CD Review Geshray fun der Vilde Kachke“ Bockkeller
Bockkeller June – August 2020
CD „Geshray fun der Vilde Kachke
2019 non food factory
Before I begin, I must confess; I am a fan. It would be difficult not to be one. Front woman, Deborah „Scheiny“ Gzesh, along with her All Stars, Martina Cizek (saxophones), W.V. Wizlsperger (bass, euphonium), Muamer Budimlić (accordion) and Paul Skrepek (drums, percussion) magically brings a cabaret stage into my living room. Traditionals hold up alongside swinging Yiddish dance music from the 30’s to 60’s and contemporary tunes. The songs grab you, make you feel good and start your feet a dancin’. On top of all that, I have to laugh out loud. Even if I barely understand most of the Yiddish lyrics, the interpretation and music pull me in. Which only eggs me on to try to figure out what it’s all about. A good start is offered by the numbers in Yinglish – a mixture of Yiddish and English. Encouraged by one word or another which I understand, I get a vague idea of what’s being said such as in titles like „Tsi Shpait“ (tr. 10) or „Ain Kik auf dir“ (tr. 9) or really easy „Kiss of Meyer“ (tr. 13). It gets more difficult with „Geshray fun der Vilde Kachke“ (tr. 3). Dr. G**gle helps and translates for me (Cry of the Wild Goose). I find moving explanations in my research for the beautiful ballad, „Ikh shtey unter a Bokserboym“ by Ziame Telsin (sic) (tr. 5). In Yiddish, trees often have symbolic meaning such as the carob tree (bokserboym) as a metaphor for migration. The following number wrenches you out of the poetic mood. „Questch das Knepl“ (tr. 6) by Kobi Oz, an energetic (and ironic) letting loose of the atomic bomb and „Hudl mitn Strudl“ (tr. 8) is incredibly fun. The 13 different stories told here are witness to the versatility of the performer and the sensibility of her musical companions; humorous, dreamy, clownish, brutal – one moment crooning in velvety tones, the next screaming – but always exactly to the point. It’s a great art to bring cabaret to life just acoustically. When that is so wonderfully achieved, then how great is the live experience? Indulge in both. I know I will! Absolutely recommended! JL