Abraham Inc.

with Fred Wesley, David Krakauer and Socalled

 

"Krakauer is connected with something deep, mysterious, and timeless.  It's as ancient as the sound of the Shofar...as penetrating as the sound of his clarinet hero Sidney Bechet, yet as modern as the post-Trane/Dolphy school of improvising that is lapped up by young hipsters at Downtown venues...you've got one extremely gifted, amazingly versatile, and uncommonly open-minded virtuoso, willing and able to go anywhere with his clarinet..." – Bill Kilkowski, Jazziz

“Fred is one of the greatest writers and arrangers of funk music on planet earth and from the very beginning he has been an integral part in defining the funk sound.” – Peter Madsen, AllAboutJazz.com

With ABRAHAM INC. klezmer clarinet virtuoso DAVID KRAKAUER collaborates with one of the great masters of funk, trombonist FRED WESLEY (known for his work with James Brown, Bootsy Collins and Parliament Funkadelic), and beat architect SOCALLED. Add a three-piece horn section led by Wesley and members of Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness! band and the result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party! A sold out concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in December 2006 marked the first step in this collaborative venture which was also a hit at Transmusical de Rennes – one of the largest rock festivals in Europe, where it met with a resounding response from the crowds and a rave review in Le Monde. Abraham Inc. then brought down the house at the historic Apollo Theater in May 2008 with a performance that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. U.S. tour and CD release coming soon!

Artist Statement by David Krakauer:
Ever since I formed Klezmer Madness! in the mid 1990's I've been exploring the possibilities of adding funk, jazz and lately hip-hop influences to klezmer. Improvisation has always been a part of my musical landscape, but it was my embracing of klezmer music in my early 30's that gave me the opportunity to create my own style of improvising and composing within (and under the umbrella of ) the music of my own Eastern European Jewish cultural heritage.

...an all-out klezmer-funk dance party!

These explorations logically led me to my collaboration with Socalled, a kindred spirit in the search for that magic place where a combination of klezmer, funk, jazz and hip-hop can find a commonality of ecstatic trance. In a conversation with Socalled somewhere on the road in Europe in late 2005, the name Fred Wesley came up. Fred of course is world renowned as one of the great masters of funk through his amazing trombone playing and arranging with the likes of James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Parliament Funkadelic etc., etc . I felt that collaborating with Fred would be a tremendous (and logical) next step in this musical journey that I've been on for the last ten years. Much to my delight, Mr. Wesley accepted the proposal to join this path of musical exploration. -David Krakauer