Among openings to compositions of modern music, few cry “American” more loudly than the cascade of notes that wails from the clarinet at the outset of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Make that as American as apple pie and as Jewish as matzoh-ball soup, a point that Classicopia pianist Daniel Weiser and clarinetist Steve Loew aim to drive home while performing two concerts on the theme of “Jewish Jazz” in the Upper Valley this weekend.
Rhapsody’s entry point is “totally klezmer,” Weiser said of the Jewish folk music from Eastern Europe that composers ranging from Scott Joplin to Gershwin and Aaron Copland blended with African-American rhythms to produce modern jazz and the Great American Songbook during the early 20th century.
“It’s hard to hear this concert and say, ‘There’s one American thing,’” Weiser said.
Weiser, the former Dartmouth College music professor who co-founded Classicopia, and Loew, former clarinet soloist for the 257th Army Band who now teaches clarinet in Asheville, N.C., started performing together on the “Jewish Jazz” theme in 2014. The title itself turns on its head an anti-Semitic rant against the genre on the front page of carmaker Henry Ford’s weekly Dearborn Independent. The editorial laments, among other calumnies, that “jazz is a Jewish creation … the mush, the slush, the sly suggestion, the abandoned sensuousness of sliding notes, are all of Jewish origin.”
“In one sense Ford was absolutely correct in seeing the connection between Jewish music and jazz,” Weiser said. “He obviously missed the extraordinarily positive results of that symbiosis.”
Weiser, who now lives and teaches in Baltimore, said he had wanted to perform the show in the Upper Valley from the beginning.
“The fact that it came together now turns out great, because it’s right in the middle of the High Holy Days,” Weiser said. “In many ways, it’s perfectly situated between the celebratory aspect of Rosh Hashanah and the introspective period of Yom Kippur. You go back and forth between joy and pathos, laughing through the tears.”
Part of the origin of klezmer music, Wesier said, is that many of its early practitioners in Europe composed and played it while fleeing anti-Semitic persecutors.
“You had to do it on the run,” Weiser said. “Back then, they couldn’t play it with the piano because it wasn’t so portable, the way the clarinet is. That’s how the clarinet became a big instrument in jazz. … That’s the start of the evolution that came to the point where Copland wrote his clarinet concerto for Benny Goodman.”
Upper Valley listeners can choose between Friday night’s concert at Lebanon’s First Congregational Church and Sunday afternoon’s performance at Dartmouth College’s Roth Center for Jewish Life in Hanover.
“I’m hoping non-Jewish people will come and see that connection,” Weiser said. “We’ve always had decent crowds wherever we play. I do think there’s a crossover audience.”
“Jewish Jazz” performances are scheduled for 7:30 Friday night at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon and for 4 on Sunday afternoon at Dartmouth College’s Roth Center for Jewish Life in Hanover. Admission to each concert, as well as to a Saturday night performance at the Beth Jacob Synagogue in Montpelier, is $15 for members of each house of worship and $20 for others. To reserve discounted tickets and learn more, visit classicopia.org.
Sensible Shoes plays during the 20th anniversary party for the Lampscapes store in White River Junction on Friday night at 5.
Bassist Peter Concilio juggles collaborators in back-to-back jazz gigs this week. Tonight at 6:30 at Pleasant Street Books in Woodstock, he joins pianist Sonny Saul for a free concert. On Friday night, Concilio heads to Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners to play with pianist Eugene Uman, tenor-saxophonist Michael Zsoldos and drummer Rich Greenblatt. For reservations for the Skunk Hollow appearance, call 802-436-2139.
South Newbury, Vt., fiddler Patrick Ross leads his Hot Flannel ensemble of bassist Pat Melvin, mandolin master Matt Flinner and guitarist Doug Perkins on a “newgrass” marathon of Americana concerts in the Upper Valley over the weekend, starting Friday night at 7 at the 7 Stars Center in Sharon. Subsequent performances are scheduled for Damon Hall in Hartland on Saturday night at 7 and at Tunbridge Town Hall at 3 on Sunday afternoon. For tickets ($20) and more information, visit patrickrossmusic.com.
The Camerata New England ensemble of cellist Linda Galvan, pianist Evelyn Zuckerman, violist Peter Sulski and violinist Omar Chen Guey performs piano quartets of Mozart and Schumann at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Upper Valley in Norwich on Saturday night at 7. For tickets ($28) and more information, call 802-785-4833 or visit cameratanewengland.org. If you can’t make this performance, the quartet also will perform this program at the Tillotson Center in Colebrook, N.H., on Sunday afternoon at 3.
Iraqi director Abbas Fahdel screens and discusses his two-part documentary, Homeland — Iraq Year Zero, at Dartmouth College’s Loew Auditorium in Hanover this weekend. Before the Fall, which chronicles the life of a Baghdad family before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, is set for Saturday night at 7. After the Battle, covering the family’s struggles during the occupation, shows at 4 on Sunday afternoon. For tickets ($5 to $9) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Bassel and the Supernaturals perform indie-funk and blues at Union Episcopal Church in Claremont, Sunday night at 7. The show, part of the band’s “Lost” tour, includes songs documenting and lamenting the civil war in Syria, where band frontman Bassel Almadani has lost family and friends. An American citizen, Bassel also will talk about hostility to Muslims and Arabs. While admission is free, donations are welcome.
