Klezmer Summit: Jews and Jazz
The 12th Annual Klezmer Summit will feature feature “Jews in Jazz” starring Fred Katz and Yale Strom’s Hot Pstromi.
From early jazz to the dance bands of the swing era, from be-bop to jazz-rock to the avant garde, Jews have been wherever jazz is performed. This year, the 12th Annual Klezmer Summit pays homage to the composers, impresarios, record producers, label founders and performers. Yale Strom presents “Jews in Jazz” with his ensemble Hot Pstromi and features very special guest Fred Katz. Katz, 92, is an American cellist and composer, notable as one of the first jazz musicians to establish the cello as a viable improvising solo instrument.
Katz is best known as a member of drummer Chico Hamilton's quintet, one of the most important West Coast jazz groups of the 1950s. Katz went on to become a professor of ethnic music at California State University at Fullerton, where he taught for more than 30 years. One of his students was John Densmore, drummer of The Doors.
Katz will perform both piano and cello, playing some of his original compositions like "Baal Shem Tov" and improvising on other Khasidic melodies. Strom's all-star ensemble that will join Katz, features trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, and Hot Pstromi regulars Tripp Sprague, Lou Fanucchi, Jeff Pekarek, Duncan Moore, Fred Benedetti and vocalist Elizabeth Schwartz. The group will play tunes by African-American jazz artists such as Cab Calloway and Slim Gaillard, who composed music based upon Jewish themes.
Complimentary kosher knishes, a Klezmer Summit tradition, will be sponsored by Schmoozers.
