FolkNotes - The Official Newsletter of the Israel

Contents: Editorial, Sarona Reviews and Other Stuff

Because of the Gov’t office slowdowns, we have not been able to verify how to proceed with the disbanding of the Amuta. The meeting to vote on this will be held after the consultations. A month’s notice will be given in the FolkNotes and on the email.

Editorial:

What is a Happening

Or : Bringing it All Back Home

Or : Smaller is Better

Or : There and Back Again

Or : Kipling Wrote a Poem Entitled IFS

So now, you all know what to do when you are writing some- thing and you have lots of titles and you don't know which one to use. Use 'em all, that's what I say. Quite apart from that, these titles have some sort of connection to our recent triumphant little weekend at Sarona. This issue contains two reviews of what transpired, so I'll endeavor not to go over what has been covered by others. Instead, I'd like to throw some images your way which deal with how the event was organized.

Our Sarona weekend was not big, with crowds of people and loads of performers and events. It was designed to be warm, simple and homey. And it was. But even small events need to be planned. And this was. While there was much spontaneity, it occurred within a constructed framework. For instance, the weekend took place at Sarona because there is a remarkable lady living there who has the will and the way to plan and carry it off. I'm referring to Della Littwin, of course. She did everything: insuring that there would be places for people to stay, food to eat, things to do and a hall in which to perform. We don't know if Della will be there next year, so this is as good an opportunity as ever to thank and praise her yet again and again.

The mastermind behind the event is, of course, Carol Fuchs. She does not like for us to go on and on about what she does, so the best I can say is this: I once read a children's book that described a teacher whom the author felt was like God. She was everywhere, she knew everything and she couldn't be taken in. That's Carol, and that's one of the reasons why the weekend was a success. Another factor in the success matrix is Beverly Burge. This was her first year as the workshop coordinator, and all the participants said the workshops were grade A and beyond. There was something for everyone, and we even learned more than we thought we knew. Did you all know that Jimmy Hendrix was Jewish? Sure! Leonard Cohen performed the circumcision. Or maybe it was the other way around...

For better or worse, I was involved with the Friday night musical performance, ably assisted by Bev. I was the master of ceremonies and stage manager all rolled into one. It ain't easy let me tell you. Besides being witty and intelligent (a difficult task for me, especially the latter), an MC needs to be constantly aware of the passage of time. Your eye is always on your watch, or in my case, my finger. It's nice to be able to give someone or something the finger all evening long, even if it is only your watch (some people take too long and others not long enough). This all needs to be balanced.

Another thing that needs to be balanced is the sound. This year we didn't use a sound system. We used what the good Lord gave us, or whatever we paid for. Additionally, it was vital to insure that both the batteries and the discs making the mini disc recorder tick did not run out in the middle of something, that the microphone be in a central place and that over- zealous performers and dancers didn't trample it down. Incidentally, a 4-CD recording with about 100 pictures will emerge one of these days. Contact us if you're interested and we'll dicker with you.

The last word belongs to the music. It was wonderful. There is a reason why we in the English speaking folk community are so spoiled. Everyone who performed is a master or mistress of his or her craft. In addition to our regulars who keep coming back, there were new people performing for the first time. A gifted song writer, a wonderful guitar player, a lady who could belt out songs like you wouldn't believe, without the aid of a pen or a flashlight in her hand. To top it all off, there were the people. They sang, they danced everything from the twist to the belly. They played the dulcimer, banjo, pennywhistle and the spoons. They, it, you, made it all happen. Our hats go off to the folkies and rockers and whatnot who made this wonderful weekend the best that has been so far.

--Larry Gamliel

Sarona – A (Not So) Brief Review

Having just gotten back yesterday from a great week- end, and not being a writer, I still have an urge to write about the Sarona experience.

This was my second year at Sarona, and I personally enjoyed it more than last year – maybe because I was in desperate need of a vacation, maybe just because it was better!

