rosefox asked me where she could sample some of the music for my Klezmer Nutcracker play, and it occurred to me that I should tell everyone here - and also explain its lineage:

Shirim Klezmer Orchestra's brilliant album of klezmer spins on classical tunes from Mahler & Brahms to the Tchaikovsky "Nutcracker Suite," "Klezmer Nutcracker" (sample trax also here)
begat
our 1-woman (me as writer & narrator)/1-band (Shirim) "spoken word" stage show, which was recorded as a radio special and then released as a whole nother CD, "The Golden Dreydl" (also available on Amazon): this is the one with me narrating the entire story I wrote.

Both albums are commercially available for all your gift-giving needs.

(Just to make things interesting - the guys of Shirim also record avant-klezmer-jazz-fusion music as Naftule's Dream on John Zorn's hip Tzaddik label ; their album Search for the Golden Dreydl gave me the idea for the title of our show. [Yeah, they said it would only confuse people - and they were right . . . ])

And then I wrote the book. Which became the play currently running at Vital Theatre (through Jan. 3).

Obsessively detailed FAQ with links on my site.

More gift suggestions for the holidays:

For the Medieval Music Enthusiast who wants the perfect Holiday Music to put on as background for parties & cookie-baking:
CAROLS FOR DANCING
I did the narration on a radio special based on this one (check your local listings to see if it's airing this year!) - and I must have listened to these tracks a million times . . . and I could listen a million more without being bored! Music by Renaissonics, "an improvisatory Renaissance dance band" that will make you tap your feet.


For the Obscure Klezmer Enthusiast who thinks s/he has it all (and also for people getting married this summer who want some musical roots inspiration!) :
DAVE TARRAS: MUSIC FOR THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH WEDDING
From my pals at Center for Traditional Music & Dance:
"Legendary klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras (1897-1989) returns to the repertoire he had learned as a young man in Europe. . . . The recording is structured according to the sequence of a traditional wedding and will offer the listener a deeply emotional memory of life as it was lived then, transmitted by one of the most creative men who lived it. Available for the first time on CD...Tarras's last studio recording."

I may well be the last to have heard the news that author & small press publisher Vera Nazarian needs our help - thanks to mroctober for alerting me! Wonderful online friends are doing a fabulous job of raising money to keep her and her family safe by December 20th - which also happens to be the night before the first Chanukah candle is lit. What a wonderful present to be able to give!

Read the whole moving story here.

And bid on the many cool things people are offering for the auction to Help Vera here. (I'll be putting up something myself very soon.)

I have a lot of friends in the arts, especially musicians, whom I got to know over the years of doing Sound & Spirit. Over the coming weeks - as I receive e-notices from them about holiday-related stuff - I'll try to pass on to you ones I think you might like. First off:

Harper Aine Minogue (yeah, she's Irish; it's pronounced "ahn-ye" or "en-ya") has just produced a DVD, Winter, a Meditation, that's available only online. "Layering magnificent images of winter scenery with evocative dreamlike sequences in a candlelit castle, filmmaker Michael Yip’s Zen aesthetic infuses this beautiful piece with a stunning visual simplicity...." Sample it on her website, which also offers downloadable albums. Fans of Faery will want The Twilight Realm; Pagans, check out Between the Worlds . . . . I worked with her a little on Celtic Lamentations, which she calls a "companion in music" for those experiencing loss. Gorgeous stuff.