At the beginning of the nineties, a so-called multicultural movement developed in Europe. Its sources-the serious study of other cultures in conjunktion with a creative re-examination of one´s own-have since been so obscured by commercial discovery and marketing that they are hardly to be seen any longer. AUFWIND, founded in the eighties in the German Democratic Republic (a state whose multicultural interests were limited to the state cultures of the USSR and other "brother" states) went to Eastern Europe, visiting survivors of the Holocaust and searching for their own responsibility; they also found their own identity. They haven´t stopped searching or making their discoveries heard since then. Compared to the superficiality coming out of radio stations every day, AUFWIND is real.
Maria Kondratzki
| | Anatevka pales with envy. Sparing but emotional instrumentation with expressive singing...klezmer melodies full of verve and life-a real treat. Overall verdict: Fantastic! |
| | The quintet from Prenzelberg (a district in East Berlin) have music in their blood; they gave a transfusion to the audience, who sometimes couldn´t keep the rhythm from passing out of their ears and into their feet. |
DNA
Straßbourg | Die Eröffnung wurde dem Berliner Ensemble Aufwind anvertraut, das zu den besten Vertretern der Klezmermusik zählt |
Nordbayrischer Kurier: | Mimic-vivid-dizzying |
| | Klezmer music at its best: perfect and sensitive |
Neue Zeit: | ... excellent by virtue of authenticity, musical ability and sebsitivity, of joy in playing music. |
Sächsische Zeitung: | ... Nomen est Omen. |
| | Germans fascinated by the sound of Yiddish. |
| | Aufwind´s isolation from the klezmer mainstream has made for some fascinating eccentricities. You have never heard it this way before. |
| | ...the best german klezmer band |
Aufwind: Awek di junge jorn
Misrach-Music, MSR 0144-2, 1996
Lucky listeners to last year´s Klezmania compilation may have noted the presence of an a capella cut by a German group, Aufwind. The group recently appeared in the United States to some acclaim, and I now have at hand their most recent CD. Called "Awek di junge jorn" (Gone are my younger years--also a pun on their first recordings, now available as "Junge Jorn"), it is a soulful and unique mix of klezmer and Jewish song. The songs range from well-done klezmer melodies, as on the opening "Klespourrie" medley, to the delightful "In schtetl Nikolajew," an a capello version of a Yiddish folksong whose harmonies remind one of the delights of American doo wop...
...In short, klezmer can be considered revived, alive and well in Germany. The silliness about non-blacks not being able to play jazz ... oops, about non-Jews not being able to play klezmer and Jewish music, is noted and relegated to the round file. As a modern band, playing both traditional Jewish celebration melodies, and singing popular Yiddish songs, Aufwind stand out. They are the most pleasant, and in some ways, most innovative example of this tradition that I have heard in many, many months. This is the sort of album produced by people who live and breath and love the music they perform. This is the sort of album that you will purchase and play for many years; that rare and delightful combination of things familiar well-done, and things unfamiliar and/or new done even better.
Reviewed by Ari Davidow, 1/1/98
FolkWorld CD Reviews No. 5 July 1998
Aufwind "Awek die junge jorn"
Label: Misrach Music; MSR 0144-2; playing time: 56.57 min
Yiddish songs and Klezmer music par excellence. Aufwind are a German 5-piece band whose love and interest is the music and songs of the Eastern European Jews. The three founders of Aufwind, Claudia Koch (voclas, violin, viola), Hardy Reich (vocals, mondolin, guitar) and Andrea Rohde (vocals, Bandonion, guitas), when still living in the GDR, undertook extended studies of Yiddish language, history and culture in the Jewish centres of several Eastern European countries. The three are joined nowadays by Jan Hermerschmidt on clarinette and Heiko Rötzscher on bass. The clarinette is also the main instruments in the instrumental Klezmer pieces.
They have developed a deep feeling for Yiddish culture; the songs are presented with much emotion, telling of despair, hope, love; they have their origin in diverse Eastern European countries and are mainly traditional. I am impressed by most of the songs - by their lyrics and background as well as their arrangements. The arrangements are unusual, sound fresh and exciting.
Aufwind - definitely a band to watch out for on the Yiddish/Klezmer scene.
Michael Moll © The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 7/98
Festivals / Concerts:
Tage der Jiddischen Kultur Berlin; 1987-1996 every year
Jüdische Kulturtage Berlin (West); 1990-1993 and 1995
Klezmerfestival Safed/Israel; 1990 and 1991
Folk- and Lyricfestival Faenza/Italy; 1991
Jüdische Kulturtage München; 1991 and 1994
Tage der jüdischen Kultur Chemnitz; 1992-97, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2009
KlezKamp New York/USA; 1993
Schleswig-Holstein-Festival Salzau; 1994
Klezmersalon Hannover; 1996
Jewish Festival Amsterdam/Netherlands; 1996
Symphony Space, Broadway, New York, 1997
Klezmerfestival Salzgitter, 1998
Tanz- und Folkfest Rudolstadt, 1998
Hessen Jazz Festival Idstein, 1999
ASHKENAZ Festival, Toronto/Kanada, 1999
Jiddische Musik- und Theaterwoche, Dresden, 1999 and 2009
7. Internationales Klezmer Festival, Fürth, 2000
Festival Begegenungen, Straßbourg, Frankreich 2000
La Plaza Buenos Aires, Argentinien 2000
Europe Musikfestival Angermünde, 2002
Goethe-Institute Lissabon/Portugal, 2002
Synagogen Istanbul/Türkei, 2003
Internationale Musiktage Koblenz, 2003
Festival Brüssel/Belgien, 2003
Internationales Klezmer Festival Heppenheim, 2005
Liederflut Grimma, 2005
Bremer Klezmerfest, 2005, 2007, 2010
KlezMore Vienna, 2006
Perleberg Festival 2006
Europafest Berlin, 2007
Yiddish Summer Weimar, 2007
Musikfesttage Hoyerswerda 2008
Jüdische Kulturtage Worms 2008
Accordeon Festival Vienna, 2009
Festival der Klesmer und Weltmusiker Salzgitter Bad, 2009
13. Jiddische Musik- und Theaterwoche, Dresden, 2009
Philharmonie Berlin, 2009
Konzerthaus Berlin, 2010
Literaturtage Osterburg, 2010
Bamberger Klezmertage, 2011
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