40th Anniversary Album
SONGS FROM THE ALBUM
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UN DU AKERST (AND YOU PLOW)
FEATURING LA MANGA AND LAVENDER LIGHT GOSPEL CHOIR
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DEPORTEE PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS
FEATURING SOFIA REI
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FEATURED VIDEO
The Klezmatics featuring La Manga and Lavender Light Gospel Choir - Un Du Akerst (And You Plow)
The Klezmatics featuring La Manga and Lavender Light Gospel Choir - Un Du Akerst (And You Plow)
The Klezmatics at 40: A Mini-Documentary on Four Decades of Music and the Celebration Ahead
The Klezmatics at 40: A Mini-Documentary on Four Decades of Music and the Celebration Ahead
ABOUT THE ALBUM
The Klezmatics announce new album We Were Made For These Times
The Grammy-winning Yiddish band The Klezmatics announce their new album We Were Made For These Times, arriving May 1.
Produced by Grammy-winner Danny Blume, the album serves as a powerful 40th-anniversary statement from the band — a sweeping, cross-cultural collaboration rooted in protest, resilience, spiritual endurance, and radical joy.
Across twelve tracks, We Were Made For These Times explores migration, labor, war, belonging, and collective responsibility. The music brings together Jewish song traditions with Black gospel, Latin American rhythms, avant-jazz improvisation, and global roots influences — forming a vibrant musical language of solidarity.
The album features an extraordinary lineup of collaborators including Sofía Rei, Joshua Nelson, Lavender Light Gospel Choir, Enver İzmaylov, William Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Janis Siegel, and the Colombian percussion collective La Manga.
As Frank London, trumpeter and co-founder of The Klezmatics, explains:
“This is quintessential Klezmatics: social justice Yiddish music rooted in our history, with a universal message. The album brings together our passion for singing songs that can help make the world better with our love of collaborating across traditions.”
Lorin Sklamberg, co-founder and vocalist of the band, adds:
“These songs remind us that protest music is also music of hope — a way of bringing people together across communities, cultures, and generations.”
Among the voices featured on the album, Lavender Light Gospel Choir describes the collaboration as:
“Music that holds both testimony and vision. It captures the urgency of this moment while grounding us in ancestral strength.”
Argentine vocalist Sofía Rei reflects on the project’s spirit of collaboration:
“Projects like this remind us how music allows traditions to meet and transform one another. It’s a powerful expression of solidarity.”
The first glimpse of the album arrives with the single “Un Du Akerst,” a Yiddish workers’ anthem featuring La Manga and Lavender Light Gospel Choir, setting the tone for the record’s themes of dignity, solidarity, and collective power.
Released globally on May 1 — International Workers’ Day, We Were Made For These Times continues The Klezmatics’ four-decade journey of transforming klezmer from a preserved tradition into a living, evolving musical language.
The album will be released by Shamus Records in the United States and Canada, and by Asphalt Tango Records in the rest of the world.
Watch the video for “Un Du Akerst.”
Listen on all streaming platforms.
Pre-save the album We Were Made For These Times (out May 1).
