Dave Tarras — Kiever Sher

From "VA – Oytsres = Treasures = Schätze (Klezmer Music 1908-1996)". https://www.discogs.com/release/28147... Produced For – Jewish Cultural Programming and Research GbR Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WERGO Copyright © – WERGO Record Company – Schott Music & Media GmbH Glass Mastered At – Sonopress – A-15197 Compilation Producer [Idee, Konzeption Und Realisation], Liner Notes – Joel E. Rubin, Rita Ottens Transferred By [Digital Transfers], Research [Additional Discographical Research] – Christian Zwarg The rare recordings from the following collections are all issued for the first time on CD: National Sound Archives (Jerusalem), YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York), Gratz College (Pennsylvania), DeutschlandRadio as well as from European private collections. 71'37 Co-production WERGO / Jewish Cultural Programming and Research GbR © + ℗ 1999 WERGO, a division of Schott Music & Media GmbH, Mainz, Germany Dave Tarras was possibly the most famous 20th century klezmer musician was Dave Tarras, born Dovid Tarraschuk in 1897 in the Ukrainian shtetl Ternovka in Podolia. Already a professional musician at the age of 9, the descendant of at least two generations of Hasidic klezmorim played flute, mandolin, guitar and violin. He began playing clarinet at age 14. In 1915, he was conscripted into the Tsar's army, but his talents as a musician kept him out of the trenches. Fleeing the pogroms in Ukraine, Tarras arrived in New York in 1921, where he worked in a garment factory for a time. Within a few years, he had become the new "King of Klezmer", usurping with his greater sophistication the position of Naftule Brandwein. During his career he made literally hundreds of 78 RPM recordings and was one of the only traditional Yiddish musicians to make the transition to the post-war recording industry. Dave Tarras led his own ensembles at Jewish weddings and other festivities in the New York area and he was the favorite accompanist for Yiddish Theater stars like Aaron Lebedeff and Molly Picon. He died in 1989 in New York. https://www.discogs.com/artist/514064... Tarras was born David Tarasiuk in Teplyk, Ukraine and later moved to Ternivka, a village which was then in Podolian Governorate, Russian Empire and which is now in Teplytskyi Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. His exact birthday is disputed; it is often given as March 15, 1895,but other credible accounts give it as 1898. He came from a klezmer family; to the family of Rakhmil Tarasyuk, who was a klezmer trombonist, and Sheyndl, his grandfather was a fiddler and badkhn and Dave's five brothers became professional musicians as well.Dave grew up playing a variety of instruments and immersed in klezmer music. His main instrument was the flute for several years, until he switched to the clarinet in around 1909. By that time he could also play the Balalaika, guitar, and mandolin. He was conscripted into the tsar's army in 1915, but his talents as a musician kept him out of the trenches. After leaving the Russian empire, Tarras lived in Bucharest, Romania for a short time.After making his way to Great Britain, he sailed for New York City in 1921, where he worked in a garment factory for a time. Eventually he found he could make money as a musician, and worked as a clarinetist in many of New York's klezmer ensembles. He also became the preferred accompanist to many popular stars of Yiddish theater and for some of the great cantors of the time period. In addition to Jewish music, he also recorded Greek, Polish and Russian tunes. His ability to play different styles was further masked by the use of pseudonyms on his recordings for Columbia Records. .. His skill and reliability enabled him to play for many years longer than the other klezmer pioneers of his day (Naftule Brandwein, for example had retired or left the business). Tarras' experience playing in the czarist military band, his ability to read music, and his excellent command of the Yiddish style made him a favorite among bandleaders.After klezmer music fell out of fashion following World War II, Tarras remained one of the few musicians to still record and play actively. His style has been characterized as smooth and dignified, with deliberate and rhythmical phrasing. His personal repertoire came from his Bessarabian roots and the influences of Jewish and Gypsy (Roma) music. Zev Feldman has credited Tarras with not only "Bessarabianizing" Jewish dance music,but also with replacing what had been the dominant tune style of the freylekh with the Bulgar... Tarras was a recipient of a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Tarras died of pneumonia in February 1989 in Oceanside, New York. He was buried in the Montefiore Cemetery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Ta...