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Frank London

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Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars playing in Warsaw in September 2011

Frank London (born 1958 in New York[1]) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music.

Early life

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London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in Plainview, New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourth grade.[1][2]

Career

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London received a B.A. in Afro-American music from the New England Conservatory in 1980.[3] He is on the music faculty of the State University of New York at Purchase. He is a member of The Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, and leads Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars.[2] He was a co-founder of Les Misérables Brass Band[2] and original member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band.[4] He served as conductor and music director for David Byrne and Robert Wilson's The Knee Plays[5] and has collaborated with the Palestinian American violinist Simon Shaheen.[6]

He has worked with Chava Alberstein, Lester Bowie, John Cale, Gal Costa, Ben Folds Five, Avraham Fried, Allen Ginsberg, Anne LeBaron, LL Cool J,[2] Luna, Maurice El Mediouni, Natalie Merchant, David Murray, Itzhak Perlman,[2] Iggy Pop, Jerome Rothenberg,[7] Marc Ribot, Jane Siberry, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, They Might Be Giants, Mel Tormé,[2] Reggie Workman, La Monte Young, Lev Zhurbin, and John Zorn.

Discography

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As leader

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  • Glass House Orchestra – Astro-Hungarian Jewish Music
  • Invocations (cantorial music)
  • Hazonos (cantorial music)
  • "Scientist at Work" (produced by John Zorn)

Frank London with Lorin Sklamberg (Klezmatics singer):

  • Nigunim (Jewish mystical songs)
  • The Zmiros Project (Shabbes songs)
  • tsuker-zis (holiday songs, featuring Knox Chandler, Ara Dinkjian & Deep Singh)

Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars:

  • Di Shikere Kapelye
  • Brotherhood of Brass
  • Carnival Conspiracy
  • Chronika

The Shekhina Big Band:

  • The Shekhina Big Band

Film and theater music:

  • The Debt (film and theater music)

Soundtracks:

Hasidic New Wave:

  • "Jews & The Abstract Truth"
  • "Psycho-Semitic"
  • "Kabalogy"
  • "Live In Krakow" (on Not Two records)
  • "From The Belly of Abraham"

With Jon Madof's Zion80

With Auktyon

Compositions

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London has composed numerous works for theater, dance, and film, and is the recipient of several Meet the Composer grants. Some of his major works include the folk opera A Night in the Old Marketplace (based on Y. L. Peretz's Bay nakht oyfn altn mark); Davenen, a dance for the Pilobolus Dance Theatre and the Klezmatics;[8] 48 Great Small Works' The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln,[9] and Min Tanaka's Romance. In 2011, A Night in the Old Marketplace was workshopped and premiered at MassMOCA.[10]

He has also composed music for films, including John Sayles' The Brother from Another Planet[11] (1984) and Men With Guns (1997), Yvonne Rainer's Murder and Murder, the Czech-American Marionette Theater's Golem, and Tamar Rogoff's Ivye Project.[12]

Other activities

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He has been featured on HBO's Sex and the City soundtrack, at the North Sea Jazz Festival, and at the Lincoln Center Summer Festival.[12] He attends various workshops throughout the year, including KlezKanada of Montreal, where he teaches aspiring musicians the art of klezmer music.[13] He has taught Jewish music in Canada, Crimea,[14] and the Catskills and is Artistic Director of KlezFest London in London, England.[15]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Frank London's Oral History". www.yiddishbookcenter.org. Yiddish Book Center. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Steve (May 29, 2024). "A Celebration of Frank London's Music Will Be Missing One Thing: Him". The New York Times. ProQuest 3060981233.
  3. ^ Semerciyan, Katia L. (March 12, 2010). "Passover with a Klezmatic twist". Jewish Advocate. Boston. p. 21. ProQuest 205269908.
  4. ^ Anklewicz, Mike (2012). "Extending the Tradition: KlezKanada, KlezmerTradition and Hybridity". MUSICultures. 39 (2). Calgary: 83–102. ProQuest 1412863649.
  5. ^ Gussow, Mel (December 4, 1986). "Stage: Wilson's 'Knee Plays' at Alice Tully Hall: [Review]". New York Times. p. C25. ProQuest 426375207.
  6. ^ Gehr, Richard (February 13, 1993). "A Unique Rhythmic Union". Newsday. Long Island, N.Y. p. 23. ProQuest 278579317.
  7. ^ "Jewish Art for the New Millennium: Avant-Garde Poetry, Music and Politics". 25 August 2011.
  8. ^ Goldman, Phyllis (August 2–8, 2002). "Pilobolus Dance Theatre: Program B". Back Stage. 43 (31). New York. ProQuest 221127003.
  9. ^ van Gelder, Lawrence (February 1, 2000). "Motherly Advice in Yiddish With Historical Asides: [Review]". New York Times. p. E5. ProQuest 431375993.
  10. ^ Seven, John (January 21, 2011). "100-year-old play gets one more shot". North Adams Transcript. ProQuest 845807381.
  11. ^ Blangger, Tim (March 1, 1996). "Klezmatics Attuned to Traditional and Modern". Morning Call. p. D01. ProQuest 392784690.
  12. ^ a b "Frank London". www.allaboutjazz.com. 9 February 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  13. ^ Rowe, Jeri (August 20, 2015). "Finding his calling in Klezmer music". News and Record.
  14. ^ Kamins, Richard (September 28, 2000). "Wesleyan Program Evokes Memories of Jewish Ghettos". Hartford Courant.
  15. ^ Broughton, Simon (July 14, 2005). "Jewish spirit conquers kitsch title". Evening Standard.
  16. ^ "Artist: Frank London". www.grammy.com. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
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