Jews & Jazz with Henry Saposnik

When one thinks of “Jews and jazz,” names such as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Mezz Mezzrow and others come to mind, American-born all. But what of the earlier generation of European born Jewish musicians — klezmorim — who, upon arrival, were obliged to learn two new languages: English and jazz? How did they navigate through a new challenging soundscape in an effort to become viable parts of their new land?

By examining the nascent “jazz” offerings of pioneering performances of recording klezmorim like Lt. Joseph Frankel, Harry Kandel, Joseph Cherniavsky, Dave Tarras, Harry Raderman and Sammy Musiker, among others, we witness for the first time how that first generation took to jazz as both a social and musical gateway to speed up and encourage their – and their audience’s — acculturation in transition from old world to new. Led by Henry Sapoznik, American author, record and radio producer and performer of traditional Yiddish and American music.