klezmer
/ˈklɛzmə
/noun (plural klezmorim /ˈklɛzmərɪm/) [mass noun]
1Traditional eastern European Jewish music.Used for weddings, parties, dances, just about any celebration, klezmer is Jewish roots music, an essential part of the culture....
- A classical clarinet virtuoso with Ashkenazi roots, he didn't actually start playing or listening to klezmer until the late 70's.
- His music combines songs and tunes from a wide range of musical traditions including folk, blues, reggae, Cajun, and klezmer.
1.1 [count noun] A musician who plays klezmer music.Klezmer, the traditional tooth and heel-clicking Jewish folk tunes that the travelling klezmorim used to play, has been yanked out of the ghetto and thrown on to the dancefloor....
- After graduation from Harvard, where she majored in Russian history and literature, she headed to Seattle, where she tried her hand sitting in with a local klezmer band called the Mazeltones.
- The reception kicks off with a klezmer band, and Sophie and Max are hauled up on chairs for the Jewish wedding version of musical chairs.
Origin
1920s: Yiddish, contraction of Hebrew kĕlē zemer 'musical instruments'.