Hazzan Jack Kessler , music director, vocals, composer-arranger, has been called a one- man force of nature in Jewish music (he has also been called the Jewish Sun Ra; he has also been called late for dinner). He sang Jewish liturgical music as a Hazzan (Cantor) for twenty years before he decided that he prefers singing with a band. Along with the Klingons, he directs ATZILUT, a ten-member ensemble that performs CONCERTS FOR PEACE, featuring Arab and Jewish musicians in concert together. Bob Butryn , reeds: Bob is adept on clarinet, flute, and tenor sax. He is the principal clarinet of the internationally known new music ensemble Relache, and is highly respected for his improvisational and harmonizing skills in klezmer, jazz, and dixieland. Bob has also won national awards in swing dancing with his show "Crazy Rhythm, Fancy Feet.com" (online by the same name). Stan Slotter , trumpet and flute, has been active on the Philly music scene since age fifteen. He has played with Cecil Taylor, Grover Washington, Philly Jo Jones, Reverie, Minas, Seamus Eagan and many others. His favorite styles are jazz, Latin, dixieland and klez. Stan is known for his passionate, heartfelt approach, which brings a unique warmth to his playing. He has no attitude whatsoever. Josef Kessler , five-string electric violin, is based in Boston and is one of the most sought after ethnic violinists in the Northeast. He plays klezmer, Irish, Balkan and rock. and has played with Led Zeppelin, Morphine, Boiled In Lead, Wooden Leg, Sunday's Well, Klingon Klez, and Atzilut. He spends a lot of time in airports. Dave Posmontier , keyboard, a.k.a. Dr. Funk, has been playing professionally for thirty years. He has performed with such Philly area stalwarts as John Swana, Steve Giordano, Bootsie Barnes, and his brother Rich in the Posmontier Brothers Quintet. The PBQ has an album out of Dave's original compositions. Several hundred years ago the Philly jazz station named Dave number one jazz pianist in Philadelphia . Dave began his klezmer journeys playing synthesizer for the High Holidays, backing up Cantor Jack. Tom Cohen , percussion, is a seasoned (actually pretty well baked) veteran of the Philly music scene who began to study with jazz great Tony Williams while still in high school. In Washington DC , Tom played with the Harvard University Big Band under Donald Byrd. Since living in Philly he has played with the fusion bands Catalyst, led by Odean Pope, Bootsie Barnes, Shirley Scott, Uri Caine, Charles Fambrough, John Swana, John Blake and others. He has recorded on a number of CD's His own discography is on the Cadence label. Chico Huff , Bass, has been playing electric bass professionally for about 30 years and is one of the best players in the universe. Chico is fluent in many styles of music including klezmer, jazz, funk, celtic and latin jazz. Over the years Chico has performed and recorded with James Taylor, Carly Simon, Solas, Karan Casey, Jeff Golub, Jeff Lee Johnson, Terrence Blanchard, G.E. Smith, Chuck Leob, Anton Fig, Edgardo Cintron, Elio Villafranca, and many others. He has toured the planet many times, and has been occasionally seen off- Planet. |