Romania, Romania, Romania

It has been more exciting and jam packed and full of intense sleepless, cold footed, warm Palinka-ed experiences than I could have imagined, it would take me a few hours to write it out, so I am just going to mention Sighet.

Sighet was at one time roughly seventy percent Jewish, it was the home of two very important Khassidic Dynasties: The Teitelbaum and the Kahan. Elie Wiesel is from Sighet, he is the pride of the Jewish community. Jews and non-Jews lived with incredibly good relations in Sighet and in the entire region of Maramures. There are maybe a few hundred Jews still remaining in Sighet.
We were graced with an incredibly generous and knowledgeable guide, Johnny, who is finishing his book on the Jews of Maramures. Walking down the street with him, he told us what every building used to be. He even said that in the town, the word "Kheyder", the study house for boys, became a word for noise, as in noisy children. So many of the buildings have a history in the Jewish community, but there are not yet plaques on any of them except for the Synagogue, a Holocaust memorial and the Cemetery.
We were the first people to play Yiddish songs in Sighet for sixty years, according to our hosts. The feeling was pretty incredible. People from the Jewish, Hungarian and Romanian communities came and all were really enthusiastic. The hall was overflowing.
After the concert an older gentleman, who later told me he was 89 years old, said that he had come from 65 km away, from the town of Baia Mare to attend the concert. He spoke to me in a slow, warm Yiddish. He is from Baia Mare, and had survived the war, he said that is when he learned all of the languages he speaks. He sang me a song about cigarettes, which I will research upon my return, and then a Yiddishe Momma, followed by some early Zionist songs. He gave Julie, Sarah and I copies of a book he had made, illustrations of the Jewish life in his town before the war.
The experience of playing there was incredibly inspiring. Julie is thinking about organizing some Klezmer workshops in Romania, possibly in the Summer, even. I would also very much like to be involved in such a thing. I am writing now from Julie's town, Sighisoara, it is incredibly beautiful, Medieval Citadel on top of a hill, Clocktower, the works. We play here tonight in a club, and then the last concert of the tour is in Targu Mures, tomorrow night. We will play in the synagogue there, which I have seen in beautiful photographs.
And then off to Budapest to learn some Hungarian bass...

Travelling in Eastern Europe has its Virtues

On Sunday night, Julie, who has organized the tour in Romania, Sarah (of Lumii) and I went to Budapest. We have a concert in Oradea, Romania then next night.
Here is what happened on Monday morning.

According to the schedule that Julie has printed and checked many times, the train to Oradea leaves from Negeti station at 6:20 am. We arrive at 5:40, go to the ticket window where we are told that our train does not exist at Negeti station, it leaves from Keleti.
We rush to Keleti station, arriving a 6:08 am with just enough time to be told that our train to Oradea does in fact leave from Negeti, and yes, at 6:20. The very friendly woman at the ticket counter starts to make us a ticket for the 13:15 train which will not help us because we will miss our concert if we take that train. She is so friendly and understands very little of what we try to communicate, so we walk away.
The information desk confirms that there is no train for us. We rush to the bus station where we are told, "Oh, the busses to Romania, we don't know anything about them, you should just check on the platform 17, 18 19."
Julie and I run out there, she asks the driver in English, he puffs his cigarrette and turns away. She asks in Romanian, and he tells us that there is a bus to Oradea sometime in the morning. We should just wait on the platform. He cannot tell us what time.
There is an 8:30 am bus to Oradea. There is no schedule for this bus company that we can find. There is no website. Julie had tried calling the phones of the bus company, but it is a dead line. The bus is a mini-bus, it says "Tour gig" on the side, which means that it really is the perfect bus for us. And the soundtrack. "I've got the power" and then the arabic hit "chabibi" followed by the techno "Blue Danube Waltz." We are on our way to Romania...

Viennese Exile??

That picture is of 19 Novaragasse, where my grandfather grew up. Just look at it sideways. (this is my first blogg, i even spell blog wrong).

Sunday continued with a trip to the Jewish museum and then a meeting with some Vienna artists to create a longterm collaborative project with the city.
Rio, who is an incredibly inspiring and energetic person, an instrument builder, and friend, had the idea that we, Luminescent Orchestrii collaborate with Viennese artists and create some work together.
He was especially interested in the story of my grandfather, and perhaps an exhibition of his work, he is a superb visual artist.
What does it mean to be a Viennese exile? And returning to Vienna, as a second generation American Jew, whose identity may or may not be related to Austria's capital?
When I was in Vienna last summer, I had an interesting conversation regarding this theme. At that point in time, I felt a jealousy of the cultural heritage of the city, its Museums, its plazas, concert halls. I imagined that if I were Viennese, I would be a better musician, would have been trained at an earlier age, would speak French and German and English perfectly, etc. I felt a jealousy of what I perceived it meant to be European and intellectual.
I had this conversation with Dieter, who grew up outside Vienna and he quite simply responded, "That is funny, as far as I am concerned Vienna died in '33 and its intellectual and artistic life moved to New York. "
So, it seems to be a matter of perspective. I am happy to have left Vienna knowing that a collaborative project will bring me back.

Responses??

Vienna, Graz, Vienna, Budapest, Oradea

Hello, Hello.
It has been a busy few days. So, I am abbreviating them greatly.
Vienna with Luminescent Orchestrii Thursday night: at the Slovenian student center. There is a large Slovenian minority in southern Austria, Corinthia (which I was very excited to find out where Paul was postmarking all his letters to) and their population at the beginning of the 20th century was roughly 5 times as large as it is now, many moved back during or after the War. So, there exists on Monschein Strasse, Moonshine street, in Vienna a student center for Slovenian students.
Great gig, very noisy, lots of smoke (almost reminded me of playing in Winston-Salem, NC).
The next day we played in Graz, at the Communist party cultural center. It was great.
And then back to Vienna for the Klezmore festival, which was an amazing gig.
We played a more Jewish set than Lumii usually plays and it was very well received. We played in LeopoldStadt, the 2nd district, which used to be called Matzah-town because all of the Jews lived there. My grandfather grew up down the block from where we slept and a short walk from where we performed.
The next day, Sunday, I visited the building where my grandfather grew up.

Sarah and I rehearse and I might be packed

Sarah and I are pictured here after a grueling and successful rehearsal. 

And now, I am packed. I have enough clothing.

Welcome, Welcome

I am new to this world of blogging, but I am off on an adventure next week and perhaps this is the best way to keep track of what is happening. If I can get to a computer, or have any interest in giving out all of the details of my adventure to the whole world, or at least my mother, who I am sure will check this twice a day. 

 So my adventure in a big outline is as follows:

Vienna, Transylvania, Budapest

Vienna: tour with Luminescent Orchestrii, gig in Vienna, gig in Graz, gig in Vienna at the Klezmore festival.

Transylvania: the lovely Julie Dawson has organized a tour for 'Di Goldene Feder' which is Sarah Alden and I.  Here is the info conveniently in both Romanian and English:

And then to Budapest. Not sure yet where I will be staying but, I will be taking some music lessons and eating, drinking and bathing. Maybe doing some dancing too.

I hope to be able to share some adventures with you.

Benjy