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*** Klezmer Conservatory Band

DANCING IN THE AISLES

(Rounder)

Like klezmer itself, the Klezmer Conservatory Band has one foot in the dancehall and one foot on the pulpit. Equally at ease with vocal-based, Yiddish theater music as well as the more traditional, instrumental-based klezmer, the 11-piece band breathes new life into period pieces like Molly Picon's "Oy, S'iz Gut" ("Oh It's Good") and the traditional dance number "Miserlou," both of which showcase Judy Bressler's powerful vocals. Other standouts include mandolinist Jeff Warschauer's Middle Eastern-flavored "Meron Nign" ("Tune from Meron") and violinist Miriam Rabson's cheeky "Freylekh Fantastique," which klezmerizes the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rossini, and Mendelssohn. Bandleader Hankus Netsky unearths vintage, Yiddish-swing arrangements from klezmer's heyday in pre-war America, but it's his considerable gifts as composer ("Gimpel the Fool") and arranger ("Kol Rina") that make this top-flight repertory outfit also one of the world's great, contemporary klezmer bands.

-- Seth Rogovoy

(The Klezmer Conservatory Band performs at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden in Lincoln this Sunday, August 10, at 2 p.m.; call 876-4275 tickets.)