Habitus

by David Gutherz · 07/27/10

Chances are if I asked you to give me an example of radical Jewish culture, klezmer  and gefilte fish would not be the first things that comes to mind. For most people, these things are more or less total opposites. Indeed, John Zorn’s project Tzadik: Radical Jewish Culture project, featured in a recent exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Paris, explicitly advertises itself as “Jewish music beyond klezmer.”  Claude Berger, however, begs to differ. When he’s not pulling teeth or writing manifestos calling for an end to salaried labour, Berger runs a small Yiddish cabaret and restaurant called “The Train of Life.” Though not quite as out there as some of the “dub-Gypsy-tango-punk-thrash-neo-clash-post-post-klezmer outfits” we New Yorkers are familiar with, if you’re in Paris in search of some cholent, leftist fury, and mind-expanding jams Berger’s bistro is the place to be.

And if you’re in Brooklyn, well, there’s always another Gogol Bordello show.