Ethnic Festival embraces diversity
By Suzanne Weiss
Herald Times Reporter
TWO RIVERS — The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, which performs Jewish music, was a tough act to book for Ethnic Festival on Saturday, Sept. 15, said Mike Zimmer.
“Saturday is the Sabbath,” he said. “They got permission from the rabbi to perform as an outreach educational activity.”
Zimmer is executive director of Two Rivers Main Street Inc., which organizes the annual Two Rivers festival, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this year.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band of Chicago, which will perform from 1 to 3 p.m., is one of four ethnic groups to be featured on the Central Park stage. It is the band’s first time at Ethnic Festival.
The band plays lively, upbeat music, said Kimber Leigh Nussbaum, vocalist with the group.
“People, Jewish and non-Jewish, will recognize it as Jewish music,” she said. “I think it resonates with so many people from so many backgrounds.”
Klezmer music is named for the klezmorim of Eastern Europe, Jewish folk musicians who traditionally played for celebrations, according to the band’s Web site.
“Usually when people ask me what klezmer is, I answer Jewish jazz,” Nussbaum said. “It’s made up of Jewish folk music and music from the Jewish theater.”
The music also reflects its fusion with big band and swing, which occurred when it made its way from Europe to America; it even contains Latin influences, she said.
The first portion of the word klezmer stands for instrument or vessel, the second half means music or song, she said.
“It means the music would emanate from within them,” said Nussbaum. “I think you’ll see, especially in our band, when people play it’s almost as if it overtakes their body. It’s pretty exciting to watch.”
The group’s name also is a nod to Maxwell Street in Chicago, famous for its open-air market where Jewish pushcart peddlers sold their wares, said the Web site.
The band was founded in 1983 by Lori Lippitz, who worked closely with the Chicago Jewish community to reintroduce traditional dance music to weddings and other Jewish celebrations.
Clarinet, saxophone, violin, trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, drums and two female vocalists make up the group.
For Nussbaum, a descendent from concentration camp survivors, the music is part of her heritage.
“My responsibility is to keep this music alive,” she said.
The other ethnic groups that will perform on the Central Park stage are the Cashel Dennehy School of Irish Dance, Omo-Ana Children of the Spirit of the Drum, and Brule and AIRO.
Cashel Dennehy School of Irish Dance
Think little girls with lots of curls and white knee-highs.
This nationally known dance group stems from the Wauwatosa-based school offering Irish step dance to girls — and boys — ages 5 and up. The group will perform from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Dancers from the Cashel Dennehy School of Irish Dance can participate in the group’s many public performances and also have the opportunity to compete at the regional, national and world level, according to the school’s Web site.
The school, which got its start in 1983, has branches in Madison, Fox Point and Hartland.
Omo-Ana Children of the Spirit of the Drum
Ancient African rhythms drive Omo-Ana Children of the Spirit of the Drum as the group explores the culture, music, beliefs and dance of Africa.
The drum group, performing from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., was founded by Dr. Cecil Austin, Africology lecturer at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Austin “takes at-risk kids and teaches them the discipline of African drumming, which is not easy to learn, and turns these kids into a phenomenal act,” said Zimmer.
“By doing so, he takes them off the street, gives them something they can take pride in, that takes discipline and perseverance to learn, and teaches them how to work in a group. They stole the show last year.”
Brule and AIRO
Paul LaRoche, who was adopted at birth from the Lower Brule Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, is Brule.
His band is AIRO, which stands for American Indian Rock Opera.
Brule and AIRO will play starting at 3 p.m.
In 1993, LaRoche discovered his Lakota heritage and was reunited with his birth family, which inspired him to become a cultural role model through music.
Brule has become one of the top-selling American Indian recording artists, selling more than a million CDs worldwide.
Food and crafts
Two Rivers’ Washington Street, blocked off from 15th to 19th streets, will feature a variety of ethnic food and craft booths.
Food vendors will offer Mexican, American, Greek, Asian and Italian fare, as well local favorites.
Among the latter is kettle corn made in the German tradition by Dale Plansky of Two Rivers, owner of Ma’s Ole Kettle Cooker.
“Regular popcorn is made with butter. This is made glazed with sugar,” Plansky said. “Mine is out of copper kettle and I mix it by hand. That’s how they make their popcorn in Germany.”
His secret is using just the right amount of sugar, he said.
Two Rivers restaurants are joining in the fun.
Element American Bistro, 1513 Washington Street, will celebrate its first anniversary with Pick ‘N’ Squeeze playing from 4 to 6 p.m. and The SparkPlugz performing from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. There also will be barbecued ribs, domestic beer and micro brews; the restaurant will offer full menu service inside.
Kurtz’s Pub and Deli, 1410 Washington St., will celebrate Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with German beer and food and live German music by the Music Vendors from Milwaukee.
Craft booths will feature glassware, decorative wooden lawn lights, jewelry, original art work, music, photographic images, frames, watercolor, wood works, candles, soaps, body and bath items, Packers and sports art, nature art, caricatures, floral arrangements and clocks.
Cultures scheduled to be represented include Hmong, German, Indian, Peruvian, Indonesian, Inkas, Kichwas and the indigenous people from the Andes and Quichua.
Suzanne Weiss: 920-686-2140 or sweiss@htrnews.com