It all started Thursday night in a fully packed Karmiel Folk Klub, which was chock full of talent. Friday was delightful: first the dulcimer & penny whistle workshop taught by Judi Ganchrow and Beverly Burge, where we picked an instrument and learned to play Hey Ho on it – and then combined forces playing a round with both instruments together. Next an insightful talk about the poetry of Leonard Cohen by Ofer Golani. After a short break a very educational lesson about the Circassians and Kfar Kama (next door to Sarona) by Adnan Gerchad, and then the ever-present Larry Brandt’s brass band with a twist! There were banjos as well: we learned (sort of…what can you expect from a bunch of amateurs?) This Land is Your Land and Oh! Susannah. We were loud and enjoyed it! (Except Rachel, the 6 month old baby who slept right through the noise. Maybe that was her way of enjoying it?)

Another short break and it was time for the communal Friday night dinner, after which the main stage was packed with great acts. The show began with the audience suffering – almost in silence – through the results of the dulcimer & penny whistle workshop and the brass & banjo band. Then we had some nice light penny whistle duets by Judi & Bev, and some banjo and brass music by Larry B., Harold and Yitz. There were also two surprises, at least for me: Larry Fogel, a brilliant guitarist with a lovely voice, and Sharon Neeman who sang some great songs, especially her own. Shay Tochner was as laid back (and great) as ever, and Ariela Orion had everyone singing along. Leah Shalek was another surprise – what a voice! Then on to Larry G and a jam session that had everyone dancing in the aisles until 2am.

And there was more on Saturday: a great workshop by Larry G on the history of rock n’roll and its roots in folk music, and then a very popular session with Ariela: learning how (and when and when not) to play the spoons.

Unfortunately that’s when I had to leave, due to the long drive back, so I don’t know about the belly dancing workshop or the closing jam. But if they were any reflection on the rest of the weekend, I’m sure they were great!

So – hope all of you who were there have recovered from sore fingers, thumbs and thighs from the various workshops – and I can’t wait to see you all, and more, again next year. And finally, a great big thanks from myself and everyone there to Carol, Larry, Della, all the workshop leaders and anyone else behind- the-scenes who helped make this weekend what it was.

--Daniella Yaakov

ed.: I attended the belly-dancing workshop led by the graceful and gracious Anat Gelbman, and can attest that it was up to the high standards of all the other workshops. I thoroughly enjoyed moving parts of my body I wasn’t even aware I have, and learning some of the history of belly-dancing. Great fun and the perfect ending (for me) to a wonderful weekend.

--sw

Boy, Aren't We Blessed?

