JULY 23 • 2020 | 31
and drums) and his wife, Yeva
Lapsker (videography), with
Sveta Kundish (vocals) and
Patrick Farrell (accordion and
sound). After the initial film-
ing, instrumental accompani-
ment was added by Christian
Dawid (tuba, saxophone,
clarinet) and Vivien Zeller
(violin).
The setting for the video,
a deserted farmhouse, was
scouted by Lapsker, who built
a dance career before working
more closely with Kahn and
his musical projects.
“We got the historical foot-
age from available archives —
online and free to use,
” Kahn
said. “My wife and I looked
through dozens and dozens
of [film clips to find] imagery
that was fitting. Among the
topics addressed specifically
are influenza, polio, industrial
exploitation and the scourge
of war.
”
Kahn points out that the
song also addresses leader-
ship problems in tackling the
issues:
“Great, deep graves are
packed with corpses
And the masters, the emper-
ors, play their chess.
”
Kahn, 41, whose core career
commitment is the klezmer
band Daniel Kahn & the
Painted Bird, can look back
on a professional highlight
two years ago. He played the
romantic interest in the first
Yiddish production of Fiddler
on the Roof, staged in New
York under the direction of
Joel Grey.
Kahn started acting when
he was 12 as he appeared in
plays presented by the Jewish
Ensemble Theatre (JET), then
in West Bloomfield. After
studying theater and writing
at the University of Michigan,
he connected with Yiddish
songs, started learning them
and studied the language at
the YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research in New York.
As his video plays across the
web, Kahn is living in quaran-
tine with his wife, 9-month-
old son and another couple.
While formal concert dates
are being scheduled for 2021,
he gradually is arranging for
some social distancing con-
certs near his home in Berlin.
“Things are opening up
slowly for performers, but it’
s
a very difficult new reality
we’
re dealing with,
” he said.
“Just days ago, I played the
first public gig I had played in
many, many months. It was
outdoors in a churchyard in
a small village for 40 or 50
people sitting on benches at a
distance from each other.
”
Although Kahn has some
other small shows coming
up, he keeps in mind that
Germany is being very cau-
tious in its opening process
based on infection rates. If
there are population segments
with increasing cases, areas
are shut down again.
Kahn explains that
Germans wear masks without
any of the political opposition
as experienced in the United
States.
“
A mask, like a song, is
a fairly simple object that
doesn’
t ever get old,
” he said.
“[Yiddish] songs function
in the same way that these
masks do. They are ways of
creating a public space so
people can interact and relate
to each other and share ideas
and thoughts. That’
s a useful
thing.
”
Daniel Kahn’
s new video is available
by Googling “Mentshn-Fresser”
(1916 Pandemic Ballad featuring
Sveta Kundish and Daniel Kahn).
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