James Montgomery brings his blues harmonica to White River Junction on Sunday night to join the Dave Keller Band for a soulful concert of danceable music at the Briggs Opera House. The show, to which admission is $20, runs from 7 to 10. To order tickets in advance and learn more, visit yellowhousemedia.com.
Got tie-dye? The Dark Star Orchestra channels the Grateful Dead concert experience on Saturday night at 7, with a performance at the Lebanon Opera House benefiting West Lebanon’s Rusty Berrings Skatepark. For advance tickets ($36.50; admission at the door is $39) and more information, call 603-448-0400 or visit lebanonoperahouse.org or the box office.
The Classic Repertory Company performs an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph this morning at 10. Admission is $6. The presentation includes a study guide for school groups and a discussion after the show. To learn more, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
Northern Stage continues its production of Macbeth at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, with performances through Oct. 23. For tickets ($14 to $54) and more information about this adaptation, scheduled to coincide with the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, and about the coming season, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000.
The Hopkins Center screens the live, high-definition simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Tristan und Isolde at noon on Saturday at Loew Auditorium and on Sunday at Spaulding Auditorium. For tickets ($29) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Still Hill plays a set of Americana during the Feast and Field Market in Barnard tonight from 5:30 to 7:30. The folk ensemble Meadowlark steps to the microphone next Thursday night.
Jim and Ruth Strout host an Acoustic Jam at the Clifford Memorial Building in Woodsville on Sunday afternoon from 12 to 4. Admission is $3 for spectators. Musicians are welcome to join in the session of country and bluegrass as long as they bring no drums or horns. In the event of bad weather, call 603-747-2839 to learn if the jam is still on. Subsequent sessions are scheduled for Nov. 13 and 20, and Dec. 4 and 18.
The Old Sam Peabody Band sets the rhythm and Nils Fredland calls the steps for a contradance at Tracy Hall in Norwich on Saturday night from 8 to 11. A walk-through for newcomers starts at 7:45. Dancers should bring clean, soft-soled shoes, as well as snacks to contribute to a potluck assortment. Admission is $6 to $9, while seniors are welcome to donate what they can. To learn more, visit uvdm.org.
Singer-songwriter Zak Trojano appears in the tavern at the Hartness House Inn in Springfield, Vt., tonight from 6 to 9. Reservations are recommended.
Sensible Shoes performs at the Lyme Inn tonight from 6:30 to 9:30. For dinner reservations, call 603-785-4824.
Bob Lucier commands the keyboard at the Canoe Club in Hanover at 6:30 tonight and next Thursday night. Performing at the club over the coming week with shows from 6:30 to 9:30 are guitarist Tom Pirozzoli on Friday, folk singer and former Sullivan County resident Cormac McCarthy on Saturday, pianist Gillian Joy on Sunday, pianist Mitchell Goff in his first appearance at the venue on Tuesday and the Saint Savage Trio with a session of indie rock on Wednesday. On Monday night between 5:30 and 8:30, Marko the Magician performs his weekly sleight-of-hand.
The Dinosaurs pull into Windsor Station to perform an acoustic set of Americana music tonight at 7. Following them to the venue over the coming week are Moxley Union on Saturday night at 9:30 and singer-songwriter Hannah Hoffman on Tuesday night at 6.
Swiss guitarist Attila Vural plays at the Sunapee Community Coffeehouse on Friday night at 7.
Singer-songwriter Jim Hollis performs at the tavern at Jesse’s in Hanover on Friday night starting at 5.
The Strangled Darlings perform their “Americana doom pop” at the BoHo Cafe in White River Junction on Friday night at 7:30 and at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Saturday night at 9.
The Friday night lineups at the Upper Valley’s Salt hill Pubs feature Club Soda in Lebanon, Enfield-native singer-songwriter Brooks Hubbard in Hanover and bluesman John Lackard in Newport. All shows start at 9.
Singer-guitarist Frank Kelecy plays folk, country, pop and classical at Stone Arch Bakery in Lebanon on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Bow Thayer performs his weekly set of Americana at the Skinny Pancake in Hanover on Wednesday night starting at 7:30.
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Participants get a free large cheese pizza.
String players of all ages and abilities are welcome at the weekly acoustic jam session at South Royalton’s BALE Commons on Friday night from 6:30 to 10.
Joe Stallsmith leads a weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Monday nights at 6.
Bradford’s Colatina Exit holds an open mic on Tuesday nights at 8.
The Seven Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon runs an open mic on Tuesday nights, beginning at 8.
Jim Yeager hosts an open mic at Hartland’s Skunk Hollow Tavern, at 8:30 on Wednesday nights.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.