THE BEAT
Ed Kohn's "Double Yellow Line" CD; Wholesale Klezmer's Protest
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Nov. 14, 1997) -- On his upcoming album, "Double Yellow Line," singer-songwriter Ed Kohn of Windsor clinches his status as the Berkshires' answer to Tom Paxton.
On a baker's dozen original compositions, Kohn proves himself a versatile songwriter with a wide-ranging palette and a distinguished command of his craft. Equally at ease with nature songs, traditionally-styled family ballads, parodies, topical songs and character sketches, Kohn draws primarily from time-honored forms while investing them with a contemporary sensibility without violating their integrity.
Take, for example, "Landlubber's Lament," a contemporary update of a mournful sailor's sea chantey. In this case, the worker doing the lamenting wears a white collar, and the labor hardships include "deadlines, meetings and memos, oh/With me desk and me swivel chair/And computers always crashing so/And with me fax machine, aye, oh."
On this tune as on others on this effort -- recorded at Derek Studios in Dalton and co-produced by Kohn and his son, Ben, and engineered by Greg Steele -- Kohn draws on a wealth of local talent for backup support. The "Landlubber's Lament" includes a choir, playfully dubbed "The Kohn Tones," featuring North County vocalists Andy Burr, Doug Paisley and Jared Polens. Other area guest musicians include vocalist Lisa Sturz, fiddler Rani Arbo, and multi- instrumentalist Charlie Mead. Kohn plays guitar, and his son Ben adds keyboards, bass and percussion. The arrangements are spare and tasteful, allowing for the lyrics and melodies to prevail.
Kohn's writing always conveys a strong sense of place, but even as it does so, it is infused with movement and character. That is to say, his landscapes are never static, but are fully-drawn settings upon which play out his tales of human drama that evince greater human truths.
The title track, for example, paints a vivid picture of life in a Berkshire hilltown, only to contrast it with the promise of the open road. Likewise, "Snowfall" portrays a wintry scene in order to reveal a secret of the narrator's heart.
Kohn is also a deft satirist. He describes "Velveeta" as a "blue- collar cheese song," but you don't realize until you're halfway through the song that it is a spoof of pretension. "Pressure-Treated Town" turns Kohn's barbed wit on the seemingly inoffensive practice of building a back-yard deck, and in so doing reveals the anti- environmental aspect that lies at its core.
Kohn's writing is always taut, and as with the finest folk craftsmen, his songs are embedded in melodic structures that both support and encourage repeated listening and sing-alongs.
Kohn will preview material from "Double Yellow Line" at his performance tomorrow night at Thelma's Roadside Diner in Great Barrington at 8:30. For details call 528-0880.
Kohn's "Double Yellow Line" will be available for purchase in early December. For more information or to reserve a copy now, write to Kohn at 522 High Street Hill, Windsor, MA 01270, or call 684- 1731.
Klezmer protest
The Wholesale Klezmer Band's last album, "Prayer For a Broken World," was more than just another collection of Yiddish dance tunes. Rather, the project of original and traditional compositions was a fully-conceived work of musical protest -- in the group's own words, "music to bear witness to our responsibility as Jews and as human beings to oppose intolerance, oppression and genocide, and to promote peace, reconciliation and justice."While Klezmer is traditionally the music of celebration at Jewish life-cycle events, the careful programming of "Prayer For a Broken World" resulted in a successful concept album of rare power, suggestion and impact. The songs on the album were originally put together for a concert to benefit relief efforts in Bosnia and Rwanda. In its album form, however, the song cycle becomes a stark, compelling work of contemporary protest, imbued with an ancient gravity that lays down a moral challenge for a new generation.
The Wholesale Klezmer Band is a 15-year-old acoustic Klezmer outfit based in the Pioneer Valley. The musicians fulfill the traditional role of the Klezmer group by playing at weddings and bar-mitzvahs, as well as performing on stage and in educational contexts. Its repertoire includes music for dance, traditional Yiddish folk songs, Yiddish theater and vaudeville songs, as well as original compositions.
The Wholesale Klezmer Band performs on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 12:15 p.m., in room K111 of the Koussevitsky Center at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. Call 442-4360 for ticket information.
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Nov. 14, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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