New Klezmer Trio

With the release of their groundbreaking 1991 debut, New Klezmer Trio established themselves as innovators of the Radical Jewish Culture movement. The Bay Area trio took the raw elements of traditional klezmer and fused it with avant garde jazz and experimental rock, creating something new in the process. They recorded two additional albums, Melt Zonk Rewire (1996) and Short for Something (2000) for John Zorn's Tzadik label. New Klezmer Trio was formed in Berkeley, California in 1987 by clarinetist Ben Goldberg, bassist Dan Seamans, and drummer Kenny Wollesen. All high-caliber musicians with jazz training and an experimental streak, they became known for their liberal interpretations of klezmer-rooted music, running their instruments through electronic effects and developing the textured, atmospheric arrangements which first appeared on 1991's Masks and Faces. Their music helped spark the Radical Jewish Culture movement that took root in New York in the early '90s. The trio eventually signed with John Zorn's recently launched Tzadik label, which reissued their debut along with their 1996 follow-up Melt Zonk Rewire. New Klezmer Trio managed one more album, 2000's Short for Something, before disbanding in the following decade.
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