Category: Uncategorized

Wed. April 29th @ Butterfly Bar Austin

Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour plays Wednesday April 17th @ Butterfly Bar Austin, 8-10pm.  Two sets of TRAD KLEZ, which near the end will be opened up for a TRAD KLEZ session for players of intermediate & professional skill level.  Butterfly Bar is located in East Austin, at 2307 Manor Road.  Please bring a donation for the band – admission is free!

Trad Klez at HONK TX Street Band Festival!

Laaaaaadies & Menshn! It’s time for Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour with Di Austiner Klezmer Bund Orchestra TODAY as part of HONK TEXAS in the park – it’s FREE! Enjoy and have a restful Shabbes in the sun while listening to Trad Klez. Saturday, March 28th: Adams-Hemphill Park at the Spiderhouse Ballroom “Family Stage” (Hemphill @ 30th) 1-2 PM Trudy’s Back Wall – 4:30-5 PM aaaaaand tomorrow, Sunday, Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour with Di Austiner Klezmer Bund Orchestra will be performing with a special guest at Pan-American Park (E 3rd at Chicon), during the big wrapup extravaganza of 25 HONK bands playing in quick succession! See the HONK!TX page for more details!  http://www.honktx.org/

Triangle Fire Multi-media Presentation with live music this Sunday Jan 25th 2:30 at Tapestry of Jewish Learning on the Dell JCC

You are invited to join Der Firsom Yidisher Ansambl ( featuring members of Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour) as we compare and contrast the tragedy of the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire with modern sweatshop tragedies and consider the plight of the worker from a Jewish perspective.  This multimedia presentation will take place 2:30-3:30pm as part of the Tapestry of Jewish Learning, at the Dell JCC, 7300 Hart Lane, Austin TX. Registration is required to attend this event, <CLICK HERE> for details.

Memoir of Eastern European Tour 2010: Quick Overview pt. 1

I remember when we visited Eastern Europe in 2010 – so many stories from that trip.  We planned the trip in order to attend Koprivstica, a Bulgarian celebration of folk music, dance, crafts, and nationalistic self-determinism. When we first heard of Koprivstica, it was from this fellow: He said that in 2005, it rained cats and dogs all week, and he was forced to take shelter in a barn with a bunch of strangers from around the world, and it was flooding…. and it was the best folk music festival he had ever been to!  It only happens every five years, so we planned on making the 2010 event.  In 2010, it didn’t rain, and every day was a day spent in a beautiful, historical mountain village in Bulgaria.  The festival grounds are about a 20 minute walk from town, so we got to breathe in a lot of that mountain air.  More on that in the book. We ended up going early in order to attend the Krakow Yiddish Festival (http://www.jewishfestival.pl/), where we made acquaintance with a variety of luminaries of the current klezmer scene, including Yiddish Dance Master Steven Weintraub, Musikants Benji Fox-Rosen, Dan Blacksburg, Deborah Strauss, Christian

Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour Band Members

Mazel Tov Kocktail Hour Band Members as of October 2014: Samantha Goldberg – Flute, Xylophone; Dylan M. Blackthorn – Accordion, Vocals, Misc. Foley; David Gilden – Trumpet; Ben Saffer – Clarinet; Ethan Smith – Fidl; David Ansel – Tsimbal. Special guests, from time to time: Kronk (Sick) – Fidl, Guitar; Mark Rubin – Tuba, Tenor Guitar, Baritone; Mike Gray – Percussion, Go Box.