I’m a week benind on this one! I’m talking about Sept 26 now.
Barry had to pick someone up at the airport, so he arranged a substitute for klezmer class tonight. It was Dena Ressler, a clarinetist. She says she knows me from somewhere, but we couldn’t figure out where.
It’s almost always good to have a substitute at klez. It’s not that the substitute would be a better permanent teacher than the regular teacher, but it’s good to get a different point of view and get some fresh ideas. Besides a few specific critiques on particular pieces, Dena said, “Listen to the dead guys and try to reproduce their sounds. Try to figure out what they’re doing, and see if you can do it.” She gave us names of particular klezmer players from the ’30s and ’40s whose recordings have been reissued recently on CD. She had brought in a couple of CDs and played selections for us to listen to. Overall, it was an excellent class.