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KLEZMATICS, NEAR EASTERN MUSIC ENSEMBLE, SIMON SHAHEEN AND FRANK LONDON PROJECT. Thursday night at Merkin Concert Hall, Abraham Goodman House, 129 W. 67th St., Manhattan. Also broadcasted live on WNYC's "New Sounds."
`IF YOU WANT to be politically correct, you've come to the right concert," observed WNYC's "New Sounds" host John Schaefer by way of introducing this provocative program. The Klezmatics performed their unique brand of klezmer, the caffeinated East European Jewish jazz and wedding music, while Palestinian composer Simon Shaheen's Near Eastern Music Ensemble played modern compositions based on Sufi musical forms extending back to medieval times. As a bonus, Klezmatics composer-trumpeter Frank London collaborated with Shaheen on four pieces that owed much to Downtown New York's 1980s improvisation scene.
The title of the Klezmatics' excellent recent album, "Rhythm + Jews," indicates...