{"id":2327,"date":"2012-10-01T14:33:10","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T14:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faujsa.fau.edu\/blog\/?p=2327"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:42:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:42:50","slug":"bob-berkman-nostalgia-with-a-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/bob-berkman-nostalgia-with-a-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Berkman: Nostalgia with a twist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Bob-Berkman.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"224\" height=\"319\" src=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Bob-Berkman.png\" alt=\"Photo of Bob Berkman with Player Piano Rolls and Player Piano\" class=\"wp-image-2328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Bob-Berkman.png 224w, https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Bob-Berkman-210x300.png 210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bob Berkman&#8217;s pianola brings a rich new sound to vintage early 20th century Jewish music<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first time I heard Bob Berkman&#8217;s CD, <em>Klezmerola<\/em>, I just couldn&#8217;t stop playing it. I loved the old time sound that Bob was able to achieve with his pianola. I loved the way the sound of the pianola (player piano) augmented the&nbsp; impact of the music that had once defined a generation of Jews and now was fading from memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am delighted that the <strong>Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University<\/strong> can now boast a collection of 47 Jewish songs by America&#8217;s premier pianolist, <a href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/bob-berkman\">Bob Berkman<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wrote the following review in September 2008 for the Association of Jewish Libraries. After listening to the CD many times since then, I still feel the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/album\/36894\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola.jpg\" alt=\"Klezmerola Album Cover of Player Piano Rolls by Bob Berkman\" class=\"wp-image-2336\" title=\"Klezmerola\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola.jpg 250w, https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Take an almost vanished technology (player pianos), add vintage Jewish music and stir with just a hint of ragtime and what do you get? Klezmerola! An absolutely delightful CD album that is fun, fresh and freylekh. In this album of \u201cJewish music from rare piano rolls\u201d Bob Berkman does an incredible job of bringing the music to life with a vitality achieved by actually foot-pumping an old upright player piano. The accompanying 16 page booklet provides information about each song and about the rediscovery of Jewish piano rolls. Such old familiar Yiddish songs as \u201cOdesser Bulgar,\u201d \u201cYosel,\u201d and \u201cDie Griene Cosina\u201d seem especially well-suited for Bob Berkman\u2019s pianola interpretations. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite track.&nbsp; I loved them all!&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the liner notes for his two volume CD, <em>Klezmerola at the Yiddish Theater<\/em>, Bob Berkman tells us that &#8221; Piano roll manufacturers&#8230;were eager to record and sell current hits, and for attracting immigrant Jewish customers there was no greater source than Yiddish Theater&#8230;The market was never a large one&#8230;and surviving examples are rare.&#8221; The music on these three CDs took over 35 years to assemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The piano rolls only contain notes (like sheet music). Bringing them to life with dynamics, accents, phrasing, and emotion is the work of the pianolist, the person operating the player piano. Bob Berkman&#8217;s unique talent revitalizes this vintage music, providing a generous portion of nostalgia. . . . with a twist!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob Berkman&#8217;s love affair with the pianola began in 1975 when he was hired by QRS in Buffalo, NY, the world\u2019s last remaining piano roll manufacturer. His talents brought him the opportunity to work on such films as <strong>Ragtime<\/strong>, <strong>The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas<\/strong>, and <strong>Reds <\/strong>( in cooperation with&nbsp; Stephen Sondheim). He has appeared on NPR, BBC, and CBS Sunday Morning.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"http:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola-Yiddish-theater.jpg\" alt=\"Album Cover for Klezmerola at the Yiddish Theatre Vol.1\" class=\"wp-image-2338\" title=\"Klezmerola Yiddish theater\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola-Yiddish-theater.jpg 250w, https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Klezmerola-Yiddish-theater-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Using a 1912 \u201cpush-up\u201d portable pianola, Berkman effectively turns any piano into a player piano allowing him to perform&nbsp; in venues all across America. In great demand as a speaker and performer, his unique and deeply personal work with Jewish rolls has been especially gratifying to him.&nbsp; His important discovery of George Gershwin\u2019s only Jewish piano roll and the haunting <em>A Gitte Nach<\/em>t by the obscure Samuel Perlstein are among his most treasured accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For information about how to buy recordings by Bob Berkman, please<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdbaby.com\/cd\/bobberkman2\"> <strong>click here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bob Berkman&#8217;s pianola brings a rich new sound to vintage early 20th century Jewish music The first time I heard Bob Berkman&#8217;s CD, Klezmerola, I just couldn&#8217;t stop playing it. I loved the old time sound that Bob was able to achieve with his pianola. I loved the way the sound of the pianola (player [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[737,413],"tags":[91,10,233,294,295,301],"class_list":["post-2327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collections","category-judaic-collection","tag-bob-berkman","tag-jewish-music","tag-klezmer","tag-pianola","tag-player-piano","tag-ragtime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bob Berkman: Nostalgia with a twist - Recorded Sound Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore Bob Berkman\u2019s nostalgic musical journey with a twist \u2014 historic recordings and unique stories from the Recorded Sound Archives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rsa.fau.edu\/blog\/collections\/judaic-collection\/bob-berkman-nostalgia-with-a-twist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bob Berkman: Nostalgia with a twist - 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