Bob Cohen

Guest Player: 2004 [concerts in Holland]

Instruments: Baraban

Profile: Bob Cohen, leader of the outstanding Euro-roots klezmer band Di Naye Kapelye, encouraged The Klezmorim to re-emerge from the primordial ooze to perform in Holland in 2004. We returned the favor by recruiting him to play baraban (street drum with attached cymbal) on a number or two. Had we wished to exploit him fully, we could have asked him to play violin, mandolin, koboz, cümbüsh, flutes, bagpipes, or sing. His attributes are legendary: he speaks a raft of European and African tongues including Roma and Yoruba, and is an expert chef and raconteur.

Bob credits The Klezmorim as an early inspiration -- he met us on our first East Coast tour in 1979. I dig Bob's work, too. He has substantially added to the klezmer repertoire and vocabulary through his field research into klezmer's Carpathian roots.

Website: www.dinayekapelye.com