Scottish Klezmer

As best man for Oliver and Sophie’s wedding I have been placed in charge of the music for the reception. As those in my family will attest, I am not a musical savant, and my musical tastes, though broad, are not particularly sophisticated. So it is with some perverse pride that I take on this task. When pressed, Oliver provided the following description of their musical neighbourhood:

Sophie really likes the Oh Brother soundtrack and old folk and German language folk and cabaret. I like that stuff and klezmer and crazy Balkan brass bands (e.g. the music from the movie “Underground”, the soundtrack for which I mail ordered from Europe) and traditional Romany and funk and Cuban and early-to-middle period Beatles (Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, Help, Hard Day’s Night).

He also added that I could “feel free to disregard” this layout.

If it weren’t for the iTunes Music Store I would be crawling around the Jewish Cuban music stores of San Francisco looking for dusty klezmer albums. As it is, I’m squirreled away here in the washroom while [wee] Oliver and Catherine have a nap finding all sorts of bands and music I never knew existed. Bands like the Yiddishe Cup Klezmer Band who do a mean rendition of I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.

There was a brief panic earlier in the week when some crossed signals suggested that the officiating Rabbi might have to review the set list, but this turns out to have been not the case, and after assuring Oliver that, no, I wouldn’t be playing Mahalia Jackson, all seems to be good going into the event tomorrow. I’ll post the set list here after it’s all over.