JAT Entertainment
Serving Up Hot Pstromi
ale Strom is coming to
Congregation Beth Achim
with a show that's Jewish,
meaty and spicy. What
else could be expected from a per-
former who named his klezmer
band Hot Pstromi?
The former Detroiter, who
moved to California with his fam-
ily when he was 10, takes the stage
Sunday to present music he re-
searched while traveling in East-
ern Europe.
"This will be an evening of
stories and music," said Strom, 38,
a violinist/singer who says he
made 40 trips to Eastern Europe
as the basis for his recordings,
books, photographic essays and
documentary films.
Hot Pstromi bassist Mark
Dresser also will perform.
"We incorporate a certain
amount of improvisation," said
Strom, who plays a lot of his own
compositions and includes gypsy
and Arabic influences with a hint
of jazz. "I use quite a bit of Cha-
sidic singing and playing."
Strom learned to play the violin
at Vernor Elementary School in
Detroit and joined a youth or-
chestra in San Diego. While spend-
ing his junior college year in
Sweden, he made side trips that
launched his interest in Eastern
European melodies.
After deciding to form a klezmer
band to play music never record-
ed, Strom expanded his travels to
learn more about the music. His
interpretations are part of a series
of CDs includ
Yale Strom, right,
with some friends at a
cafe, plays the violin
in Budapest,
Hungary.
-
4„„,..
—6 Kladzz j and
Morozhnia.
The fascina-
tion that began
with music
spread to books, photography and
film," explained Strom, who has a
master's degree in Yiddish stud-
ies from New York University.
"Photography began in 1981,
and I had my first book published
in 1987 — Last Jews of Eastern
Europe. Then I did A Tree Still
Stands, which focused on youth of
that area." His first documentary
film, At the Crossroads, was made
in 1990 and showed modern Jews
in Eastern Europe.
The Last Klezmer, which tells
one man's story, played at the De-
troit Institute of Arts in 1995.
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Sun, 11 ana.
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Michigan
Composers
Concert
The group performs a tribute
to the 3,000th anniversary of
Jerusalem, featuring music
of the Jewish .experience from
all over the world. Congre-
gation Beth Achim, 21100 W.
12 Mile, Southfield. (810)
851-2393.
Artists Ursula Walker, Buddy
Budson and Jack Brokensha per-
form popular music by Michigan
songwriters at the Friends Audi-
torium of the Detroit Public Li-
brary, 5201 Woodward, 1 block
north of Warren. (313) 833-1460.
Sun., 4 p.m.
•
›?..„Ak.
Wed., 7:30 p.m.
Carpati: 50 Miles, 50 Years fea-
tures Leonard Nimoy's narration
about Jews in the Ukraine and will
come to the Detroit Institute of
Arts next year.
"I think Pm sensitive to listen-
ing to people's stories, their diffi-
culties and triumphs," said Strom,
who regularly visits Michigan to
see relatives including grand-
mother Eve Newman.
"By traveling and meeting peo-
ple, I have many different anec-
dotes that will help me tell other
kinds of stories and create new
stories."
Michigan anecdotes are part of
two new books. Quilted Land-
scapes: Immigrant Youth in Amer-
ica will be out in October. Still in
the works is Steppingstones of Life,
a rites-of- passage narrative that
will bring him to Detroit in June.
Strom shares his professional
interests with his fiance, Elizabeth
Schwartz, a writer-producer.
The two are working on a corn-
ing-of-age, secular feature film,
Medusa. After their June wedding, -
the couple will move to New York,
where they will do their filming
and pursue other career interests.
— Suzanne Chessler
,54