Although klezmer and jazz probably encountered each other in the New World as early as 1920, the meeting was largely forgotten until Naftule’s Dream and other likeminded bands from John Zorn’s circle began exploring traditional Jewish music as inspiration for sharp-edged new sounds. On their first album since 2002, Naftule’s Dream rework klezmer modes and melodies into avant-garde cacophony with astute soloing, group improvisation, and an abstraction of Eastern European rhythms intended for dance into the framework of concert music.
