And a Happy and Kosher Pesach to us all.

Contents:

Epilogue to Wail Away - Joy- ful Noise - Alyn Benefit Concerts - Sing Thing - JFC on The Move Again - Jill Rogoff and Friends - The Newest Jerusalem Venue -

International Blue Grass Incident - Milestaines -

Calendar

Charlie Sayles' last performance in Israel, after four superb days at the Camelot Club, was in the Einav Center at Gan Ha-Ir in Tel Aviv. It's quite an upscale little auditorium, with carpeting, solid wood everywhere, fancy plush seats, and an electronic sound system that would choke a horse. I got there early and Charlie was in a terrible tiz. He was not happy with the acoustics of the hall or the dynamics of the sound system. It was all too detached, and he was hankering for the immediacy of the club again. Back stage we all crammed into a meagre dressing room with a grand piano, and took turns making music to dispel the pre-stage frights. "Dr Blues" Eli Marcus popped in and after a few moments of good jam it was time for the curtain call; but there ain't no curtain. First the band started rocking & rolling and then Charlie Sayles from D.C. took over and had the audience eating out of his hand. He tethered out with his mike about five meters from the band in order to reach the audience and playharmonica right in their faces. I suspect that the band felt a bit since they were used to basking in charisma, but now he doing all he could to over- come the hall's polished karma. He miraculously succeeded in infusing the blues into the youngish audience and dispelled the staid ambience. The band played on valiantly and Shebakiya took over finale when Charlie had simply given it all he had.

As I bade farewell to the folks in the dressing room for a unique musical experience, Charlie was analysing the gig like a coach in the locker room after a game. My opinion? It was great, and I told the Camelot producer that we need more of the same: there was enough of an enthusiastic audience to justify the expense andeffort.

--Harold Jacobs

When I spoke with Ada Dahan way back last October, she mentioned that in addition to playing with the good folks from Beit HaEmek, and play- ing with Wild Mountain Thyme, and her one woman show -- that she was forming a new ensemble: Joyful Noise. The new group consists of her longtime partner Bracha Ben Avraham, Jonathan Margalit, and Diane Kaplan. Bracha performs in Irish as well as being Ada's partner in Wild Thyme. Jonathan and Diane performed together at Jacob's Ladder a few years ago and perform separately at the Karmiel Folk Klub regularly.

Bracha opened the latest KFK evening with a sample of her Irish repertoire and concluded with a Karmiel, a song sinking ship. Ada followed with a solo performance and then Bracha joined her. From Dave Brubeck's "Take 5" to their signature song "Wild Mountain Thyme", Ada and Bracha sounded great But as good as the two of them were, it was just tease compared what followed when Diane and Jonathan joined them stage. Talk about the whole being greater than the sum of their parts! These guys sounded like they were born to sing together - From Mozart to Gaelic, from Gaelic to Gospel, from Gospel to Pygmy, Joyful Noise did it all. Jonathan's harmonies were right on, singing bass, baritone, tenor and even falsetto when need be. Diane can belt out a song like very few can, and Bracha and Ada simply shined. Joyful Noise will be performing at Charlie's in Misgav at the end of April. Other Folk Clubs should do themselves a favor and book'em ASAP.

--Larry Rosenfeld

WEDNESDAY April 5th: Jill Rogoff (and Ray Scudero,

Marc Gittelson, and Jill's

daughters Tal and Lisa).

WEDNESDAY April 12th: Jerusalem Barbershop Ensemble and Meyer Denn.

Each concert will last approximately 90 minutes.

Free light refreshments will be served at intermission.

70 NIS per concert.

Venue: ALYN HOSPITAL, at 7:45 pm (19:45), at the corner of Shmaryahu Levin & Olswanger Streets, Kiryat Yovel, Jerusalem

For reservations contact: Rena Fredman (02)

672-2607 or Steve Weiss (02) 993-2054

Since we got snowed out (in?), we will be holding

the bimonthly AACI-IFS Jerusalem Folk Club on April 1st (no that's not a joke). For all of you who missed the AACI Southern Region Song Contest finals held last October, we are holding a not-so-instant reply in which many of the finalists sing their entries and other material. See the Calendar for further details.

As is our wont, but not our want, the Jerusalem Folk Club has been compelled to seek new quarters -- which we have done did. As of April 13th (Note that we are returning to Thursdays, by request), the JFC shall be located at: Mar Elias Monastery Refectory (that's Monkish for restaurant). It is large, ornate, lovely, great arches (not golden), great acoustics. Great food (not kosher), but salad people will have a ball. Opening night features Rikki Rose and Marc Miller. One minor problem is that it is not in the city center. The Monastery is on the west side of Hebron Road

between the Talpiot Indus-

trial area and the entrance to Gilo. Bus #30 does come near. Otherwise it is a healthy walk from the last stops of the

#21 and #48 on Hebron Road. More details and ideas on carpooling from Larry (053) 801-202 or Carol (02) 671-4007.

