“We Are Going To Bremen To Be Musicians” is Geoff Berner's first original album in four years. He says that it’s “meant to be powerful cheering-up medicine that you don’t have to turn your brain off for.”
Berner counts himself as part of the “Klezmer Bund” movement of makers of Radical Jewish Culture, which includes artists like Daniel Kahn of Berlin, Psoy Korelenko from Moscow, and the rabble-rousing Jewdas group in London. The Klezmer Bund rejects orthodox and ultra-Zionist conservative notions of Jewish identity, and seeks to connect with the deep roots of left-wing Jewish thought in a way that’s entertaining and accessible for everybody.
Berner’s first album in that vein, “Whiskey Rabbi,” was released ten years ago, giving him a nickname that stuck. This new album, recorded in Vancouver, Canada, features most of the musicians from his previous release, the award-winning “Victory Party.” It was produced by Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, from Montreal. Socalled is himself a superstar of radical Jewish culture. “As with Victory Party, there really was nobody besides Josh who could have made this album with me,” says Berner. “His knowledge of both the recording studio and Jewish music is unmatchable.” Oriente Records of Berlin is the pre-eminent label in Europe for klezmer, and for the Klezmer Bund, too, so it’s a natural home for this album. In Canada, “Bremen” is part of the exciting roll-out of Coax Records’ new roster of artists for both its recorded music arm and booking agency.
“We Are Going To Bremen To Be Musicians” is a reference to the old German folk tale about elderly farm animals threatened with death, who run away from their masters in the hope of achieving freedom and becoming Town Musicians. It’s an absurd tale of irrational hope and optimism in the face of horror, and that’s where the story connects with the songs on the album.
You don’t already have a record like this in your collection. Look for it at independent record stores everywhere, online, or at a Geoff Berner live show in your town, coming soon.