Buskers’ Ballroom

First of all, don't be put off by the cheesy cover. She’koyokh are Britain's best klezmer and Balkan music band. They storm in with ‘Russian Shers’, a classic klezmer tune first recorded by the Romanian-born Abe Schwartz in 1917. It's a great opener, showing offthe considerable instrumental skills of this nine-piece band-notably the high-pitched C-clarinet of Susi Evans, the violin of Meg Hamilton and the mandolin of Ben Samuels. There are several other classic klezmer tunes here, from the likes of Naftule Brandwein and others, but She’koyokh transform them and butt them up against Romanian, Bulgarian or Turkish tunes – all these styles are within their repertoire. Several of them have had masterclass sessions with great Gypsy instrumentalists in Eastern Europe and Turkey.

She’koyokh is a Yiddish expression meaning something like ‘good on yer.’ They released Sandanski's Chicken, their first CD, in 2008 and won best ensemble prize that year at the first International Jewish Music Competition in Amsterdam. The band save one of their secret weapons until the fifth track, on which singer çigdem Aslan sings ‘Üsküdar,’ a song that has itself also migrated throughout the Balkans. Aslan is a Turkish-born, Kurdish singer now resident in London and she sings with a clear, natural ease in several languages. The Turkish Gypsy song ‘Rampi Rampi’ is particularly likeable – loud and cheeky, with a searing clarinet solo and heavy 7/8 percussion. And it's nothing you'd ever hear from any other klezmer group. This is a brilliant CD from an exhilarating party band.