Jewish creativity. These artists remind us that our culture is filled with music worth dancing to, languages worth speaking and traditions worth sharing.

That may be the most exciting part of today’s klezmer revival. Jewish tradition has always grown through adaptation. Musicians continue to perform beloved standards, but they are also composing new songs and finding new audiences. Jewish culture continues to grow.

And if audiences are singing along, laughing together and discovering klezmer for the first time, the future of this centuries-old tradition sounds remarkably bright.