For the third year in a row, the Boulder JCC hosted a Jewish Christmas Eve tradition: eating a Chinese dinner with a lot of Jewish friends, complete with a Klezmer concert.  Klezmania 2018 got another ethnic jolt with this year’s addition of music from the robust Gypsy tradition. Swing St. Vrain, a gypsy jazz ensemble based in Longmont, entertained during the Chinese food banquet held in the JCC’s gym. Formerly known as The Hot Club of Boulder, SSV plays “le jazz hot” in style of Django Reinhardt. The group draws material from a broad variety of sources, including Latin, choro, klezmer, and carefully selected pop tunes.

Sheldon Sands’ Klesmer Consort then opened the concert in Levin Hall with an hour of traditional klezmer, including Yiddish vocals from Eve Ilsen. This was followed by a second helping of Swing St. Vrain, focusing more on their klezmer material.  The evening was rounded out by a combo set aimed at getting the audience moving on the small dance floor in front of the stage.

Here’s a little musical sample:

And be sure to check out all of the photos from the event here in our Google album.