Brave Old World is an American and German klezmer band.[1] It formed in 1989.Members hail from the US and Germany. The Washington Post called Brave Old World "the revival's first supergroup. Every player is a virtuoso.”In 1992, the group won first prize at the International Klezmer Festival in Safed, Israel. Clarinetist Joel Rubin was a founding member.
The final[when?] members were:
- Michael Alpert (vocals, accordion, guitar, violin, percussion)
- Alan Bern (musical director, piano, accordion)
- Kurt Bjorling (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone. accordion, tsimbl)
- Stuart Brotman (double bass, tsimbl, tilinca, percussion, trombone)
- Christian Dawid (associate clarinetist)
The group's albums include
- Klezmer Music (1990; Flying Fish Records)
- Beyond the Pale (1994; Rounder Records)
- Blood Oranges (1999; Red House)
- Bless the Fire (2003, Pinnorekk Musikverlag, Germany)
- Dus Gezang Fin Geto Lodzh / Song of the Lodz Ghetto (2005; Winter and Winter)
- Hoffman's Doina (2019, Laurel Records, with solo marimbist Alex Jacobowitz) was released as a single.
The group has also been featured on two albums by violinist Itzhak Perlman.
A DVD "Brave Old World--Live In Concert" (Sun-Street Inc., Toronto, Canada) was released in 2006.