Real Music & Real Estate . . .

Yiddishe Cup’s bandleader, Bert Stratton, is Klezmer Guy.
 

He knows about the band biz and – check this out – the real estate biz, too.
 

You may not care about the real estate biz. Hey, you may not care about the band biz. (See you.)
 

This is a blog with a gamy twist. It features tenants with snakes and skunks, and musicians with smoked fish in their pockets.
 

Stratton has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.


 
 

KLEZMER WRITERS GUILD

by Bert Stratton

You’re interested in klezmer music, but tell me honestly, do I exhaust you with too much klezmer reporting?

I’m the only klezmer journalist in the world, so yes I’m prolific. No wait, there are a couple more writers . . . Rogovoy in Massachusetts, Kun of California, Robinson in New York, Davidow in Boston.  And some academics too.

We meet up virtually, and collaboratively, right here. At least I think we do.

My life is filled with klezmer.  Do other people have klezmer dreams? Do people have bluegrass dreams? Why would they?  What about Chagall — didn’t he have klezmer dreams?

Existence is a wall to climb over.

I’m over it.

klez wall klezmer writer

I have no big statement on klezmer. I started playing it because I didn’t know what else to do.  Buddy Holly, I like him; B.B. King, excellent. I couldn’t be those guys. I tried.

In college I wrote about jazz.  There is jazz writing. There are jazz journals. What about klezmer journals?  I started one: Klezmer Guy. It’s online. Check it out.

I like quirky music with glitches — in short the wrong note in the right place.  I like the staccato of Yiddish and the clarinet.  My speech is a cluster of blobs and blurts. Some of it makes sense.

shareEmail this to someoneShare on FacebookTweet about this on Twitter

4 comments

1 Mark Schilling { 08.20.14 at 9:28 am }

I write about Japanese movies in English for a living, which also makes me a journalist guild of one. I also have strange dream encounters with Tom Cruise and various J actors you’ve never heard of. I’m cool with it.

2 Ari Davidow { 08.20.14 at 9:36 am }

I like being in a group as large as the low single digits. Wouldn’t mind more company, but it’s nice not to be alone!

3 Ken G. { 08.20.14 at 10:27 am }

Thanks for the tip, Bert. I’ll check out “Klezmer Guy” online when I have a chance. How do I access it?

4 Dave Rowe { 08.25.14 at 4:23 pm }

Well, there CAN be bluegrass dreams – say it’s about 30 years ago, and you’re at a Bill Monroe concert. It’s outdoors and it’s blistering hot and the guitar player keels over. Bill asks if there’s a picker in the house and you step in. By the time “Blue Moon of Kentucky” comes around, you’re deadset in the groove, on your way to becoming a full-fledged Blue Grass Boy.

Leave a Comment