Preßburger Klezmer Band

Preßburger Klezmer Band (*1995, Bratislava) is a unique musical body which has attracted quite a number of fans. It is the first Slovak band to take its inspiration from the emotive dance music of Central and Eastern Europe known as klezmer. At the same time, it is also the highest rated among similar bands within the region of the former Czechoslovakia. The band serves up an energetic musical cocktail: a charming mix of Jewish, Balkan and Oriental music, complemented by Slovak and Gipsy folk elements – all combined with a unique essence of contemporary styles, including jazz, rock, reggae and Latino. The Preßburger Klezmer Band is a well-established part of the European World music scene. Since its inception, the Preßburger Klezmer Band has performed on a variety of occasions both in Slovakia and abroad, ranging from multi-genre music festivals, and concerts in clubs and classical music halls to entertainment at balls, celebrations and company events. The band’s repertoire offers a captivating interpretation of unique and well-known songs – usually sung in Yiddish, but also in Slovak, English and Balkan languages – expressing enthralling emotion and a “music-to-dance to” quality. The actual members of the band are Samo Alexander – double-bass, lead vocals, Miro Lago – clarinet, vocals, Andrej Werner – violin, vocals, Valér Miko – piano, Jano Oriško – drums, percussion, Snežana Jović-Werner – accordion, leading vocals and Marta Potančoková – leading vocals. Preßburger Klezmer Band has released five albums ([Lajv] – 2002, Ot azoy! – 2004, Mit libe… S láskou… – 2006, Preßburger Special – 2010 and Tants mit mir – 2012) and participated in several film, theatre and other projects. The last of these albums won the prize Radio_Head Award as the best album of year 2012 in category World music & Folk. The band collaborated also with some renowned foreign musicians – for example with Polish interpreter of Jewish songs André Ochodlo on a joint project Shalom, with Armenian singer, pianist and composer Karine Sarkisjan, or with British clarinetist Merlin Shepherd. In addition, in 2008 the band started to organize concerts accompanied by the teaching of klezmer dances. The concert visitors are invited to learn basic klezmer, Balkan and other folk dances under the supervision of a dance instructor in an entertaining and natural way.