Tumbalalaika Around the World: Baklava Klezmer Soul Sings in the Synagogue of Cuneo, Italy

Today we share yet another version of the Yiddish folk song Tumbalalaika.

Baklava Klezmer Soul is a young group formed in May 2017, on the initiative of Isacco Basilotta and Roberto Avena. The group, starting from a melodic research, proposes arrangements of Klezmer music in a Balkan key with Gypsy references; the goal is to popularize a musical genre that is almost unknown to the culture of Italy.  

The formation is typical of the genre, and is made up of five musicians: clarinet (Isacco Basilotta), accordion (Roberto Avena), voice and percussion (Michela Giordano), percussion (Lorenzo Armando) and electric bass (Nicolò Cavallo).

The performers thank the Jewish Community of Turin who authorized the filming inside the Cuneo Synagogue.

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by ArcheoEnsemble in Milan, Italy

This week we go to Milan, Italy to welcome Shabbat with another version of Shalom Aleichem as performed by the Klezmer group ArcheoEnsemble at the Nuevo Teatro Ariberto.

The ArcheoEnsemble specializes in instrumental and vocal pieces in Hebrew and Yiddish.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom! 

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Tumbalalaika Around the World - An Interpretation by the Female Choir of Ferrara, Italy

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, bringing you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song. It seems to be especially popular in Italy.

This rendition of Tumbalalaika was recorded by the SonArte Female Choir, a musical and artistic project of the SonArte musical and cultural association of Ferrara, a city in northern Italy between Venice and Bologna. It started in October 2010 and includes a large group of women engaged in different professional and social fields, moved by the desire to sing together.

The choir offers a musical space to all women who have the desire to sing together and perform a predominantly popular repertoire. They are all songs from different cultures: Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, United States, Senegal, South Africa, Italy, etc. From its creation the choir has performed in different events and cultural and solidarity events organized by public bodies and cultural associations of Ferrara and other Italian cities.

The English translation appears under the video on this page.

Enjoy!


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Tumbalalaika - English Translation

A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks the whole night through

Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not to shame
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be happy
Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain?
What can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?
Foolish lad, why do you have to ask?
A stone can grow, grow without rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without tears

Pesach Traces in Unexpected Places: Echad Mi Yodea by Batsheva Dance Company in Ferrara, Italy

Modern dance or strip Haggadah? Three years ago we posted a modern dance version of Echad Mi Yodea, one of the songs at the end of the Pesach seder.  Choreographed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, it includes all 13 verses of the song. 

This week we found a video of the same modern dance as performed in 2014 on World Dance Day in the municipal square in Ferrara, Italy. It starts about 2 minutes into the video, preceded by a short version of Ani Maamin. 

We don't know quite what to say about the performance, except that we wonder what would have occurred if there happened to be a 14th verse.

Enjoy!

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Tumbalalaika Around the World: Eco Band Performs Yiddish Classic in Rome

The Yiddish folk love song Tumbalalaika originated in Eastern Europe in the 19th century, but its exact origin is hard to pinpoint. That hasn't prevented it from being sung and played over and over, not only in places where Yiddish songs are sung, but just about everywhere in the world, in vocal and instrumental versions, in cabarets and in the movies.

Just as we have followed the songs Hava Nagila, Adon Olam, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, and Abanibi as they took different forms as interpreted by a wide variety of singers, musicians, and dancers, we're continuing the series today that we started back in 2012, bringing you many interpretations of this universal courting and love song.  

This rendition of Tumbalalaika was recorded by the trio called Eco in Rome, Italy.

The English translation appears under the video on this page.

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.

Tumbalalaika - English Translation

A young lad stands, and he thinks
Thinks and thinks the whole night through

Whom to take and not to shame
Whom to take and not to shame
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika
Tumbalalaika, strum balalaika
Tumbalalaika, may we be happy
Girl, girl, I want to ask of you
What can grow, grow without rain?
What can burn and never end?
What can yearn, cry without tears?
Foolish lad, why do you have to ask?
A stone can grow, grow without rain
Love can burn and never end
A heart can yearn, cry without tears

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Shalom Aleichem Welcome From a Chorale in Italy

Bova Marina is a municipality in the Italian province of Calabria.

It's the home of a Polyphonic Choir that was founded in 1989 by Maestro Aldo Gurnari, a figure of considerable prestige in the local music scene. 

The Chorale is responsible for organizing the festival "Voices in the Mediterranean", now in its third edition. It has a repertoire that ranges from the most classical pieces of sacred and secular music from the period between 1400 and 1800 to excerpts from the Byzantine liturgy to emphasize the importance that Greek celebrations have had in the past in the territory.

Somehow Shalom Aleichem, a traditional song to welcome Shabbat, has also found its way into their repertory. 

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Balkan Bistro Street Band Plays Hava Nagila

In the four years that we've been posting videos, we included 39 versions of Hava Nagila, as performed all over the world, many in very unlikely places. Athough it's been awhile since the most recent post, we haven't stopped looking for new and ususual renditions.

Today we're posting our fortieth Hava Nagila, as played by the Balkan Bistro Street Band. The band is a project involving six young musicians and fans of Balkan music in general in Eastern Europe. With suitable training for playing in place and on the march, they try to raise awareness and infect their listeners with their passion for Balkan music and its sounds and rhythms.

They seem to play mainly in cities in Italy, marching through the streets in loose formation while they play. In this non-marching version of Hava Nagila, they start the melody about 30 seconds into the video, play the song for two minutes, launch into some improv for two minutes, and then return to Hava Nagila.

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.)