Starting perhaps around the time Ben Goldberg assembled his New Klezmer Trio and The Klezmatics was formed, the clarinet went from being a meek instrument associated with the traditional and archaic — like trad jazz and Polish weddings — to becoming a lethal tool in the very vanguard of jazz. Former Klezmatic David Krakauer, like Goldberg, applies his virtuosic powers on the blackwood to expunge preconceptions about it, while making a connection to its culturally rich history. His latest mad scientist concoction is Checkpoint, out on April 8, 2016 via Table Pounding Records.
When I state that there are no places off limits for Krakauer’s clarinet, I mean it. He devises melodic figures straight out of the klezmer playbook, but drops them into hip-hop pulses, like the sampled-assisted one that rocks “Kickin’ It For You”, where the 21st century meets the 19th century. “Tandal” has another nasty beat but this time Krakauer squeals his way nearly to the brink, then pulls back to play the Slavic melody. He suggests microtonality on “Krakowsky Boulevard” and bellows out a pure, powerful elongated notes on the a capella performance “Synagogue Wall.”
Through most of the way, Krakauer does all this mish-mashing within the context of a groove, so maybe “Ancestral Groove” was the only appropriate name for his backing band, comprising of Sheryl Bailey on electric guitar, Jerome Harris on electric bass, Michael Sarin on drums and a designated sampler, Jeremy Flower aka Keepalive. It’s a taut unit that’s just as prone to race off in a polka trot as it is to get down and funky like the Commodores. And Bailey does some nifty, risk taking fretwork, most noticeable on “Tandel,” “Border Town Pinball Machine” and “Tribe Number Thirteen,” which has the added benefit of John Medeski’s wanton organ following right behind.
“Elijah Walks In” is more of that klezmer funk, only with guest gonzo guitarist Marc Ribot rockin like it’s 1970 as Krakauer injects his circular pattern in the middle of things and then unspools. And what would klezmer in any form be without a little accordion? In walks Rob Curto with his squeezebox to liven up “Border Town Pinball Machine,” which in spite of the electronica undertow is more gypsy than Kraftwerk.
It’s music driven by the reckless abandon of David Krakauer, who turns the clarinet and traditional Eastern European music into a party for the avant-inclined. Experimental or not, Checkpoint is just good, weird fun.
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