Modern Klezmer Quartet

The Modern Klezmer Quartet
Jazz-klezmer Fusion

The group is headed up by Shelley Yoelin with musical arrangements by Bob Applebaum and Shelley Yoelin. They put their own Jazz-infused spin on old Jewish standards, folk songs, theater songs, Klezmer pieces and more with clever and fresh arrangements influenced by Swing and Bebop to Funk and beyond. The original line-up, led by Pianist Bob Applebaum, including Shelley Yoelin on Clarinet, Saxophone, and Flute; Jim Cox on Bass, and Sarah Allen on drums, released albums Hora and Blue and Jazz Klezmerology, and performed shows and festivals with Vocalist Lisa Fishman. Back by popular demand, it is now regrouping under the leadership of Shelley Yoelin.

Video

Audio Samples

Click the song title to hear the music on Apple Music:

Dona Dona

Hora and Blue

Hinei Ma-Tov

Discography

HORA & BLUE

Jazz Klezmerology

Members Include:

Shelley Yoelin

tenor saxophone, clarinet and flute

In addition to co-founding the Modern Klezmer Quartet, Yoelin is a long-time instructor at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop and with the International Federation of Jazz in London. Formerly Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Director of Bands at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, Shelley currently plays in Chicago with the Shelley Yoelin-Gabriel Datcu Quintet and the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. Shelley was nominated in the Coachella Valley Weekly magazine for Best Jazz Instrumentalist.

Lisa Fishman

vocals

Singer, actress, and recording artist Lisa Fishman has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe in a diverse career spanning TV, musicals, and music from pop and jazz to original songs. Her spirited and theatrical performances mix vocal prowess and expert song interpretation. Lisa recently played the roles of Yente and Bobe Tsaytl in the Off-Broadway hit, "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish, directed by Oscar and Tony winner, Joel Grey. Lisa has shared the stage with Jewish luminaries including Itzhak Perlman, Mandy Patinkin, Theodore Bikel, Claire Barry (of the Barry Sisters), Zalmen Mlotek, Fyvush Finkel, Bruce Adler, Mike Burstyn, Seymour Rechzeit, as well as Debbie Friedman and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, & Mary).

Jim Cox

string bass

Jim Cox graduated from the University of Illinois in 1979 and has toured with Earl "Fatha" Hines from 1979-82 and played with Marian McPartland for almost 20 years. Jim is equally comfortable playing jazz, klezmer, bluegrass, pop, cabaret, and classical genres. Some of the artists he has played and recorded with include Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, Debbie Boone, Liza Minelli, Ann Hampton Callaway, Christine Ebersol, Wesla Whitfield, Phil Woods, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg, among others.

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