The Klezmatics: Lorin Sklamberg (vocals, accordion, piano); Matt Darriau (flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, kaval, groggers, background vocals); Alicia Svigals (violin, background vocals); Frank London (accordion, trumpet, alto horn, groggers, percussion, background vocals); Paul Morrissett (bass, tsimbl, fujara, nyenyere, background vocals); David Light (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Additional personnel includes: Avram Pengas (bouzouki); John Medeski (Hammond B-3 organ); Itsik Becher, Tine Kindermann, Louis London, Adrienne Cooper, Sarah Gordon (background vocals).
Recorded at Sony Music Studios and Living Traditions, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Tony Kushner.
With POSSESSED the Klezmatics whirl further into the musical vortex born of their unique, pell-mell hybrid of traditional klezmer forms, be-bop-inspired improvisation, inventive instrumentation and madcap tempos. Brain-bending brass and woodwind performances (most notably from lead trumpeter Frank London, flautist, clarinetist and alto saxophonist Matt Darriau, and violinist Alicia Svigals) sail over thundering percussion and a host of odd instruments, including kaval, groggers, tsimbl, fujara and nyenyere, to create a music so forceful it's sometimes almost scary.
The first few tracks alone are worth the price of the album. The opener, "Shprayz Ikh Mir," takes a sung folk theme and turns it into epic of ever-heightening drama, while the third cut, "Moroccan Game," makes a tasty pastiche of North African motifs. Though the schmaltz-o-meter tilts dangerously into the red on some of the hand-wringing vocal ballads, such as "An Undoing World" (one of the few tracks sung in English), the Klezmatics more than compensate with performances such as the minor-key chaos of "Sirba Matey Matey" and the riveting, a cappella "Eyn Mol." In its wild energy and adventurous musicianship, POSSESSED sustains an ancient musical heritage while transforming it into something utterly new.
