Vocalist Anthony Russell, in collaboration with acclaimed klezmer consort Veretski Pass (Joshua Horowitz, Cookie Segelstein and Stuart Brotman), set out to create a new musical idiom by combining two distinct older ones: African American spirituals and the music of Jewish Eastern Europe.

Drawing from a diverse collection of folksongs, anthems, lullabies, art and religious music, Convergence mobilizes an array of historic genres to evoke a multi-diasporic sound. Early blues, Hungarian and Bessarabian klezmer, “old time” fiddle music, synagogue tunes and contemporary classical music combine to create a repertoire of songs authentically inhabiting the sounds and histories of two traditions.

Audio CD