Shtreiml & Ismail Fencioglu

The spirited harmonica blast that opens Spicy Paprikash is your first clue that this group isn't serving up your zaidie's klezmer. Shtreiml, named for the furry hats worn by Chassidic Jewish men, is a group of young and talented musicians from Montreal's perennially fertile Jewish community. The group offers a banquet of old and new klezmer sounds with influences from Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, NYC, the Catskills and even the Mississippi River.

Jason Rosenblatt is the harp player whose musical vision guides the group through a klezmer repertoire equally informed by blues, R&B and jazz. A student of diatonic harmonica innovator Howard Levy (ex of the Flecktones), Rosenblatt also sits on the faculty of KlezKanada, the annual klezmer summer camp in rural Quebec that draws musicians, folklorists, academics and lovers of klezmer (and indeed, all things Yiddish), from around the world. In addition to playing a mean chromatic streak on diatonic harp, Rosenblatt writes solid neo-klez compositions that showcase his harmonica prowess, his respect for the conventions of traditional klezmer, and his desire to shake those foundations.

The core band's sound is rounded out with Rosenblatt's keyboards (including piano and Hammond B3), Rachel Lemisch's soulful trombone, Ariel Harrod's bass and Thierry Arsenault's drums. That's right, there's no clarinet.

In the liner notes Rosenblatt ponders: "would the tough klezmer audiences upon hearing the harmonica in lieu of traditional instrumentation shout 'where's the clarinet’' followed by 'what, $10 for a ticket and no cake’'" He answers: "after a year of performing klezmer music on the diatonic harmonica [now closer to 3 years] I can answer with certainty that there is a greater acceptance of the harmonica as a klezmer instrument than there is of a klezmer concert without coffee and a little Danish.'"

On most tracks, Rosenblatt's harmonica occupies the space normally allotted to the clarinet. However, he refuses to emulate the greats of klezmer clarinet like Naftule Bradwein or Shloimke Beckerman, (whose "Galitzianer Tanz" starts off startlingly like Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" but is actually given a incendiary blues-rock treatment). Instead, Rosenblatt and the band forge their own path into new musical ground, reminding me in some ways of Margot Leverett's recent forays into klezmer-bluegrass hybrids.

What helps this album to shine is the inclusion of several special guests. They include Josh Dolgin (a.k.a. DJ SoCalled) on accordion, piano and borscht-belt vocals on classics like the schmaltz-laden "Halavai" and Mickey Katz's swinging "Trombonic Tanz" (where Lemisch struts her stuff alongside Dolgin and Madelien Verheij on violin while the rest of the band suddenly morphs into a be-bop jazz combo). Of special interest is the cimbalom playing of Nicolae Margineanu, who is featured on several tracks.

Infused with spirit of playful inventiveness, Spicy Paprikash is an album that continues to offer something new to the listener on each exploration.

- Reviewed by Philly Markowitz for Rootsworld

The spirited harmonica blast that opens Spicy Paprikash is your first clue that this group isn't serving up your zaidie's klezmer. Shtreiml, named for the furry hats worn by Chassidic Jewish men, is a group of young and talented musicians from Montreal's perennially fertile Jewish community. The group offers a banquet of old and new klezmer sounds with influences from Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, NYC, the Catskills and even the Mississippi River.

Jason Rosenblatt is the harp player whose musical vision guides the group through a klezmer repertoire equally informed by blues, R&B and jazz. A student of diatonic harmonica innovator Howard Levy (ex of the Flecktones), Rosenblatt also sits on the faculty of KlezKanada, the annual klezmer summer camp in rural Quebec that draws musicians, folklorists, academics and lovers of klezmer (and indeed, all things Yiddish), from around the world. In addition to playing a mean chromatic streak on diatonic harp, Rosenblatt writes solid neo-klez compositions that showcase his harmonica prowess, his respect for the conventions of traditional klezmer, and his desire to shake those foundations.

The core band's sound is rounded out with Rosenblatt's keyboards (including piano and Hammond B3), Rachel Lemisch's soulful trombone, Ariel Harrod's bass and Thierry Arsenault's drums. That's right, there's no clarinet.

In the liner notes Rosenblatt ponders: "would the tough klezmer audiences upon hearing the harmonica in lieu of traditional instrumentation shout 'where's the clarinet’' followed by 'what, $10 for a ticket and no cake’'" He answers: "after a year of performing klezmer music on the diatonic harmonica [now closer to 3 years] I can answer with certainty that there is a greater acceptance of the harmonica as a klezmer instrument than there is of a klezmer concert without coffee and a little Danish.'"

On most tracks, Rosenblatt's harmonica occupies the space normally allotted to the clarinet. However, he refuses to emulate the greats of klezmer clarinet like Naftule Bradwein or Shloimke Beckerman, (whose "Galitzianer Tanz" starts off startlingly like Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" but is actually given a incendiary blues-rock treatment). Instead, Rosenblatt and the band forge their own path into new musical ground, reminding me in some ways of Margot Leverett's recent forays into klezmer-bluegrass hybrids.

