The Klein Party presents Klezmer Starts Here: The Music of Belf's Romanian Orchestra
with special guests: the Automat (Darren Loucas, Geoff Harper, Eric Eagle) and James Falzone with Ray Larsen, Cole Schuster and Neil Welch

Doors: 6pm

Advance tickets can only be purchased online-we do not sell advance tickets at the venue. Refunds are not available within 48 hours of the event. Tickets do not guarantee seating during shows at the Royal Room. We are now accepting reservations for diners! Please email reservations@theroyalroomseattle.com for a table. The Royal Room is All Ages until 10pm. All our staff are fully vaccinated, and we ask that our patrons be vaccinated as well.

The Klein Party hosts a concert exploring music recorded over 100 years ago by Belf's Romanian Orchestra. They will be joined by ensembles led by guitarist Darren Loucas and clarinetist James Falzone.

Between 1911 and 1914, Syrena Rekord, a Russian label working in Warsaw, recorded several dozen tunes by Romanian orchestra under the direction of V. Belʹf. Although the leader was not well known, the recordings sold thousands of copies. These early examples of recorded klezmer music provide an incredible snapshot of the standard klezmer repertoire performed in Central Europe at the time. Surviving recordings and transcriptions of this music were very influential on the klezmer revival of the 1970s.

Darren Loucas will be joined by his band, The Automat, featuring award-winning Seattle music stalwarts Geoff Harper and Eric Eagle. Darren is a Seattle-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He’s a co-founder of the BB Award-winning NW blues outfit, The Jelly Rollers. The Stranger called his guitar playing “...a revelation.” and his original music “a cocktail of pop, rock and blues, full of those genre’s sweetest strains.” He’s performed with Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Bill Frisell, Ayesha Brooks, Gold Testament, and many others.

James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer who has been commissioned by chamber ensembles, dance companies, choirs, and symphony orchestras around the globe. He leads his own ensembles Allos Musica, Elaía Ensemble, Renga Ensemble, and the duo Wayfaring with Chicago bassist/vocalist Katie Ernst. He is a member of the Tapestry Voice Ensemble and Pneuma, a quartet with clarinetists François Houle, Michael Winograd, and Israeli vocalist Ayelet Gottlieb. James performs throughout North America and Europe, appears regularly on Downbeat magazine's Critics' and Readers' Polls, and was nominated as the Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association.

James Falzone's quartet includes the highly respected local players Ray Larsen (trumpet), Neil Welch (saxophones), and Cole Schuster (guitar).

The Klein Party is a "klezmerish band playing tunes from All the Old Countries." While their repertoire centers on original arrangements of Ashkenazi Jewish music from the Old and New Worlds, they also explore any music that shares the ecstatic joy, emotional intensity, and unavoidable party music that we call "klezmer." This includes music from the Ladino tradition, Yiddish folk and theatre music, as well as Ellingtonia, jump jazz, American novelty tunes, Romani music, and songs from Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Finland, Hawaii, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Moravia, Persia, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Sicily, Turkey, and Ukraine.

The Klein Party is Eric Ray Anderson (ukulele & vocals), Brandon Campbell (saxophones), Joseph Casalini (bass), David Gassner (vocals & percussion), Ruby Grynberg (violin), Mark Lutwak (accordion), Sabrina Pope (clarinet), and Amber Wolfe (vocals & percussion).

Klezmer Starts Here is an ongoing series of concerts hosted by the Klein Party at the Royal Room exploring the literature and luminaries of the music we know as "klezmer." Future evenings will center on musicians Naftule Brandwein, Harry Kandel, Abe Schwartz, Leon Schwartz, Dave Tarras, as well as the work of influential collectors, musicologists, and publishers such as Moishe Beregovski, Wolff Kostakowsky, and the Kammen Brothers.