New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars – “Big Kibosh, the” – [Shanachie Entertainment]

The New Orleans Klezmer???s third CD is a bit of a departure from their funky/ jazz New Orleans style. I think somebody challenged them to play “traditional Jewish music” and they took it on. The result is a return to the roots of the style but still much more than Trad Klez. When the band focuses on the old style we loose some of the free-form sax duets of previous performances and the beat is not quite the same, but this is by no means a boring record. Just more traditional ;-)
The last track reverts to the more normal NOKA style – a long flowing danceable klezjam (watch out for a short pause of about 45 seconds in the middle) followed by some funny commentary on some of gigs they get, then more music.
-Dave Richoux