Aheym: Homeward

Each member of this trio brings serious klezmer credentials with them. Merlin Shepherd's clarinet playing can also be heard with Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars, while Polina Shepherd's work in klezmer began in her homeland of Siberia where she became part of the first post-Perestroika klezmer band. Lorin Sklamberg was one of the founding members of legendary New York band The Klezmatics.

In the first few tracks the lean instrumentation of accordion, piano, clarinet and vocals is combined to produce some nice arrangements of traditional Yiddish and Russian songs with a couple of new compositions. Nothing ground-breaking here, though towards the middle of the album the creativeness of the three musicians begins to shine through with ethereal numbers such as the aptly named ‘Ay-yay-yay’ or the mini-suite of ‘Sahar’ parts one and two. Merlin Shepherd's clarinet often sounds more like a duduk (Armenian oboe) on these tracks and evokes the tonality of the East all the more keenly. Mournful solo clarinet, bouncy village songs, light classical numbers and some fiery vocals make for an experience that is both worldly and rooted in Jewish tradition.