What does Klezmer have to do with Valentine’s Day you ask? Klezmer is the Jewish music of Eastern Europe, and Jewish immigrants from those areas who landed in New York in the early 20th Century. It’s a music full of exuberance and deep passion…perfect for romance!

February’s Bacchanal falls on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) and we’re going to celebrate with a special Klezmer showcase featuring three bands that are appearing for the first time at the Bacchanal, although you’re sure to recognize many of the players from other bands…read on!

BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Friday, February 14
Orchestra Euphonos
Saul Goodman’s Klezmer Band
Yiddishe Serenaders
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale

The Yiddish Serenaders are an Oakland based Klezmer band which celebrates Yiddish Song and fiddle music. Inspired by singers such as Molly Picon & Theodore Bikel and fiddle players such as Leo Schwartz and the unknown violinists of the “Early Yiddish Instrumental music” recordings they have unique sound which is old and contemporary at the same time. Imagine a fiddler an accordion player and a singer walking out of the mountains of Transylvania and onto the stage in Bucovina: this is the Yiddish Serenaders.

Saul Goodman’s Klezmer Band comes from a musical tradition tracing back to the old world shtetl of Szrensk.  Incorporating post-immigrant sounds rooted in klezmer, Saul Goodman’s music moves the spirit and the dance. It’s always a simcha with Saul!

Orchestra Euphonos is the newest klezmer band in the Bay Area, founded by Peter Bonos in 2013.  Their distinctly classic-yet-modern sound is characterized by an exuberant melodic sensibility and boistrous brass frontline. Their repertoire includes energetic Moldovan folk instrumentals plus familiar klezmer favorites.  This performance will feature Peter Bonos, euphonium and trumpet; Annie Cilley, saxophone & violin; Travis Hendrix, clarinet; Kalei Yamanoha, accordion; Aaron Kierbal, drums and the debut of Juliana Frick on upright bass.

Happy New Year Everyone!
Good news from the Bacchanal…starting this month we’ll be switching to the 2nd Friday of each month. That’s right, stay out late and sleep in on Saturday!
The start time stay the same (9pm) but the music will run longer.

This year will be off to a great start. We’ve got two bands that are new to the BBB and one that we haven’t had for quite awhile. hope to see you there!

Also, the Starry Plough has invested in a new mixing board which should yield some improvements in the sound. And the food has been getting good reviews too.

BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Friday, January 10
Balkan Evenings
Zabava
La Pêche
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale
https://berkeleybalkanbacchanal.com/

We’re happy to welcome back La Pêche! Based around a common love for traditional musics, notably from the Balkans, La Pêche mixes, fuses and distillate the best of all musical worlds, including its own compositions.
The songs, at times vast and contemplative, at times furious and ecstatic, are a captivating blend of old and new melodies sublimed by the quintet’s wild improvisations.

Following La Pêche Zabava Izvorno!
Zabava means Party! Izvorno means a traditional, folk instrument band from FYR Macedonia. Together they name a group of some of the finest Balkan musicians in the country who aim to recreate the vibrant interplay of music and dance from this cultural crossroad.
And to make a great Party!

And finally, a new concept in Balkan music – Balkan Evenings. Drawing from many of the great musicians from the Bay Area, Balkan Evenings is a composed of a 5 member core that allows for musicians who know the tunes to sit in. The goal is to play great music while enlarging the Balkan musician community. With members of some of the best Balkan bands around, this free-wheeling jam session should be hot!

Please join us on the 3rd Thursday of every month for 3 local Balkan bands at an affordable price! Also, check out the great article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

THE BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
Balkalicious Fire Drive
Edessa
Disciples of Markos
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale (support the bands yo!)
Questions? Contact us here!

When the hashish smoke from the arghile fills the room and the ouzo glasses are clinking, it’s time for the Disciples of Markos. The Disciples are dedicated to mining the forgotten Rebetika songs of the 1930s. From heavy, stoned-out bouzouki jams by Markos Vamvakaris to the light-hearted hasapikos of Tsitsanis, the Disciples dig deep into the underworld sounds of an earlier era.