What helps this album to shine is the inclusion of several special guests. They include Josh Dolgin (a.k.a. DJ SoCalled) on accordion, piano and borscht-belt vocals on classics like the schmaltz-laden "Halavai" and Mickey Katz's swinging "Trombonic Tanz" (where Lemisch struts her stuff alongside Dolgin and Madelien Verheij on violin while the rest of the band suddenly morphs into a be-bop jazz combo). Of special interest is the cimbalom playing of Nicolae Margineanu, who is featured on several tracks.

Infused with spirit of playful inventiveness, Spicy Paprikash is an album that continues to offer something new to the listener on each exploration.

- Reviewed by Philly Markowitz for Rootsworld

Jason Rosenblatt wears his virtuosity lightly. Unlike some harmonica players, he has more substance than flash to his solos and, as a result, Shtreiml is always worth hearing. This album, which features Turkish oud player Fencioglu, is sprightly, swings hard and is eminently danceable. Great fun throughout the set. Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5
- Reviewed by George Robinson for the Jewish Week

Jason Rosenblatt wears his virtuosity lightly. Unlike some harmonica players, he has more substance than flash to his solos and, as a result, Shtreiml is always worth hearing. This album, which features Turkish oud player Fencioglu, is sprightly, swings hard and is eminently danceable. Great fun throughout the set. Rating: 4 1/2 stars of 5
- Reviewed by George Robinson for the Jewish Week

With Fenci’s Blues, Shtreiml has chosen to partner with master Turkish oudist Ismail Fencioglu—and in the process the group has expanded its reach beyond klezmer to yield a strong and unique world music session. The first two Shtreiml releases were showcases for the harmonica wizardry of a Howard Levy pupil, Jason Rosenblatt. As a result, the band had struck a comfortable niche in the klezmer/Jewish music world with a sound based in large part on Rosenblatt’s prodigious abilities to play chromatically on the familiar diatonic blues harp. While the kernel of that sound remains, this current offering is more liberal in its sonic palette, blending in a heavy dose of Turkish music, complete with vocals, and other world/folk musics for a program that stands as a meeting between two masters.
Rosenblatt has eschewed total reliance on the harmonica to include a healthy smattering of keyboards to broaden the sound. Shtreiml’s primary instrumentation for this date also includes the drums/percussion of Thierry Arsenault, the bass of Adam Stotland and, as if a harmonica-oud meeting is not enough of a rarity, the brilliant t-bone stylings of Rachel Lemisch, completing a quintet the likes of which has never been heard before. Both Rosenblatt and Fencioglu meet, and at times exceed expectations with their exceptionally clean, crisp and blindingly fast virtuosic playing.
The title cut, Rosenblatt’s paean to Fencioglu, features some very tight and fiery harmonica/oud in tandem playing, while “Beyoglunda Gezersin” is reminiscent of a bluegrass hoedown as oud reprises banjo and harp plays country. “Roman Dunya” is a forum for each instrumentalist to sear with hot Gypsy fire, while “Bu Duzen” is a contemporary-sounding flamenco-meets-world music gem. “Nikriz Longa” has oud breathtakingly playing the role of sitar augmented by Lemisch and Rosenblatt for a singular worldly/otherworldy sound, before the hotly cooking “Hicaz Mandra” gets the world dancing.
Ballads, as well as traditional Turkish and Jewish tunes, beautifully invite each player into the other’s backyard, rounding out the fourteen tracks. Original compositions, like the oud/harmonica duet restyling of “Rachels Bulgar,” also delight. “Erkilet Guzeli,” with its large-ensemble sound, is a fitting closer featuring Dave Mossing on trumpet and Damian Nisenson on saxophones, reaching out to the Balkan Brasslands for inspiration. A bonus track expands things even further with the addition of violin and bandir, but the real story is how this instrumentation creates a brilliant patchwork quilt out of a myriad of influences.
- Elliot Simon for All About Jazz