Jill Rogoff is about to embark on a trip up north and folks up Karmiel way are about to get a rarified glimpse of pure Celtic music. With shame and remorse, I confess that I didn't write a review of the first concert in the series, held last October in Jerusalem. So I begged Jill for a reprieve

and another chance. Gracious as always, she let me off the hook. So here is a belated account of that wonderful concert.

The concert, held in the old Scottish Church, was in fact a kind of anniversary celebration for Jill's parents. The church itself is old and stately, and the acoustics are splendid. I confess that, ordinarily, I do not go out of my way to attend

Celtic musical celebrations. This is probably due to my

preconceived notion that "Celtic" means, for all practical purposes, what we might call Irish pub music.

However, since my friend Marcie was one of the per- formers, I came of my own

free will. And it turned out that I hadn't the foggiest notion of what constitutes Celtic music -- but then, I

had a wonderful teacher.

Jill related the story of each song colorfully and

entertainingly. The audience received a lesson in the cultural heritage

of much of Western Europe.

The Celts left their musical marks far beyond the boun- daries of Britain and Ireland. We heard various selections from France and Spain as well. There were

court songs, courting songs, cork songs, nature

songs, and much more.

What is Celtic music really like? Whether it is

upbeat or slow, it flows and

ripples. The melodies tend to be catchy, but they can also be quite complex. Some of them were medieval --

often telling long involved tales of love, lust and

intrigue.

Of course it didn't hurt that Jill chose a wonderfully talented crew to help out with things. Marcie is a virtuoso flautist whose

beautiful voice furnished

impressive backups for Jill, who's no slouch of a singer herself, not to mention a harpist. Phillip Griffin is renowned for his mastery of every stringed instrument. I thought I detected jazz runs planted in the midst of

all that fair Celtic music. Avery Ellisman is a wonder- ful fiddle and mandolin

player. The four of them blended together and

brought out the best in each other. It is always a pleasure to hear performers

who are the tops in their

craft, merging sounds. Even if you are not a Celtic lover, the malone is more than adequate a reason seek out a perfor- mance of Jill and her friends. It is just simply first class.

--Larry Gamliel

"Music -- or 'Mhuesic' -- of Every Shade" is the name

of a new Jerusalem folk

venue that began on Feb. 29th at Beit Hillel at Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. To conflict minimally with other regular folk events, "Mhuesic of Every Shade" is scheduled for the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month.

Setting the tone for what hopes to be a regular cross-

cultural happening with music as the prime vehicle, MC -- Minstrel of Ceremonies -- Bruce Brill opened the initial evening with "Yahoo," a jovial interplay between cowboy and Hebrew themes. Before Ann Rachel Limor did selections from her new CD, she blessed the start of the new venue by recalling that it was Brill who

first encouraged her to

perform in public, too many years ago to admit. Ann

Rachel was then joined by

her old buddies, the zany madcap Don Slovin and the unflaunting flautist Betsy Rosenberg. How warm, talented and fun loving

they are!

Who could follow such an act but the likes of the

Taverners' own Elisha Avshalom, who not only dazzled everyone with his ability to whistle simul- taneously in two voices (in

harmony, no less), but also performed breakless recorder renditions that left the audience gasping for breath.

Didjereedu Mushroom 2000 with buskers Paul Dunmore and Racheli opened the second half with some truly mesmerizing pieces, including a didjereedu duo. Perhaps an even more unusual find was the next act: a young German medical student, Gregor von Pankraz, fiddled --are you ready for this?? -- traditional Jewish music.

Well, if a didjereedu duo and a German fiddling

Jewish tunes isn't unusual

enough, the evening ended with the visit of a 3000- year old tenor banjo player, in the guise of Elazar (formerly 'Larry') Brandt. He was kept in beat by his heartbeat, the Queen of Shmalz, Sheila

Tannenbaum, with songs from ancient Shushan.

--Ben Edrachi

Dear Friends,

While it is still fresh in my mind, I want to tell some of my music-loving friends back home in the US about our bluegrass group that

played last night at Kibbutz Tzora's Folk Club, about 20 miles outside of Jerusalem.

