”Midrash” comes from the Hebrew word “darash,”
which means “to inquire.” “Mish mosh” means
“mixed-up” or “combination.” That was easy;
Aaron Alexander explains the terms in the liner notes. Definitions having
been provided, this music, part of Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series,
is indeed an exhilarating combination. To call it mixed-up would be
denying it the power and the glory, the joy and the intensity that it
creates.
One could well expect klezmer music to be at the forefront, and it is
on many of the songs. But Alexander goes on to shape the pieces with
traditional Jewish music, jazz in its harmonies and freedom, and other
idioms that jump out and surprise.
For sure, the malleability of the compositions is their most striking
aspect. There is no guessing which way Alexander will take them as he
goes from one form to another without a crease. At one moment he is
describing a ballad, and then the body goes askance from the head to
undulate to a dance rhythm as the beat crackles to his ministrations
and that of Michael Sarin. Take “Der Rumsisker Maggid/Shema.”
Greg Wall is all breathy and warm on the tenor, while clarinetist Merlin
Shepherd and trumpeter Frank London cut form loose. They come together
in waltz time, the melody captivating with Shepherd at the fore, but
the pulse cuts the chord and measure before getting back to the 1-2-3.
It's time to kick up one's heels and dance and twirl as the band spins
into “Khosn Kalleh Haskalah.” The rousing air is made all
the more fevered by guitarist Brad Shepik, whose rising temperament
shunts into rock, molten shards stopping just short of head-banging
terrain. Jagged rhythm, the incendiary scream of the guitar unleashed
by Curtis Hasselbring, and a traditional melody raise the curtain to
the “Kleyzmish Moshpit,” a high-energy, rambunctious tune
that even finds a cove in free jazz.
By Jerry D'Souza