The Peacock and the Sunflower

Veretski Pass are one of the world’s leading traditional klezmer bands, partly because they search out unusual and little-known repertoire. Their 2015 album, Poyln. A Gilgul, exploring archival Polish and Jewish music, was a Top of the World in #117 and The Magid Chronicles, also with Joel Rubin, got a rave review in #150. Both these albums involved unearthing little-known archival sources and the same is true of The Peacock and the Sunflower, which turns its attention to Ukraine. The peacock is a symbol of Yiddish culture representing youth, optimism and resistance, and the sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine. All four musicians in the band – Cookie Segelstein (violin), Joshua Horowitz (button accordion and hammer-dulcimer tsimbl), Joel Rubin (C clarinet) and Stuart Brotman (double bass) – are among the best on the US klezmer scene. They have ancestry in Ukraine and Moldova and have drawn extensively on the Kiselgof-Makonovetsky Digital Manuscript Project (KMDMP) of manuscripts collected before WWI for this album. These are combined with sheet music and manuscripts from their own archives and organised into instrumental suites. Highlights include the speedy accordion on ‘Kremenitser Kazatske’, soulful clarinet on ‘The Pipe of Dovbush’, barnstorming violin on ‘Backwoods Kolomyika’ and lots of superb ensemble playing. The Peacock and the Sunflower is a superb release.