Current Press Release

JACKSON – Let infectious rhythms and melodies transport you joyfully around the world, when Ed Goldberg and the Odessa Klezmer Band entertain at the Ocean County Library Jackson Branch, 7 PM Tuesday, October 25.

The evening will be filled with polkas, czardas, Ladino tunes, and dance tunes with roots in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, shaped in nations such as Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, and Spain, and popularized in New York’s Lower East Side.

The New Jersey band is a fan favorite at Ocean County’s annual “Carousel of Music,” and has released more than 160 recordings of Klezmer, Israeli, Polish, Ukrainian, and country music, many of which can be heard at www.odessaklezmer.com.

In addition to performing throughout the US, “we were invited by the Israeli government to play all over Israel several years ago,” Ed Goldberg said. “They wanted to see how an American group plays klezmer.”

Formed in 1984, the group “was just a bunch of local guys playing local gigs,” he recalled. “As time went by, most of the band members found different situations and I became the leader. Since then, I’ve never looked back.”

Goldberg attributes his musical inspiration to his youth in the urban, ethnically diverse Elmora neighborhood of Elizabeth, NJ. “We delve into all klezmer and want the audiences to really enjoy the mixture of what we present,” he said.

Registration at www.theoceancountylibrary.org/events is required for this free program. For more information, visit the Jackson Branch, 2 Jackson Drive, or call (732) 928-4400.

Keep up with Library programs and events at www.theoceancountylibrary.org, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, and Pinterest.

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