Ida Gillner is very special musician based in Sweden, and in this episode you’ll hear the powerful story of her personal journey, embracing different cultures, and also the comforting power of music.  Ida is a multi-instrumentalist and composer; her main instruments are soprano saxophone, piano and voice.  In the first part of this episode we focus on her project Shtolstse lider, her songs set to the poetry of some of Yiddish’s greatest women writers. You’ll hear about Ida’s childhood on the island of Asperö, forging her own path in different world music traditions, and  the Finnish tango group Anna Heikkinen and Längtans Kapell. We also talked about her solo album “Anna” dedicated to her sister, and how the process of writing and recording this healing music comforted her through the shock of her family’s loss. Ida’s path in music reveals a powerful story of embracing different cultures through music, and the comforting power of music. 

I was honored to be able to record this wide-ranging interview with violinist Yale Strom, who is the leading ethnographer-artist of Klezmer music and history, and also has done many years of research among the Roma communities. He speaks to us about some of his many inspiring experiences during over 75 research expeditions to Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. To prepare for this episode, I read several of his books, including his 400 page The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore, some of which we touched on during this conversation, and he also spoke about two of his upcoming books and other projects. Yale is an energetic and prolific creator; he’s also a filmmaker, photographer, educator, playwright and composer, and we spoke about many of his projects during this wide-ranging interview.  

This episode is a special short Catch-Up episode with the Klezmer violinist and composer Alicia Svigals. I first spoke with her in 2021 in Season 1 of this podcast, and that wide-ranging in-depth conversation is linked in the show notes. Today we are focusing on Alicia’s new album Fidl Afire, with several excerpts from the album with her insights. 

I was honored to have this conversation with Marilyn Lerner, who is a unique pianist and composer who is a powerfully expressive musician across a range of styles. She’s a wonderful improvisor and has performed worldwide, as well as recorded extensively as both a soloist and as an ensemble player. She’s also a therapist and psychoanalyst, and our conversation moved through many fascinating and important topics including ideas around identity and creativity.