With Fenci’s Blues, Shtreiml has chosen to partner with master Turkish oudist Ismail Fencioglu—and in the process the group has expanded its reach beyond klezmer to yield a strong and unique world music session. The first two Shtreiml releases were showcases for the harmonica wizardry of a Howard Levy pupil, Jason Rosenblatt. As a result, the band had struck a comfortable niche in the klezmer/Jewish music world with a sound based in large part on Rosenblatt’s prodigious abilities to play chromatically on the familiar diatonic blues harp. While the kernel of that sound remains, this current offering is more liberal in its sonic palette, blending in a heavy dose of Turkish music, complete with vocals, and other world/folk musics for a program that stands as a meeting between two masters.
Rosenblatt has eschewed total reliance on the harmonica to include a healthy smattering of keyboards to broaden the sound. Shtreiml’s primary instrumentation for this date also includes the drums/percussion of Thierry Arsenault, the bass of Adam Stotland and, as if a harmonica-oud meeting is not enough of a rarity, the brilliant t-bone stylings of Rachel Lemisch, completing a quintet the likes of which has never been heard before. Both Rosenblatt and Fencioglu meet, and at times exceed expectations with their exceptionally clean, crisp and blindingly fast virtuosic playing.
The title cut, Rosenblatt’s paean to Fencioglu, features some very tight and fiery harmonica/oud in tandem playing, while “Beyoglunda Gezersin” is reminiscent of a bluegrass hoedown as oud reprises banjo and harp plays country. “Roman Dunya” is a forum for each instrumentalist to sear with hot Gypsy fire, while “Bu Duzen” is a contemporary-sounding flamenco-meets-world music gem. “Nikriz Longa” has oud breathtakingly playing the role of sitar augmented by Lemisch and Rosenblatt for a singular worldly/otherworldy sound, before the hotly cooking “Hicaz Mandra” gets the world dancing.
Ballads, as well as traditional Turkish and Jewish tunes, beautifully invite each player into the other’s backyard, rounding out the fourteen tracks. Original compositions, like the oud/harmonica duet restyling of “Rachels Bulgar,” also delight. “Erkilet Guzeli,” with its large-ensemble sound, is a fitting closer featuring Dave Mossing on trumpet and Damian Nisenson on saxophones, reaching out to the Balkan Brasslands for inspiration. A bonus track expands things even further with the addition of violin and bandir, but the real story is how this instrumentation creates a brilliant patchwork quilt out of a myriad of influences.
- Elliot Simon for All About Jazz

It's not just that Montreal's Jason Rosenblatt hauls his harmonica and Hammond into the klezmer arena, a rather novel angle. It's that his mastery of the mouth harp dispels any sense of gimmickry. While much neo-klezmer has gone a more abstract and challenging route, Rosenblatt and his cohorts conversely aim for a more friendly sound, with bits of dancefloor jazz adding to an already light and lively feel (Rosenblatt's crisp production helps too). While firmly in touch with the roots of the music, Shtreiml might just be the first klezmer act to really crack the jam-band scene. 8.5/10
- Reviewed by Rupert Bottenberg for the Montreal Mirror

It's not just that Montreal's Jason Rosenblatt hauls his harmonica and Hammond into the klezmer arena, a rather novel angle. It's that his mastery of the mouth harp dispels any sense of gimmickry. While much neo-klezmer has gone a more abstract and challenging route, Rosenblatt and his cohorts conversely aim for a more friendly sound, with bits of dancefloor jazz adding to an already light and lively feel (Rosenblatt's crisp production helps too). While firmly in touch with the roots of the music, Shtreiml might just be the first klezmer act to really crack the jam-band scene. 8.5/10
- Reviewed by Rupert Bottenberg for the Montreal Mirror

Shtreiml came on and jet-propelled us into a parallel universe with an exotic, unfailingly exciting mix of Turkish folk-music and klezmer tunes. This is a truly wild repertoire, inflected by bluesy note-bending and jazz-accented melody lines that make your innards twitch.

Every member of Shtreiml from harmonica player Jason Rosenblatt, who founded the band, which he named after the traditional fur hat worn by Chassidic Jews, to trombonist Rachel Lemisch, drummer Thierry Arsenault and bassist Adam Stotland plays rhythm. The unexpected accents and the irregular meters that are characteristic of Balkan folk dances, alternated with the gypsy scales and the variations of harmonic minor scales so heavily relied upon by klezmer music, take on a charged life from such rhythmic playing, whirled around as fast as particles in a cyclotron, to produce an extraordinary concert experience.

To this already potent and electrifying ensemble came Turkish lutenist/singer Ismail Fencioglu, an extraordinary master not only of the lute but of the Turkish folk song and dance repertoire. The tone of his lute is full of warm baritone resonance and his singing voice light and sweet.
The sound of the band with harmonica, oud and trombone playing in duet and trio unisons or harmonizing in layers is a beautiful one over which Rosenblatt pulls taffy out of his harmonica... - Stephen Pederson for the Halifax Chronicle

Shtreiml came on and jet-propelled us into a parallel universe with an exotic, unfailingly exciting mix of Turkish folk-music and klezmer tunes. This is a truly wild repertoire, inflected by bluesy note-bending and jazz-accented melody lines that make your innards twitch.

Every member of Shtreiml from harmonica player Jason Rosenblatt, who founded the band, which he named after the traditional fur hat worn by Chassidic Jews, to trombonist Rachel Lemisch, drummer Thierry Arsenault and bassist Adam Stotland plays rhythm. The unexpected accents and the irregular meters that are characteristic of Balkan folk dances, alternated with the gypsy scales and the variations of harmonic minor scales so heavily relied upon by klezmer music, take on a charged life from such rhythmic playing, whirled around as fast as particles in a cyclotron, to produce an extraordinary concert experience.

To this already potent and electrifying ensemble came Turkish lutenist/singer Ismail Fencioglu, an extraordinary master not only of the lute but of the Turkish folk song and dance repertoire. The tone of his lute is full of warm baritone resonance and his singing voice light and sweet.
The sound of the band with harmonica, oud and trombone playing in duet and trio unisons or harmonizing in layers is a beautiful one over which Rosenblatt pulls taffy out of his harmonica... - Stephen Pederson for the Halifax Chronicle