LIVE: Shtreiml @ Caffe Lena, 11/22/09

These days, when you go out to a concert you more often then not hear a cross-pollination of musical styles, regardless of genre. Jazz musicians play popular songs. Folk musicians play the blues. Blues musicians play rock. Country musicians play bluegrass. And on it goes.

The Montreal-based indie band Shtreiml plays it all – an amazing amalgam of blues, rock, folk, jazz, funk and pop with a strong klezmer and Eastern-European folk bent. Some songs are even sung in Yiddish.

The audience at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs on Sunday evening was delighted with Shtreiml, who played selections from their CDs, 2003’s “Spicy Paprikash” and 2006’s “Fenci’s Blues.”

On stage, bandleader Jason Rosenblatt either tickled the ivories or wailed on the chromatic harmonica, while his wife, trombonist Rachel Lemisch, blew be-bop, R&B and klezmer lines over the rhythm section pulse provided by drummer Thierry Arsenault and bassist Adam Stotland. Rounding out the eclectic quintet was exceptional guitarist Avi Fox Rosen, who effortlessly added rock and jazz accents to the musical mix that simply defied categorization.

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk