Mixing klezmer with rock for a good cause
KLEZMANIA singer Freydi Mrocki has sung Yiddish and klezmer songs for many years, so when she was called on to sing a rock number for the new compilation CD, The Key of Sea, she admitted that she was “out of her comfort zone”.
For the CD, 22 musical acts were teamed up in pairs to produce 11 new songs, many on the theme of the migrant experience, refugees and asylum seekers.
And so Klezmania was teamed up with acclaimed Sydney rock band Philadelphia Grand Jury, while Jewish singer Ohad Rein, who performs as Old Man River, was partnered with Chilean-Australian Javier Fredes.
The Key of Sea was the brainchild of lawyer and musician Hugh Crosthwaite, with all profits going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival and the Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees group.
It was Crosthwaite, who is not Jewish, who wrote the lyrics for the Klezmania-Philadelphia Grand Jury number.
“I read some Yiddish poems and recalled the experiences of my aunt’s mother who survived the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland during World War II,” says Crosthwaite.
“The song, Sing for the Sun, was a combination of rock and klezmer, mainly in English with a little Yiddish. I was pleased with the result.”
Crosthwaite says it was important to draw on the Jewish experience, especially those who were refugees after World War II.
“All the artists who joined the project felt they could achieve something positive and were keen to be involved,” he said.
Mrocki says she was honoured to be involved with The Key of Sea CD and help to draw people’s attention to the suffering of asylum seekers.
“The compilation CD was a really exciting project that resulted in a coming together of different musical styles,” she says. “It was quite a challenge and pushed us out of our comfort zone. We had to change a klezmer piece to a rock version that sounded completely different.”
Mrocki says the experience provided an opportunity to break down barriers and develop new musical friendships.
Rein wrote the song Merry Christmas Island that focuses on the journey of asylum seekers to Australia.
The collaboration with Fredes resulted in a South American percussion vibe – very different to Rein’s usual Middle Eastern and Indian influences.
Rein, who recently released his second album Trust, says that being Jewish and growing up in Israel helped him understand the motivation behind the CD, which also features Sarah Blasko, The Cat Empire and Tim Rogers.
For more information about The Key of Sea CD, visit www.keyofsea.com.au.
DANNY GOCS
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