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Musical interlude

The diplomatic cultural events circuit seems to become busier now that summer is here! First Doors Open Ottawa (during which M and I sampled the Norwegian Ambassador's residence, French Embassy, 7 Rideau Gate amongst others) followed by a return to New Edinburgh for a garden party on Thursday 16th.

GartenFest was organised by the German Embassy as the third in a series of summer events (the first two were a fundraiser for the Ottawa Bach Choir and a Community Celebration). The more informal event of the three saw an audience/guest list attended the Ambassador's residence on Coltrin Road for a klezmer concert (not to forget the delicious food and wine!) featuring Berlin band Di Meschugeles. After attending a short klezmer concert during the Welsh Proms in 2010 featuring local group Klezmer Kollectiv, the theme seemed interesting.



Di Meschugeles' aim, as explained by singer Ofer Waldman between songs, was to rediscover the distinctive sound of klezmer as a 'secular' musical form and through this to also to create new material (for more information on the history of klezmer, see this Wikipedia article). From my (non-expert) ears, one can make a few links between klezmer and some European folk tunes; klezmer also spread around the world, notably to the US, so maybe one can hear some influences in genres such as trad jazz, or blues? Certainly Di Meschugeles are amongst a group of musicians interested in the genre - Oi Va Voi spring to mind. The set drew an enthusiastic response from the audience (still too formal to really be called a 'crowd'!) with a fair bit of dancing too. Most of the songs were from their very new album Kiever Tramvay, which looked to be selling quite well on the night! Prior to this show, Di Meschugeles had, with the support of the Embassy and the Goethe Instutute, played at the 2nd Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival.

A fun and very interesting evening, yet again proving the variety of the 'diplomatic cultural events circuit'!

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