Band member: 1977–79 & 2004
Instruments: Cymbalom, peckhorn, tuba, bass, baraban, baritone horn
Other functions: Musical researcher/transcriber/arranger; album producer (Metropolis); composer
Albums: Streets of Gold, First Recordings
Other gigs: Brave Old World, Aman Folklore Ensemble, Ry Cooder, Joel Rubin, Alicia Svigals, Itzhak Perlman, Jay Levy, Finif, Davka, San Francisco Klezmer Experience, Khevrisa, Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars, Adrianne Greenbaum, Veretski Pass
Profile: Stu Brotman, veteran of UCLA's Ethnomusicology Department and the pioneering world/pop band Kaleidoscope, inspired and guided the klezmer revival from its earliest days. A tasteful arranger and generous ensemble player, Stu continues to educate our ears as he creates new klezmer sounds, never far from the genre's leading edge.
What a pleasure it was to tour Holland with Brotman in 2004, performing his ethereally lovely composition "Waltz Roman à Clef." Anyone who's ever shared a bandstand with Stu will agree he's a musician's musician -- an indefatigable trouper filling in wherever needed on brass, strings, or percussion, showing by example exactly how it's done.
Where there are two, Stuart is the third.