by MARK SLUTSKY

Formed in Toronto in the late '80s, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band have become an institution in the klezmer revival scene, having cut five albums, toured all over the place and played at several of my personal friends' bar mitzvahs. "We're always doing it," says trumpeter David Buchbinder of the bar mitzvah gigs, "because one, it's a way of keeping connected to the roots of the music, two, it's fun, and three, it pays money. All good things."

Klezmer music may have its origins in the traditional festivities of Judaism, but the last two decades have seen it resurrected in a variety of new forms, from the electric skronkiness of Naftuli's Dream to local beatmaker So Called's hip hop khasene. Though their approach isn't as extreme, the Bulgars' latest album Sweet Return features a range of interpretations of Jewish music beyond the traditional stuff you'd hear at a bar mitzvah or wedding. Jazz (in the form of a guest appearance by sax player Jane Bunnett), Arabic, improv and gospel elements seep their way into the album's stew of Eastern European influences that make up klezmer, and some of the lyrics come from works by contemporary Canadian Jewish poets. "Over the years we've gotten more and more comfortable," says Buchbinder. "The tradition has become second nature, so that how to develop the music and where to go with it has become more obvious."

Outside influences have always been incorporated into klezmer, but for Buchbinder the future direction of the music is still up in the air. "I look at my nephews, who are 11 and 16. They've grown up with the band, and with the music, so for them it's just music that is, as opposed to someone like me, for whom the music was revived. I think in a way my nephews' generation will be the ones who tell the tale, because they'll be people who've grown up with this revival, with all of the new influences, every direction that's been expressed from us to the Klezmatics to John Zorn."

At Rendez-Vous Folk! (Hotel Wyndham, 1255 Jeanne-Mance) on Saturday, Nov. 22, 8pm, $10 and the Exposed Roots showcases at Club Soda on Friday, Nov. 21, 8pm, free, and Maison de la Culture Ahuntsic-Cartierville (10300 Lajeunesse) on Saturday, Nov. 22, 1:30pm, free

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