Horse Raddish - Haskalah

HASKALAH
The name of this album is taken from the movement initiated by Moses Mendelssohn in the middle of the XVIIIth century. It evokes the Enlightment period through the filter of the Jewish identity in a modernist vision, a reformed way of thinking in search of a utopian and humanist society. A more pagan than pious vow which makes us travel in a fantasy universe, with vibrant colours and a blending of cultures. One can easily imagine disarmed super heroes, characters in search of universal or intimate love which would be interested in profane fields like literature, philosophy, music and mathematics. Result of several years of concerts where the narrative power took an important place, these universes call for a folklore of tomorrow.

Horse Raddish
In these times where the strange and foreign frightens, where the far-away no longer awakens desires, we, Horse Raddish, we graze – YES – to greedily taste nomadic music of these outcast people. Sometimes melancholic, sometimes frenzied, rich in mixed histories, love and traditions. Come and try the journey… "Don’t ask your way to someone who knows it, you risk of not getting lost" … Lifting this Hebraic saying into a manifesto, Horse Raddish moves the roots of klezmer music, and is careful to get lost on the paths where "crunchy" rock’n roll and avant-garde jazz intersect. A group of improvisers who have as their only ambition the pleasure of performing, Horse Raddish has built a solid reputation on the stage. A music of the heart which infects the body, to listen to and to dance to, whether sitting or standing.

With :
Cédric Chatelain : flute, soprano saxophone
Alexandre Leitao : accordion
Michel Schick : clarinet, bass clarinet
Michel Taïeb : electric guitar, vocals
Simon Clavel : drums
François Puyalto : electric bass

Visit Horse-Raddish’s website
Purchase the CD Haskalah
Listen to the radio podcast "Electric Yiddish : from jazz rock to punk", with Michel Schick of the band Horse Raddish