break the boxes
Calling all CD file clerks, including the one this reviewer doubles as when he puts away his cds on their shiny little stands (bought cheap at Target and hastily assembled by the reviewer and file clerk): where the *heck* do you file music by the oddball, fast-paced, old-new, traditional-iconoclast, Yiddish-English makers of this hilariously titled albums like this one (RHYTHM + JEWS) and JEWS WITH HORNS?

I'm not sure there's an answer. So put off the filing and download a track or two of this amazing (as in 'love it or hate it') music. This reviewer loves it, or at least wants to register his admiration for the sheer panache of the Klezmatics' offering.

If you're unfamiliar with the tradition, it's probably worth the intent only if you're moderately patient and have a modest ability to link with the Jewish tradition(s) that stand behind this music. But you could probably also go away happy if you're a musical experimenter as a minimum requirement.

Heavy on the clarinet (and it *wails*!) and the updated and tweaked and retweaked sounds of Central European Yiddishkeit, the sound is worked out with equal parts irony and inside jokes. The foot does tap.

5 stars are not enough
I have no idea how many times I've listened to this album--by now, I know much of it by heart. It's one of the best I own, and certainly the best klezmer I've ever heard.