Farewell to the Homeland: Poyln

Behind this album is the story of the Frand family who travelled from Dubiecko, Poland to the US in the 1930s. The family's tunebook was rediscovered by a descendent, Sharon Frant Brooks, and in 2009 she reached out to current klezmer practitioners to resurrect the music. Seeing that the scoring included flutes, the call was answered by klezmer flautist Adrianne Greenbaum. Differing from many recent historically reconstructive klezmer projects, FleytMuzik is an entirely instrumental ensemble comprising of, first and foremost, flutes and piccolos as well as violin, cimbalom and bass.

Recorded live at a concert in New Jersey, this album has a rawness that poignantly evokes the spirit of the homeland. Clattering cimbalom creates a wonderful atmosphere for the violin and flutes to weave around and the occasional tune on piccolo gives many of the tunes a martial air. Indeed, this is not merely a collection of klezmer standards, but a comprehensive look at what these people were actually playing all those years ago. This approach unearths some surprises, such as suites of Scottish and French-themed polkas. This album sounds like a collection of incidental music from a very historically accurate film set in a late 19th-century shtetl.