As you may know, I am leading a pilgrimage to Israel that includes several good friends from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our guide

Mike Rogoff and I talked about folk music many times during our free

moments riding on the bus between religious and archaeological sites. Before

I knew what was happen- ing, Mike invited me to the Tsora Folk Club, where folk music from all over the

John Cushman

world --including American folk, gospel and bluegrass music -- is performed in a coffee house, small stage environ- ment that I remembered from the 1960's in New York. The bluegrass group (always one of the favorites), had lost its

banjo player for the evening, and I was asked to fill in. The evening began with singles and duos singing sets of Celtic music, Weavers, ballads and some original compositions. A sad lullaby of Kosovo, a freeway song about life that reminded me of "Mountain Railroad," "Seven Daffodils" from the Limelighters, and "Nine Pound Hammer" were among the titles I remember.

When it was our group's turn on stage, it reminded

me of the "bluegrass band

scrambles" that are a part of our own Santa Fe Blue- grass Festival -- little time to rehearse while scrambling to discover lyrics, leads and keys that everyone could play.

Our lead guitar player was Lynn Lewis, who runs the club each month with his wife Judi. He lives on the kibbutz, programs computers, and had sung semi pro in England for a while. He wears a neatly tucked ponytail and full beard, and he was a very friendly man that I liked

immediately. On mandolin was Paul Graham, originally from England, on an old

Gibson "A" model. An audio technician who works independently for groups who film in Israel, he has lots of enthusiasm and skill on the instrument. He said

he imports bluegrass music

and supplies from Elderly in the US. On bass, which was a beautiful homemade

guitarron like those used in Mariachi bands, was Marc Gittelson, a broad-shouldered man with a beard. The

instrument had a 5th string added in the bottom register, and he was a quick

study for everything we played. He lives on a

kibbutz near Eilat but works

during the week in Jerusalem.

Another guitar player,

Philip Griffin, joined us

later -- his home is Sydney, Australia. He is a very good flat picker with a hand built Australian guitar. He is a full-time musician; his wife is a reporter for ABC television in Australia. Lynn loaned me a nice banjo with good tone and action (I

believe the brand was "Leo").

We did a set including "Whiskey," "Lonesome Road," "Old Folks" and "Nine Pound Hammer" again, and had hummers and clappers in the

audience with us from the

very beginning. Lots of warm applause and thanks

afterwards, hugs and

embraces that were almost uncomfortable, and clear

evidence that music is an

international language that provides a meeting place

for people of diverse back-

grounds and origins. Hearing the familiar American tunes in the accents of people from places that are literally as far away from each other as you

can get on the planet in terms of distance and culture was an experience of connection. To have the instinctual musical sense of how tunes are

constructed, where the turn arounds and the tags fit, and how to build to the

strong ending -- was just what we expected musically,

and what we expected of

each other.

As we left, we all wondered when we might be able to do it again. How had we blended together so magically, and how fun it

would be to play long into

the night and lift together the toast of friendship.

I will remember our band always as "The Interna- tional Bluegrass Incident" and the name says it all.

Dr. J.

part of the "Southwest

Pickers" that produces the Santa Fe Bluegrass and

Old Tyme Music Festival in

Santa Fe, New Mexico. He won the bluegrass banjo

competition in 1997 and was awarded the bronze belt buckle. "There wasn't much competition that year," John says, "but I don't plan to return the belt buckle to the judges."

Happy birthday to: Gayla Goodman, Jon Berlinger,

Jonesy Clarfield, Sara

Einstein, Ariela Orion, Shula Fuchs, David Mencher,

Linda Schlosberg, Amiel

Schotz, Arlene Strasbourger and Ariel Whetstone.

NOT TRAD ADS - fee is NIS 10 (NIS 5 for members).

**Jill Rogoff's "THE CELTIC CRADLE" and ACROSS THE NARROW SEAS (ALC 129) are

available on cassette (NIS 40) or CD (NIS 60).

Tel/Fax (02) 679-0410.

**SUZALEH'S SILK ART - Glassed and Framed, modestly sized and modestly priced,

door signs, mazal tovs, etc. Handmade by Sue Tourkin- Komet (02) 676-3346.

**SHELLEY ELLEN guitar lessons, available for performances (03) 674-5356.

DISCLAIMER: FolkNotes is the official publication of

the Israel FolkStuff Society. Views are those of the writers, not necessarily those of IFS.

FolkNotes and all of the articles, photographs and

material contained therein are, unless otherwise noted, copyrighted by IFS 2000.

Our Trad Ads section is free to IFS members. Display

ads are priced according to the following schedule:

Full page NIS 450 Half page NIS 225

1/3 page NIS 180 1/4 page NIS 125

1/10 page NIS 60

Israel Dulcimer Society : Meetings cancelled until further notice.

