The Maxwell Street marketplace was to Chicago what the Lower East Side was to New York. At the turn of the century, when the first major wave of Russian Jewish immigrants settled in America, Chicago's Maxwell Street became famous for its open-air Sunday marketplace crowded with Jewish pushcart-peddlers--an institution which has survived in the hands of fresh waves of immigration. The band was named in tribute to the spirit of Chicago's early immigrants.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer
Band, founded in 1983, brings
a kaleidoscope of colors and moods and an old-fashioned
spirit of fun to their performance of traditional Jewish music.
The combination of dance music, folk songs, theatre medleys
and jazzy Yiddish pop music from the 1930's to the 1950's creates a
rich, multi-dimensional experience of the lost world of
Eastern European Jewish culture, combined with vignettes of
America as seen through immigrant eyes. Audiences of all
backgrounds are delighted by Maxwell Street's high-energy
performances that glow with warmth and humor.
Our Performances have been staged
across America and Europe.
In 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2002, the band performed concerts across Europe including in Germany, London, Munich, Vienna,
Amsterdam,
Enschede and The Hague. In 1998, the band gave their debut performance at Carnegie Hall and at New York's Damrosch Park
at Lincoln Center. Maxwell Street has appeared on the
PBS programme "World Stage Chicago" in 1995, and was featured again on Public Television's "Artbeat Chicago" in March 1999.
One of their songs was featured in an episode of ABC's "Saving Grace."
Maxwell Street has been featured annually on Network Chicago's (PBS) "Do It Yourself Hanukkah" television special.
In 2004, Maxwell Street's 2002 CD "Old Roots, New World" was voted "Best Jewish/Hebrew/Klezmer Album" by the indie Just
Plain Folks 2004 music awards.
Our Recordings
2002 Old Roots, New World (Shanachie Entertainment)
2000 Sweet Early Years (Klezmer Music Foundation, Inc.)
1997 The MATZOrena (cassette single) (KlezDance Productions)
1996 You Should Be So Lucky! (Shanachie Entertainment)
1994 The European recording Jiddisches Lied & Klezmer 4th Internationales Festival
1986 Maxwell St. Days (Global Village Music)
Radio & TV Highlights
2002 Music for soundtrack: ABC Network Television: State of Grace
2001 1-Hour Special: Do It Yourself Hanukkah, WTTW Public Television
2000 Live concert filming: Wild Chicago, WTTW Public Television
1999 1/2 hour special: Artbeat Chicago, WTTW Public Television
1996 Two interviews w/live music on Aaron Freeman's Metropolis, WBEZ (NPR)
1995 World Stage Chicago, WTTW Public Television
1993 WGN/Ch. 9 TV, Chicago's Very Own
1984, '85 Interviews with music: The Studs Terkel Show, WFMT/FM
| 2005 | Concerts for the Schauer Arts and Activities Center, Hartford, Wisconsin; Columbia College, Department of Music; Concert, Performing Arts Center of Stevenson H.S. Community Foundation, Lincolnshire; Congregation Oheb Shalom, South Orange, New Jersey, workshops and concert; Concert, Fundraiser for the North Shore Choral Society, Evanston; Opening Concert for Jewish Music Festival, JCC, West Bloomfield, Michigan, 4th of July parades, Evanston and Highland Park. |
| 2004 | Concert, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Glencoe; Genesis at the Crossroads Concerts, Highland Park and Downtown Chicago; Yom Yerushalayim concert for Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation; Summer concerts for Villages of River Grove, Hoffman Estates, Lincolnwood; Concert, Arlington Heights Memorial Library; Concert, Temple Israel, Omaha, Nebraska; Concert, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee; Concert for the Board of Trustees of the United Jewish Communities National Board Meeting; Concert for Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Hamsa Concert, Lakeside Congregation, Highland Park; Concert, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida; fundraiser for Temple Sholom, Chicago; fundraiser for Children of Israel Fund, Concerts, Children's Museum at Navy Pier; Concert, Greater Chicago Jewish Folk Arts Festival; 4th of July parades for Highland Park and Evanston; Concert, Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival; Performance at Annual Dinner for Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies; Performance, Annual Dinner of Greasy Joan and Co. (theatre group); Concerts with Jubilate Children's Choir at Northwestern University and NSCI, Glencoe; Concert, Annual Dinner at Congregation Kol Emeth, Skokie; Concert, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights; Hanukkah Concert for Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Hamsa Concert, First Night, Evanston. |