   Wouldn't you agree that we are blessed? We have a very active folk community, with people who come up with such great initiatives as the Southern Fried Jam in Lahav (Laurie Ornstein), and the Sarona Weekend (Della Littwin from Sarona, Carol Fuchs & Larry Gamliel of the IFS).
   We have folks eager to participate and learn and others willing to teach. I'm saying “we have” and not “there is/there are” because it truly is ours: We have all this!
   The Sarona Weekend took place on Nov. 7^th-8^th. Many of us started it the evening before at the KFK: Larry Rosenfeld's Karmiel Folk Club. It was a fun night and a full house, with Ofer Golani, Cyrelle Forman-Sofer and Shay Tochner, who cooperated with Cyrelle, Larry G. (and with me as a one-song guest). He also invited Gal Shachar (of Evergreen), an excellent fiddler, to play with him and they both delighted us with the Irish and American airs they chose, a true proof of their musicianship. Add to that the Canadian U.N., a one-week-old band comprised of Woody, a veteran folk singer and song writer, George the bass player and a drummer who was making his “first musical outing” in Karmiel. Though subjected to sound problems from their amplification gear, they had lots of good will and brought along their keen fans, which added to the good atmosphere of the evening. Woody (of Cape Breton, I think) sang a song that he wrote: Every Day Hero, dedicated to those who strive to save lives and rescue people, and may risk their own lives daily doing just that: policemen, firemen, doctors and soldiers.
   Friday morning in Sarona opened with workshops. Beverly Burge, who was in charge of planning the workshops (and she did a great job, too), gave the first workshop together with Judi Ganchrow. Bev taught the pennywhistle and Judi the dulcimer. They chose a song (Hey Ho, Nobody Home), which the players of the two instruments could perform together as a round. I took the dulcimer, so I don't know if Bev took their breath away or not (or if she gave it back to them,) but the dulcimers almost tore our fingers apart, and the harder you had to stretch them the merrier it was, as you could see and hear from the mimics and the groans. But what a sense of achievement (and as Jane used to say: No pain, no gain!), especially when at last we got together with the 'whistlers to play the round!
   Next was Larry Brandt's banjo and brass workshop. Knowing from last year that I'm quite a failure at the trumpet or any of its siblings, I chose the banjo this time. Larry taught us 4 chords and 2 songs: Oh Susanna! and This Land Is Your Land. The three brave ones to try the brass instruments were Charlie Lerner, Hadar Matmon and Larry Rosenfeld. I can assure you that when each of them played on their own they actually managed to get the sounds right. It's so much harder to do when other instrumentalists blow in your ear! A fun workshop!
   Ofer Golani enlightened us talking about Leonard Cohen, whom he refers to as HaCohen HaGadol (this is also the name of Ofer's current program). He spoke about Cohen's poetry, his prophetic tone and the many allusions he made to biblical themes. Gives you material to think about and shows you another way of listening next time you do.
   Adnan Gerchad from the neighbouring Circassian village of Kfar Kama introduced us to Circassian history, language and customs, and the stand that they take in Israel as Moslems who serve in the Israeli army and fulfill all their civic duties. It was simply fascinating! The language seems impossible to acquire unless you're born to it, and the customs are something to envy: a code of respect towards your elders but also of a society that respects the choices you make even when it disapproves of them. (Adnan can also lecture in English, for those who want to invite him.)
   We had a short break before our communal Friday meal to practice a bit for the concert. The dulcimers and whistles rehearsed and Leah Shalek and I bugged Larry G. who was trying to rehearse with Sharon Neeman. Why should I mention a trivial thing like that? Because that's where the fun was, and not only in the concert. That's where communicating and bonding and creating and laughter took place.
   Friday’s Shabbat meal began with Sherry Whetstone lighting the Shabbat candles and Larry G. doing the Kiddush. Good ambiance and good company (though we all agree that this time the caterers were a bit short on the meatballs and chicken. Make a mental note for next time.) Della got a spontaneous round of For she’s a jolly good Della! which she well deserved.
   The concert opened with the “fruits” of the workshops:

