Grammy-winning klezmer group The Klezmatics have announced We Were Made For These Times, their 40th-anniversary recording, scheduled for release May 1.
The lead single and video “Un Du Akerst” (“And You Plow”), is now available. It features La Manga and Lavender Light Gospel Choir. The song is inspired by Yiddish workers’ protest tradition and highlights the cross-cultural collaboration at the center of the project.
Its lyrics trace back to Jewish political and cultural philosopher Chaim Zhitlowsky and were inspired by a poem by 19th-century German revolutionary Georg Herwegh.
At its peak, the ensemble joins on the refrain: “We deserve a living wage, Let the bosses feel our rage, Unified our pow’r is great, We’ll fight until we all are free!”
Meanwhile, the video was filmed in the studio during the recording session. It captures The Klezmatics, La Manga, and Lavender Light Gospel Choir performing together.
“Thanks to Frank {London] for his new setting of this old workers anthem – I think Zhitlowsky would approve,” said band member, vocalist, accordionist, guitarist, and pianist, Lorin Sklamberg.
Lavender Light Gospel Choir added “the song holds both testimony and vision. It captures the urgency of this moment amid rising violence and national hostility toward our communities while grounding us in ancestral strength.”
Author: World Music Central News Room
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