| 2003 | Concert, Performing Arts Center at Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire; Concert for Citizens for Mayor Richard M. Daley; Concert, Northwestern University, Evanston Campus; Concert, Shryock Auditorium, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Concert, DePaul University Hillel; Genesis at the Crossroads Arab-Jewish Arts Concert; 4th of July Parades, Evanston and Highland Park; City of Evanston Ethnic Arts Center; "Sunday Sundown Concert Series," Skokie Park District; River Front Park Summer Concert, River Grove; Concert Series, Zhivago Restaurant, Skokie; Concert, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights; "Celebrations" Holiday Concert, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Glencoe; "Something Else" Holiday Concert, Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago; First Night Concert, Highland Park. |
| 2002 | Kultursommer Nordhessen and Mittelhessen, Germany (three concerts); Forde Folk Music Festival, Norway; Chicago Summerdance Series, Grant Park; Rainbow Summer, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee; the Do It Yourself Hanukkah, Old Town School of Folk Music; the Greater Chicago Jewish Folk Arts Festival, Chicago; concerts in 24 Evanston Schools (EISMA); The Center for International Performance and Exhibition, Chicago; CD Release Party at Barnes & Noble, Skokie; Monthly concert at Zhivago Restaurant, Skokie; Genesis at the Crossroads Arab-Jewish Unity Concert (Chicago Cultural Center), Adlai Steven Performing Arts Center Series, Lincolnshire, IL. |
| 2001 | Festival of Jewish Culture, Munich, Germany; Kansas City JCC; A Night in Jerusalem, Dallas, TX; Tecumseh Civic Auditorium, Tecumseh, MI; Wariner Auditorium, Mount Pleasant, MI; Stevenson Performance Center, Lincolnshire, IL; Temple EmanuEl, Dallas, TX; Genesis at the Crossroads Arab-Jewish Unity Concert (Chicago Cultural Center); Temple Israel, West Bloomfield, MI; Do-It-Yourself Hanukkah, Old Town School of Folk Music; monthly concerts at Zhivago Restaurant, Skokie; 4th of July Parades, Highland Park and Evanston. |
| 2000 | Kultursommer Festival, Kassel, Germany; the Do It Yourself Hanukkah Concert and Public Television Broadcast, Chicago; Jewish Arts Foundation, Palm Beach, Florida, Milwaukee International Arts Festival; Truman State University (Kirksville, MO); Synagogue (Des Moines, IA); Jewish Cultural Council (Grand Rapids, MI) Israel Independence Day (Omaha, NB); Art Institute, Field Museum and Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago; Cong. Ner Tamid (Las Vegas, Nevada); 7th International Festival of Yiddish Music (Furth, Germany); Temple Beth Israel (Springfield, IL); Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA); Genesis at the Crossroads Arab-Jewish Unity Concert (Chicago Cultural Center), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, IL); General Assembly of Jewish Federations, Chicago; Monthly concerts at Zhivago Restaurant; 4th of July Parade, Evanston. |
| 1999 | Klezfest (Temple Israel, West Bloomfield, MI); Performance Art Series, U. of Judaism, Los Angeles, CA; Southern Illinois University, Ishkabibble (Yiddish Arts Ensemble, Chicago); University; Chicago Summerdance Festival (Chicago); Jewish Arts Festival, Dallas, TX; Symphony Center Day of Music (Chicago); Do-It Yourself Hanukkah, (Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago), Hershel and The Hanukkah Goblins (North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, IL). |
| 1998 | Carnegie Hall, NY; Staff & concert: Midwest Klezmer and Yiddish Music Institute featuring Theodore Bikel (Skokie, Illinois). Kalamazoo Bach Festival (Michigan); Art Institute Chicago); Charleston Heights Arts Center (Las Vegas); Berea College (Kentucky); Yiddish Concert In The Park (Cleveland, Ohio); Jewish Arts Festival (Chicago). European Tour: London, Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Enschede. Do-It-Yourself-Hanukkah with Peter Yarrow and Debbie Friedman, Athenaeum Theater, Chicago. |
| 1997 | Do-It-Yourself Hanukkah with Peter Yarrow of and Debbie Friedman (Athenaeum Theater, Chicago); Opening Act for Alan King (Centre East, Skokie, IL); Opening Festival, the new Symphony Center (Chicago); Gindi Theater, U. of Judaism (Los Angeles, California); Meyerson Center for The Performing Arts (Dallas, Texas); Grinnell College (Iowa); JCC (Omaha; Nebraska); JCC (Wichita, Kansas); Wharton Center for the Performing Arts (East Lansing, MI), Quincy Arts Center (Quincy, IL). |
| 1996 | The Knitting Factory (NY); Gindi Theater of the University of Judaism (LA, CA); Century Villages (Florida). Staff & concert: Midwest Klezmer & Yiddish Music Institute (Skokie, IL); Do-It-Yourself -Hanukkah with Peter Yarrow (Athenaeum Theater; Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago) |
| 1995 | Charleston Heights Arts Center (Las Vegas, Nevada); Carpenter Performing Arts Center (Long Beach, California); James Armstrong Theater (Torrance, California). Sponsors of and performers at the Midwest Klezmer and Yiddish Music Institute (IL). |
| 1994 | Featured artist at the 4th Festival of Jewish Music in Furth, Germany |
| 1993 | JCC concerts in Birmingham, Alabama and Memphis and Tennessee |
| 1992 | Graz Music Festival, Austria; Zurich JCC; Bern Municipal Museum (Switzerland); Satellite Beach, Ft Myers, FL |