Klezmorim ranked among the earliest revivalist ensembles devoted to klezmer, the traditional dance music of Eastern European Jews. Over the twelve years of the group’s existence, its members fused that repertoire with jazz, improvisation, street music, and worldbeat while maintaining a good-humored, theatrical stage presence.
The project originated in 1974 as the duo “Lev & Dave,” formed by saxophone player Lev Liberman and violinist David Skuse. At that moment the sole comparable ensemble was the New York unit that included Andy Statman and Zev Feldman. Liberman viewed the music as a bridge connecting Russian and Romanian folk traditions, Depression-era cartoon soundtracks, and the works of Gershwin, Weill, and Prokofiev. The addition of David Julian Gray on clarinet, mandolin, lauto, and violin, together with Greg Carageorge on double bass and Laurie Chastain on violin, expanded the duo into the full ensemble known as The Sarajevo Folk Ensemble. After refining its sound at parties and weddings throughout San Francisco, the group adopted the name Klezmorim in January 1976 and gave its first public concert at the Public Library in Berkeley, California, on April 13, 1976.
Following the 1977 release of the debut album East Side Wedding, personnel shifts occurred. Skuse and the two string players departed; David Julian Gray thereafter concentrated on clarinet while former street performers Rick Elmore (bass trombone, tuba, bass drum, cymbals) and Brian Wishnefsky (trumpet) joined the lineup. Theatrical elements of the performances continued to evolve, culminating in 1983 and 1984 when the band joined new vaudevillians the Flying Karamazov Brothers for an extended engagement as a juggling/brass supergroup. Between 1986 and 1988 Klezmorim reduced those theatrical components and placed greater emphasis on the music itself; the often multi-hour concerts that resulted became legendary.