THE KLEZMATICS
Lisa Gutkin: violin and vocals
Matt Darriau: clarinet, alto saxophone, kaval and vocals
Frank London: trumpet, piano, organ and vocals
Lorin Sklamberg: lead vocals, background vocals, accordions, guitar and piano
Paul Morrissett: bass, tsimbl and vocals
Richie Barshay: drums, percussion and vocals
SPECIAL GUESTS
SOFIA REI, vocals
JANIS SIEGEL, vocals
ENVER İZMAYLOV, guitars
LA MANGA, percussion and voices
Daniela Serna, tambor alegre and coros
Katherine Ocampo, tambora and coros
Andrea Chavarro, maracas and lead vocals
Lina Silva, guacharaca, guasá and lead vocals
LAVENDER LIGHT GOSPEL CHOIR
Eric Williamson, Artistic Director
Toni Campbell, Maria-Elena Grant, Linda La, Adanna Morgan, Ursula “Zuli” Campos-Gatjens, Miehrit “Mercy” Kassa, Karla McNeal, Briony Price, Caco Skol, Brandon Boulton, Austin Bowen, Denise “Mistah” Coles, Wesley Ferreira, Justin Rivera, Eli Hartenstein Cox, Robert DeCaul, Angelo Gonzalez, Kyle Jack, JBLAZN and Max Rodriguez
JOSHUA NELSON, vocals, piano and organ
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS, tenor saxophone
WILLIAM PARKER, bass
ROMAN LAJARA, tres
DANNY BLUME, guitar and dobro
Produced, engineered and mixed by Danny Blume
Recorded at Kaleidoscope Sound, Union City, NJ,
September 17-20, 2025. Jeremy Delaney, Assistant Engineer
Overdubs and mixing at Hidden Quarry, Woodstock, NY, October 2025-January 2026
Enver İzmaylov session recorded by Will Bryant at The Building, Marlboro, NY, June 16, 2025
Janis Siegel recorded by David Darlington at Bass Hit Recording, NYC, October 8, 2025
Mastered by Alan Silverman, Arf! Mastering, NYC
Executive producers:
Marsha Gildin for “We Were Made for These Times”
Juan Mesa-Freydell for “Un du Akerst”
The Klezmatics thank the generous sponsors and donors who made this album possible.
Art concept and design by Ann Nikolaienko, Aleksei Sokolov and Ilya Sokolov
“Antifa Yadayim” emblem and Yads by Leila Wice, multi-media artist.
The Klezmatics are managed by Ilya Sokolov, Roots and Chords Music
🌟 Featured Guest Artists
🎤 La Manga
Afro-Colombian Vocal & Percussion Collective
La Manga is a women-led powerhouse from Colombia’s Caribbean coast, blending traditional rhythms with protest and poetry. Their fierce, grounded energy brings a powerful cross-cultural dimension to the album.
🎤 Joshua Nelson
The King of Kosher Gospel
Joshua Nelson fuses Black gospel soul with Jewish liturgy in a style that is wholly his own. Joyful, soulful, and powerful—he brings deep emotion and spiritual fire to this collaboration.
🎤 Lavender Light Gospel Choir
NYC’s Black LGBTQ+ Gospel Choir
Lavender Light has uplifted generations with their rich harmonies, spiritual depth, and legacy of pride and protest. Their voices bring sacred power to The New York Sessions.
🎤 Janis Siegel
Grammy-winning jazz vocalist
Janis Siegel is a Grammy-winning American jazz and pop singer, best known as a longtime member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Renowned for her rich tone and versatility, she has also built a successful solo career, collaborating with top jazz musicians worldwide.
🎤 William Parker
A towering figure in avant-garde and spiritual jazz.
William Parker has spent decades reshaping the language of improvisation. His grounding presence, fearless creativity, and deep sense of purpose add powerful resonance to this collaboration.
Together with Frank London, they appear on the album’s opening track, “Elegy for the Innocents.”
🎤 Sofía Rei
Argentine Experimental Folk Vocalist
Sofía Rei blends South American folk, avant-garde jazz, and modern electronics into a dynamic and expressive sound. Her voice brings power, range, and unexpected magic to the music.
🎤 Danny Blume
Grammy-winning producer.
Danny Blume returns to The Klezmatics 20 years after co-producing Wonder Wheel, the only Klezmer album to ever win a Grammy. A versatile musician and sonic storyteller, Danny has toured and recorded with artists like Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Iggy Pop, Jewel, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Lisa Loeb. From his custom-built studio in Woodstock, NY, he brings decades of genre-crossing experience, deep musicality, and fearless creativity to We Were Made for These Times.
🎸 Enver Izmaylov
Crimean Tatar Guitar Virtuoso
Enver Izmaylov’s signature two-handed tapping technique fuses jazz improvisation with Eastern European and Turkic musical traditions. His playing bridges cultures with every phrase.
🎤 James Brandon Lewis
A leading voice in contemporary jazz.
James Brandon Lewis is known for his deeply expressive tenor saxophone sound that bridges free improvisation with gospel, hip-hop, and avant-garde traditions. His playing channels both urgency and spiritual depth, bringing raw emotion to this project.