Album Review of
Zay Freylekh!

Written by Joe Ross
March 26, 2022 - 10:54am EDT
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A dozen songs from the St. Petersburg Klezmer band Dobranotch (Goodnight) includes danceable Hasidic melodies for celebrations, a Moldavian shepherd’s lament, classic Klezmer tunes, a comic song, and even an old thieves’ song in Yiddish. Continuing to keep their music “joyful and groovy,” Dobranotch still features Mitia Khramtsov (fiddle, vocals) and Evgeny Lizin (big drum, backing vocals) who have been with the band since they formed as a trio of buskers in France in 1998.

Several albums later and based back in Russia, Dobranotch’s Balkan and East European music features robust Russian folk and brass music. Their line-up also includes solid musicians on clarinet, saxophones, trombone, tuba, banjo, guitar, accordion and darbuka (goblet drum).  They obviously have good chemistry together and probably have a lot of fun when playing lively medleys like the traditional “Shoykhet Tants.”  A very animated Romanic tune, “Libes Tants” comes across as a lively, almost frenetic, polka with numerous parts, including some vocals.   

Featuring guest singer Marina Suloeva, “Seni Severim” is a Sephardic version of an upbeat Turkish love song. While liner notes don’t provide English translations of the lyrics, I believe Suloeva is declaring in the chorus, “I'd love you, I'd really love you, I'd love you only, I'd love you, I believed in your heart.”  “Vu Bistu Geven,” a medley of two classic Klezmer tunes, begins with a poignant introduction by accordionist Ilya Shneyveys.

Brassy, brazen, boisterous and no doubt beer-loving, this is fun party band that gives their audiences a raucous good time. Played with gusto, “Babushka” (Old Lady) and “Drey Dreydl” (Hanukkah Song) close the set with songs that finally get me singing and laughing along, “Ay, yi, yi, yi, yi!” even though I have no clue what cantor Moyshe Oysher’s lyrics are all about. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)