Thursdays, 8:30-11 P.M., Balkan Dancing at Moadon Hasport, 30 Hatsfira, Moshava Ger, call Cyrelle (02) 566-2682.

American Square Dancing Group. for info: Brenda (02) 561-2435.

Saturday April 1, 8:30 pm: AACI-IFS FOLK CLUB. Relive the AACI 4^th National Song Contest with, among others, the winner: Sylvia Ber. AACI, Rehov 6 Mane St, Talbieh. NIS 35 (30 for IFS and/or AACI members) For info: Larry (053) 801-202.

Saturday April 1, 8 pm. Scottish Folk Dancing at St.Andrew's Scottish Hospice, David Remez 1 (near Rakevet). Please call to verify time, etc. (02) 673-2401.

Saturday April. 1, 8:30 pm: Chanson francais with Dr. Denis Sharvit. NIS 55 . Confederation House, Emil Botta 12. Tel: (02) 624-5206.

Saturday April 8, 8:30 pm: Voice, Oud and Drum Trio. Andulusian music, women's Jewish- Sephardic songs from the Middle Ages. NIS 55. Confederation House, Emil Botta 12. Tel: (02)

624-5206.

Tuesday, April 11, 8:30 pm: Music -- or 'Mhuesic' -- of Every Shade" the newest Jerusalem folk Venue, Beit Hillel at Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Admission 20/10 NIS, which includes solid and liquid refreshments (beer is available). Atmosphere is friendly and warm, but not crowded. Further info and directions: Cindy Friedman (02) 588-3902 or Bruce Brill (02) 996-4443

Thursday, April 13, 8.30 pm: JERUSALEM FOLK CLUB, in its newest quarters, Mar Elias Monastery, featuring Marc Miller and Rikki Rose. Admission: 30 NIS. Call Larry Gamliel at (053) 801-202 or Carol at 671-4007. (More instructions and maps available)

Thursday, April 27, Black Velvet at the Yellow Submarine. First time at this club. For more details: (http://yellowsubmarine.org.il/ - you can reserve tickets online!) no more details

First Friday of every month. Oppenheimer English Storyteller Center for Adults. Come listen,

learn, share, and enjoy. Please call ahead and reserve a place. Email: dvoras@netvision.net.il or call Dvora at (03) 546-2913. (11 Yotzer Blvd, near Assuta Hospital).

Tuesdays (every): Country & 60's Dance, with Meir at Moadon Naamat, Rehov Ha-Kuzari corner

Mazeh, Herzlia; NIS 18 entrance, for details call Meir (03) 613-0071 or Meshi (052) 595-030;

8-9:30 P.M. beginners, 9:30-11 P.M. advanced.

Wed., April 5, 8:30 PM.: TEL AVIV FOLK CLUB. Ariella's pre-birthday Folk Club. Gauillaume Solomon (Celtic harp), Amiel Schotz (Scots songs & stories), Steve Greenberg and Blue Strings Band (country folk/rock). Bikurei Ha'itim 6 Heftman St. For more details, call Ariela: (03) 683-7441.

Thurs. April 13, Black Velvet at Ofer Portugaly's Jazz Club , Kibbutz Gaash. (no details given)

Sat. April 22, 8:30 pm. RA'ANANA at the Lerners. An evening of godawful Humor (Tom Lehrer, Alan Sherman, Danny Kaye, etc.) with the ubiquitous Larry Gamliel. For more info: call Janet & Charlie Lerner (09) 745-2605

Wednesday April 26, Black Velvet at Tmoona Club, a great new bar-theater-music venue-gallery. Schonzino 8, Tel: 5629462. (you might want to verify as this is 2^nd Chag Pesach)

Thursday April 6, 9 pm. KARMIEL FOLK KLUB, Matnas Megadim, Open Stage -- featuring all of you who care to take your shot at fame and fortune. The second half of the evening will be Shelley Ellen, who will be selling her CD, which is an excellent collection of 11 original songs written on the road.

Saturday April 15, 9:00. Moshav Shorashim -- Jill Rogoff and friends. This one is not to be missed. Jill is accompanied by Philip Griffin, Marcie Schreier, and Avery Ellisman. Celtic music from around the world.

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Try to get your information to the appropriate persons for the Calendar, as early as possible, so we can meet publication deadlines (15th of each month). Contact Sue Tourkin-Komet (02) 676-3346 for Jerusalem activities; all areas: Larry Gamliel at (02) 641-1043 or (053) 801-202, or

by fax: Carol (02) 675-8376.

For late-breaking updates, join our email listing, contact Carol: carolm@shum.huji.ac.il

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