Performers' Index O
Octava
"Octava" is an Israeli vocal ensemble with 12 amateur singers. Located at Haifa, Israel. Repertoire includes various types of music, classical, Folklore, Jazz and light music.
http://www.geocities.com/octavaensemble/index.htm
Odessa Klezmer Orchestra
A group operating in the New Jersey area. Website has contact information and brief bios on the performers, Mark Kapner, clarinet; Ed Goldberg, accordian; and Barbara Goldberg, percussion.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/8662/
Esther Ofarim
The website has information on over 40 years of the career of Esther Ofarim, one of Israel's premier singers. Esther Ofarim was a sensation in the 1960s and 70s. She stopped concertizing for over a decade, but has since returned to the stage. She started singing in the Israëli National Theatre “Habimah”. She met, and later married, Abraham (Abi) Reichstat. After touring and recording widely in Europe and the US, winning several prizes as a duo, they later divorced. Esther continued on a solo career on the stage and on television, eventually moving back to Israel. Today she concertizes in Germany and in Israel, often accompanied by Yoni Rechter, piano. She is still remembered for winning the Israel Song Festival in 1961 with 2 songs. The website has some nice photos, reviews, and discography with sound bites.
http://www.estherofarim.com/
oi-va-voi
"Oi-Va-Voi represent the cutting edge of new wave klezmer. Their unique sound infuses the traditional music of Sephardi Jews, Transylvanian gypsies
and the Ashkenazi shtetl with the dub and breakbeats of urban London. Odessan freylekhs, Yemeni devotionals and Macedonian wedding tunes explode
effortlessly into drum and bass driven tracks.
Hip young Londoners, Oi-Va-Voi are the subject of a recent international documentary film showcasing the best of contemporary British culture. They have recorded original music for film, theatre and BBC2's South Bank Show. The eclecticism of their music means klezmer Voi-style is not a musical
sacrament played only in hushed auditoriums. Oi-Va-Voi's musical wanderings have taken the spirit of klezmer to club nights in Amsterdam, to New York's avant-garde jazz scene, to Robert Wyatt's Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall and to Antwerp International Festival of Jewish Music." Contact:INFO or bookings
oi-va-voi.com
The Original Klezmer Ensemble
Vanja Cvelbar has a band, The Original Klezmer Ensemble, in Trieste, Italy, that has released two CD's: Klezmatic Tantz and Halleluja. Contact information on the website.
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/173/the_original_klezmer_ensem.html