First the dulcimers (Judi, Leah and I) and the pennywhistles (Beverly, Daniella, Sherry and about 3 more). Then Larry Brandt's devoted followers: Daniella, Leah and I on banjos with Yitz Hochstein and Harold Jacobs, Charlie, Hadar and Larry R. on the brass instruments, and Chana Hochstein on the washboard as our loyal rhythm section. I didn’t noticed whether the audience was covering their ears or not – but I did enjoy their laughter very much! As a matter of fact, we banjos enjoyed ourselves so much that we “rebelled” against our conductor and continued playing two extra verses of one of our songs.
   Larry Brandt then continued with his solo act, alternating between strumming and blowing, and was soon joined by Harold and Yitz, who together are The Kvetching Banjos. These people should get more opportunities to play together, whether in events such as The Southern Fried Jam, in the folk clubs or in other spontaneous jams.
   Harold Jacobs followed with singing the blues, and playing on harmonica and guitar a spiritual and a song for his daughter. Hadafuk haze asa lanu tov (not my words, I'm only quoting from one of his songs).
   Larry Fogel sang with his charming and romantic voice and was later joined by Shay Tochner, who continued with his guitar and harmonica playing, which keeps getting better and better.
   After the break, it was my turn - Ariela Orion - to hop on stage and I admit that I was enjoying myself enormously! It was great having Leah on stage with me, doing harmony for Have You Ever Seen the Rain (the result of us being roomies and “eaves-dropping” on each other's noontime practice). I loved Larry G.'s support with keyboards and harmonies on These Boots are Made for Walking as well as Harold’s harmonica accompaniment from his table. And I loved the crowd joining in. "C'est Si Bon/I see bones" is in danger of becoming a Sarona tradition, but the novelty this time was Charlie "Frenching" along with me. Well done Charlie! Chapeau!!!
   That's exactly what I like about Sarona: Who said that only us musicians should monopolize the stage? Let the audience join us, and that's why Larry's and Judi’s and Bev's workshops were so great: because they enabled whoever wanted to come up on stage and perform to participate and contribute, not just as spectators who sing along from their seats. Not that I belittle the audience's role, god forbid: Where would we be without your ears and support and applause?
   Sharon Neeman came on next. It was good to see her again. She used to perform at the Folk Club many years ago. She sang some folk ballads accompanied by Larry G., and three amazing songs that she herself wrote, one of which is The Working Single Mother and another about strong women who weep into the night when no one can see.
   Leah Shalek from Karmiel came on just before the last. I've never heard her perform before and it was a great pleasure. She chose to sing Cheryl Crowe and Mama Cass and did so with a beautiful voice. She invited Larry, Sharon and me to harmonize with her on The Water Is Wide, this, too, being the spontaneous result of our hurried afternoon rehearsal with Larry, when we went “barging in” on Sharon's turn.
   And that's just the spirit of Sarona and what Sarona is all about: a musical dialogue and cooperation between musicians, and the same between musicians and non-musicians.
   Larry Gamliel closed the formal part of the concert after doing a great job of accompanying most of us on keyboards and catering to our every whim. The jam session started at about 12:30, I think. Not only did people not go home and not fall asleep, on the contrary: they/we started rocking and dancing with an energy that would make youngsters jealous (OK, I went a bit far, we're not into techno, thank god!) We adjourned at about 2:30. What an evening! What a day!!
   I missed Larry G.’s Saturday workshop on the music of the 60’s because I was making last minute preparations for my own spoon-playing workshop. You’ll be the ones to judge how it went. (ed.: it was fun, and I went home to show off my new “skill” to amazed family members…) A huge number of people partici- pated, including my Tsimmer’s owners and their children. Everyone was just like a bunch of thrilled and excited kids who had gotten new toys and couldn’t wait to play with them. And I gained twice: Firstly, from all that I learned in the preparation stage. While surfing the net I found a whole on-line spoon playing guide (www.spoonplayer.com). I enjoyed putting together a cassette of “spoon tunes” and composing music to lyrics that I found for a teaching song called Musical Spoons. It was a discovery process as well as a creative learning one, especially since my original reaction to a spoon-playing workshop was: What is there to make a workshop from? It’ll take 15 minutes max to show the grip and taps. I can’t make a workshop out of that!
Secondly, my excitement before and during, and my great satisfaction after. OK, I’m getting carried away. I just want to mention the rondo we ended the workshop with, spooning on each other’s backs. The conclusion is that you don’t have to play spoons only on your own but you can also play with each other (pun intended)!
   Next was a belly-dancing workshop given by a charming and beautiful young girl called Anat Gelbman. I’m sorry to say I missed the first half since I was attending to my own belly’s needs. I missed some of the explanations which I was told were extremely interesting, but when I joined I could still learn a bit and appreciate and envy Anat’s skills and the beauty and the gentleness of her dancing and the delicacy of her art, for that’s what it is. In any case, all the participants were doing their best (keep on practicing) and it was worth- while seeing Harold with a triple chain of golden coins worn around his waist/ belly trying to shake it away.
   That’s almost it: a jam session (for which many people remained this year) closed the weekend. We had a marvelous weekend and may we have many more. In case Della leaves us to go live near her grandchild, I hope someone else will take on the local coordination. Thanks again to the dedicated team of Carol, Larry G., Della and Beverly who gave us a Sarona to remember and may we meet again in the next one.
--Ariela Orion (of the T.A. folk club)

MILESTONES

Apologies to Diane Kaplan for missing her birthday recently. I guess I’m getting too old for this job.

Happy Birthday: Razel Ackerman, Shelley Ellen, Deborah Fields, Don Ganchrow, Jane Gruman, Nechama Silberman, Sue Tourkin-Komet, Dina Trachtman, Arlene Yaakov

Happy Anniversary: to Hadar and Dena Matmon; Mark and Ora;

ADS - fee is NIS 10

(NIS 5 for members).

**The New Country Klezmers: a foot-stompin' good time – 2-5 musicians for your simchah. Call David Baron (054) 955-997 or Bruce Brill (051) 565-479.

**CAPA (Computer Assisted Production and Arranging) From your musical masterpiece to demo, playback, finished CD? Call David Baron (054) 955-997.

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FolkNotes Staff: Sherry Whetstone, Larry Gamliel, Carol Fuchs, and Cecile

Panzer

December 2003

Folk Notes