Sun 8/23 @ 5PM
The Workmen’s Circle Yiddish Concerts are a tradition at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, presented for free in the park’s Evans Amphitheater, offering traditional Yiddish klezmer music and the opportunity to dance in the aisles.
This year the headliner will be traveling down from its home base in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Schmaltz describes itself as a “Modern klezmer band,” which means that it fuses the traditional Eastern European Jewish folk music with other genres including jazz, Latin, Balkan, funk and polka music. The members, all trained musicians with roots in the University of Michigan’s performing arts program, bringing energy and improvisation into their original tunes, showcased on their album The Seltzer Man.
Taking the stage before them is local band Mekimi, based in nearby University Heights, who play both Hebrew music and classic rock, and perform in a a variety of non-traditional venues including local restaurants, synagogues, and at street concerts.
Kicking off the show from 5-6pm is a musician well known in this area’s jazz community: pianist/vocalist George Foley. With a command of jazz reaching back to ragtime and the Great American Songbook, he was a regular at venues such as Nighttown, the Barking Spider and Hyde Park, and currently holds down Wednesdays with George Foley & friends at the Academy Tavern on Larchmere Boulevard.
The concert is free and open to all.
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