Jake Shulman-Ment and Abigale Reisman:

Two Strings

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Two Strings—Tsvey Strunes in Yiddish—references a unique violin tuning of Turkish origin commonly used by Jewish musicians in Eastern Europe. Abigale and Jake have recorded a playful string-based album inspired by Yiddish, Romanian, Hungarian, Turkish, and classical music traditions. This timely release centers Yiddish culture as a profound source of wisdom in the face of dark times, and celebrates a diasporic Jewishness independent of any one particular territory or land.

 

With striking authenticity as instrumentalists and vocalists, Abigale and Jake weave together a rich tapestry of original compositions, original settings of early 20th century radical leftist Yiddish poetry, and recently rediscovered pieces from forgotten manuscripts. Haunting and ecstatic, the sound blurs lines between old and new. Two Strings is equally at home under a Jewish wedding canopy, in a grand concert hall, or in a drunken tavern. 

 

Abigale and Jake are joined by a cast of longtime co-conspirators and stars of the international klezmer stage: Pete Rushefsky on tsimbl/cimbalom, Raffi Boden on cello, Zoe Christiansen on clarinet, and Richie Barshay on drums.