The 78's
As mentioned earlier, Hank Sapoznik found old 78 rpm recordings from the 1920's that eventually inspired the klezmer revival. Sapoznik, along with Kapelye and The Klezmer Conservatory Band sought to recreate these recordings as they were in their original form. However, as the revival grew, groups soon began to take liberties with tempo, form, notes, instrumentation, ornamentation, and more.
The first of the two recordings on this page are old 78's. The first one, Chernovitzer Bulgar by Broder Kapelle, demostrates the instrumtation and percussion used in the 20's when klezmer was first popular in this country. The second is Mishka Ziganoff playing Odessa Bulgar from the same era. The last recording is The Klezmatics (a later revival band) performing Odessa Bulgar as well.
You will find that The Klezmatics have very similar instrumentation to Kapelle's group, The Klezmatics, along with most other revival bands, use a drum set. It was very common for bands in the 20's to use only one percussion instrument (in this case a snare drum). The drum set allows for different sounds, feels, as well as rhythms. Also, there is a very large difference in tempo from the first to recordings to the third which a bit faster. Many revival bands chose to push tempos mostly due to the fact that there was no longer a dance that accompanied them. The Klezmatics also make use of different notes in the melody as well as very different and sometimes unusual harmonies.
The first of the two recordings on this page are old 78's. The first one, Chernovitzer Bulgar by Broder Kapelle, demostrates the instrumtation and percussion used in the 20's when klezmer was first popular in this country. The second is Mishka Ziganoff playing Odessa Bulgar from the same era. The last recording is The Klezmatics (a later revival band) performing Odessa Bulgar as well.
You will find that The Klezmatics have very similar instrumentation to Kapelle's group, The Klezmatics, along with most other revival bands, use a drum set. It was very common for bands in the 20's to use only one percussion instrument (in this case a snare drum). The drum set allows for different sounds, feels, as well as rhythms. Also, there is a very large difference in tempo from the first to recordings to the third which a bit faster. Many revival bands chose to push tempos mostly due to the fact that there was no longer a dance that accompanied them. The Klezmatics also make use of different notes in the melody as well as very different and sometimes unusual harmonies.