The debut album from
Tummel, re-released, remastered, and re-titled by ARC as one of their more successful klezmer enterprises. The Swedes here go through a whirlwind of their less-than-traditional repertoire, opening up with an electric guitar-laden dance and only stopping to catch their breath after a few songs, opting for a time for power rather than speed. Even then though, there's energy oozing from the music. This is really the focus of
Tummel's sound: tummel is a Yiddish word for noisemakers and rabble rousers, in essence, and that is exactly what
Tummel portrays itself as. Being Swedish and non-Jewish, the love is for the music entirely and with only passing references to the old traditions. As with much of revival klezmer, there's iconoclasm galore here, but there's more than that. These folks aren't breaking the rules just to be breaking them, but instead are breaking them solely to increase the grooves, the beats, the shrieks, and the raw power of the music. Definitely worth listening to, by klezmer aficionados and newcomers alike. ~ Adam Greenberg