Klezmer, Niguns & Co

Clarinettist Nano Peylet and pianist Denis Cuniot formed their duo in 1983 in their native France and have been playing together ever since. This compilation is a collection of traditional and original klezmer tunes and niguns (a kind of devotional music that is often improvised) from three of their albums spanning the first 17 or so years. The album starts with an improvised introduction from the clarinet, rich with ornamentation and fluttering scales, before both instruments launch headlong into a furiously-paced medley of dance tunes. Here, and on other tracks, Cuniot employs a hammering effect on the keys that brilliantly mimics the tsimbl (dulcimer) so often used in the shtetlach of pre-war Europe. The duo also encompass a wide axis of klezmer expression; from the soulful and poetic to the wild and hedonistic. ‘Papir Iz Dokh Vais’, with its group humming, is a good example of the former; while ‘Belleville-Drancy par Grennelle’ occupies both spaces. Some of the most interesting and virtuosic playing can be heard on ‘Hymnoprétrad’ with its dirge-like piano chords and animalistic clarinet improvisations. For a thorough overview of what Ashkenazi music means to two devoted performers, you couldn’t do much better.