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The largest collection of klezmer musicians in one spot: Yale Strom's 'A Great Day on Eldridge Streef gets its premiere.
It probably won't show up in any history of the Jewish peo- ple-or even a history of Jewish music, but Oct. 12, 2007 was a memorable morning in klezmer history. On that day, more than 100 Jewish musicians of almost every conceivable musical persua- sion - but mostly either scions of klezmer, leaders of the klezmer revival or, in a few exalted cases, grand veteran survivors of the music's golden age in the goldene medina - gathered on the steps of the newly restored Eldridge Street Synagogue for a Yiddish equivalent of the famous photo of jazz greats usually called "A Great Day in Harlem."
At the center of this giddy vortex of energy was Yale Strom, who had pulled off one of those "it can't be done" moments. So it is neither surprising nor inappropriate that Strom is the one who documented that day's festivities with a short film, "A Great Day on Eldridge Street," which will have its premiere on May 17.
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