National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Transcontinental Music Publications recently announced the publication of The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook, a new work by klezmer scholar and musician Yale Strom.

According to the publisher, the book is "a major collection of 313 full length klezmer songs, including out of print and previously unpublished melodies, many with Yiddish lyrics." Strom collected much of the material from Jewish and Roma (Gypsy) Holocaust survivors who recalled those melodies from childhood. The songbook includes archival photos, cultural and historic background, and a CD with 36 klezmer songs as recorded by Strom's Klezmer band, Hot Pstromi.

Strom noted, "Until the mid-1970s klezmer was virtually unknown to the non-Jewish public and only nostalgically remembered by many Jews. Today klezmer bands throughout the world celebrate the resurgence of Yiddish culture."