Musical Showcase: Meet Die Drei Dudelim, Klezmer Trio from the Netherlands

Continuing our series of introducing new musical groups, today we're focusing on a talented trio of Klezmer musicians from the Netherlands who call themselves Die Drei Dudelim.

The band Die Drei Dudelim ('the three players of tunes') consists of three good friends who have been playing Klezmer music since 1994. Their music is heavily inspired by the old Eastern European Klezmer tradition, but with a modern 'feel', and it clearly reveals their classical music education. The Dudelim are multi-instrumentalists, playing several guitars, violin, clarinet, and mandolin as well as double bass, but they also distinguish themselves by their excellent vocals. The moods of their songs vary from quiet and melancholic to vibrant, fast, and full of excitement. 

In today's video they play a Yiddish classic, Der Rebbe Elimelech, sort of a Yiddish version of Old King Cole. Just in case you don't know this Yiddish standard, it describes an Eastern European rabbi who has a little too much to drink when Shabbat ends and becomes more and more happy and boisterous as the evening progresses. 

First he takes off his tefillin and puts on his glasses, and calls for two fiddlers. Then he makes Havdalah, calls for the shamash and two cymbal players. Finally he takes off his hat and puts on his kittel and calls for two drummers. The music reaches a crescendo when the fiddlers drum, the drummers play the cymbals, and the cymbal players fiddle (or some such combination -- you get the idea.) 

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)