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We’re super pleased to welcome back the Bay Area Balkan legends EDESSA. Edessa are loved by Balkan dancers for the incredibly wide range of styles and dances, as well as their soulful and fiery playing. Featuring clarinet (George Chittenden), accordion & santouri (Lise Liepman), violin (Ari Langer), and percussion (Rumen Sali Shopov), this is a rare chance to hear them in a small pub setting…don’t miss it!

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With searing instrumentals and sultry, gut-wrenching vocals soaring over hard-hitting grooves, Balkalicious Fire Drive rocks you with the raw and intoxicating energy, sound and spirit of the Balkans.  Band members are infused with long and vibrant histories from the Bay Area world music scene and beyond.  They are: Leslie Bonnett on vocals and violin; Stuart Brotman on bass; Shea Comfort on clarinet; Dennis Demakos on laouto and vocals, and Haig Kassabian on percussion.

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Please join us on the 3rd Thursday of every month for 3 local Balkan bands at an affordable price! Also, check out the great article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

THE BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
Dan Cantrell’s Odd Jobs Conspiracy
Mano Cherga
Plovdiv Party Bus
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale (support the bands yo!)
Questions? Contact us here!

Plovdiv Party Bus is a Bay Area Balkan Folk Dance Band that plays music from all over the Balkans including the music of the Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Swedish, and Romani people. The Bus driver is Greg Jenkins, master clarinetist and familiar to all Bay Area Balkan fans through his many projects; MWE, Fanfare Zambaleta, Agapi Mou, and others.

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Mano Cherga is a regular at the Bacchanal and their raucous and rocked up Balkan tunes are not to be missed. They’ve got everything you need for a crazed Balkan party – but bring your own slivovitz!

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We’re excited to back from our summer break, and pleased to announce that we’ll kick off the fall season of the Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal with our first touring act, the Raya Brass band from NYC! They’ll be playing two sets and joining them for their own set will be MWE. Sounds awesome, right?

Please join us on the 3rd Thursday of every month for 3 local Balkan bands at an affordable price! Also, check out the great article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

THE BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
RAYA BRASS BAND (NYC)
MWE
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale (support the bands yo!)
Questions? Contact us here!

You might catch them wailing mid-span on the Brooklyn Bridge under a full moon. Or making partiers on a Bushwick rooftop dance so hard that the roof bounces. Raya Brass Band bursts with a frenetic joie de vivre that powers the high-energy party. Digging into black-market compilations, Eastern European carnival traditions and their own eclectic musical pasts (New Orleans brass, punk, out jazz), Raya Brass Band has the chops to match their irrational exuberance.

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One zurna, one davul, one saxophone, and two clarinets. MWE always kicks ass at the Bacchanal and you’ll be dancing when the band hits the floor to play in the middle of the dancers. Part Turkish marching band, part belly dance party band, MWE is a force of nature not to be missed!

 

Please join us on the 3rd Thursday of every month for 3 local Balkan bands at an affordable price! Also, check out the great article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

This is the last Bacchanal of the spring season…we’ll be back in September!

THE BERKELEY BALKAN BACCHANAL
Thursday, JUNE 20, 2013
Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm
DISCIPLES OF MARKOS
VERETSKI PASS
BALKALICIOUS FIRE DRIVE
The Starry Plough (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
Admission $8-12 sliding scale (support the bands yo!)
Questions? Contact us here!

DISCIPLES OF MARKOS
The Disciples of Markos are the Bay Area’s only band dedicated to exploring the Golden Age of Greek Rebetiko. Rebetiko is the music of the 1930s Greek Underworld, the music of gangsters, dopers, thieves, and bohemians. This heavy, low down music told the stories of the hardscrabble underworld Rebetika life of knife fights, drug busts, love and longing.The band takes it’s name from Markos Vamvakaris, the Godfather of rebetiko, and the heaviest, most stoned-out bouzouki player of them all.

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VERETSKI PASS
We’re lucky to have another chance to see and hear the fantastic Veretski Pass here at the Bacchanal. Veretski Pass is a trio of seasoned pros who have as gone as deep as anyone in mining the history of Klezmer and other Jewish music from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. In a true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, typical suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania; Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia; and haunting Rebetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with original compositions. Veretski Pass recently performed at the Concertgebouw Concert Hall in Amsterdam, and their CDs have repeatedly been on the 10-best recording lists of journalists.

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