Local klezmer band makes
beautiful music
by Lee Chottiner
Executive Editor
04.22.10 - 10:24 am
The music
of Eastern Watershed Quartet’s latest CD, “The Klez Dispenser,” will tug at the
heartstrings of the most discerning klezmer listener.
The just-released 14-song package is klezmer in its most classical form.
There’s little mixing of genres here; this is the music your bubbes and zaydes
danced to at their weddings from Warsaw to Bessarabia.
Not bad for a band that doesn’t have a single Jewish musician, though
clarinetist Janice Coppola is a music director at Temple Sinai.
Speaking for herself, “Klezmer music has an appeal to
many a clarinetist,” said Coppola. But she noted that the other band members
are classically trained musicians with strong backgrounds in Eastern European
music.
Accordionist Lynette Garlan has studied with music teachers from the Balkans
and Eastern Europe and arranged the Klezmer Koncerto for orchestra.
Percussionist Ronald J. Heid, who teaches at Seton Hill University, has
performed with the percussion ensemble Tempus Fugit through Germany, Poland,
Russia and the Czech Republic. And tuba player Phil Van Ouse, a brass
instructor at Washington & Jefferson College, performs with various folk
ensembles.
Coppola said she was drawn to the “fascinating” history klezmer, which has
subtle rhythmic and meter differences from other Eastern European music. She’s
played in other klezmer bands and she’s traveled to a klezmer gathering in
Canada to immerse herself in the music.
Eastern Watershed, which had its start as a Balkan music quintet, has been
together for 10 years.
On “The Klez Dispensers,” Eastern Watershed’s music is generally upbeat. The
quartet covers well-known melodies such as “Raisins and Almonds” and some a tad
newer (“Play It Again, Dave” and “Sammy’s Dance Party”).
It’s a demonstration that klezmer music is alive and well in Pittsburgh. This
is an album that belongs in your collection.
(Lee Chottiner can be reached at leec@thejewishchronicle.net.)
© thejewishchronicle.net 2010