NEW CD SOON: Bester Quartet “ The Golden Land” [#8178] Tzadik, New York, USA

A mainstay of the Radical Jewish series since their first release in 2000, Jaroslaw Bester is one of the most consistently creative and imaginative musicians in the New Jewish Renaissance. His quartet, formerly The Cracow Klezmer Band has released no less than seven CDs on Tzadik, two interpreting John Zorn's Masada songbooks. Here they approach the classic compositions of Cracow-born Mordechaj Gebirtig, the preeminent Yiddish folk artist and one of the most influential poets and songwriters of his time. Killed in the Cracow Ghetto on Bloody Thursday, his songs were a staple of the Yiddish Theatre and continue to be widely performed today. Bester's arrangements are lush and filled with emotion,setting the tone of Gebirtig's lyrical melodies into a modern and powerful new context.

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Bester Quartet: Metamorphoses

Tzadik New York 2012

1. Hope
2. The time of freedom
3. The magic casket
4. The life of a man - a tribute to Astor Piazzolla
5. Metamorphoses
6. The God - forsaken
7. The fantasia
8. Prologue
9. Solitude
10. The spectre

Time: 49:33

A mainstay of Radical Jewish Culture since 1997 and one of the most consistently rewarding groups out of the New Jewish Renaissance, Bester Quartet (formerly The Cracow Klezmer Band) has released no less than six CDs of brilliant New Jewish music on Tzadik. Distinguished by a daring repertoire and a virtuosity that is always at the service of the music itself, they have performed in some of the most prestigious venues in the world. Their newest CD is one of their very best, original compositions that combine a dramatic sound, classical precision and the excitement of improvisation with the Jewish tradition.

Personnel:
Jaroslaw Bester - bayan
Oleg Dyyak - bayan, clarinet, percussion
Mikolaj Pospieszalski - double bass
Jaroslaw Tyrala - violin

Special guest:

Tomasz Zietek - trumpet