Red Hot Chachkas 2011 = Diana, Breck, Tony, Michael, Julie, Barb
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Julie Egger (Violin, Dance Leader, Band Manager)
...has
played the violin since the age of seven. As a teenager, she performed
with the Long Island Youth Orchestra, which traveled all over the
world playing music. She received a Bachelor of Music in Education
from Crane School of Music, where she studied with the Carnegie String
Quartet and Ruth Iogha. Julie lived for nine years in Boston, where she
performed classical, jazz, and liturgical music. She has performed with
master artists such as Stuart Brotman and Joshua
Horowitz, and was a co-founder of KlezCalifornia. She founded and performs with the Red Hot
Chachkas, as well as The Convergents, teaches
Klezmer music as well as classical and jazz to students of all ages,
conducts workshops in Klezmer music, and freelances in the Bay Area. She lives in West Marin. See JulieEgger.com or contact klezmer[at]redhotchachkas.com |
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Barbara Speed (Clarinet, Sax, Flute)
...started on piano, her father's instrument, when she was nine. Flute
soon followed, and she studied classical and baroque flute in New York
and London through her twenties. In 1979, Barbara moved to Berkeley,
took up saxophone with Kurt Bradford (former lead alto with Jimmy
Lunceford). Barbara's fascination with that era of jazz led her to the
clarinet, which she studied with Jim Russell. A gig playing a swing
suite with the Westwind International Folk Ensemble led to participation in a klezmer suite (with Tony, who later recruited Barbara to the Red Hot Chachkas). She also plays in soul-R'n'B band Juke Joint and pianist Stuart Rabinowitsh's jazz quartet Scirocco. She teaches clarinet, sax, and flute privately; contact speed[at]redhotchachkas.com.
Her husband, Fletcher Oakes, is a professional artist and photographer, who took most of the photos here.
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Tony Phillips (Mandolin)
...is a grandson of "Brooklyn's Sweetheart," child-actress-singer Flossie (Florence) Klotz. His first mandolin was a law school graduation
gift from his parents, to their subsequent and lasting regret, and he now
also plays octave mandolin, electric mandolin, mandolin-banjo, guitar,
fiddle, and whatever other stringed instruments he can buy,
borrow, or steal. He has played in several bluegrass bands, and
performs oldtime, contradance, Cajun, jazz and swing, and other
traditional American music with the Jubilee American Dance Theatre. He formed and leads the Instant Klezmer Mandolin Orchestra, and is involved behind-the-scenes in the Jewish Music Festival, KlezCalifornia, and San Francisco Festival of the Mandolins. He can be also heard playing fiddle tunes irregularly with The Improbabillies. See tophill.com
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Breck Diebel (Bass)
...holds a MA degree from San Francisco State University, BM from Berklee
College of Music in Boston, and is currently working on a teachers credential. He grew up playing guitar, and has been
playing bass since 1980. He plays standup bass and electric bass
guitar, and has performed within a wide range of musical genres,
including jazz, salsa, Cuban son, folk, rock, and Andean and Latin
American folk. Breck has taught bass at Blue Bear School of American Music in San Francisco. Breck also plays with Barb and Michael in pianist Stuart Rabinowitsh's jazz quartet Scirocco.
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Diana Strong (Accordion)
... began studying piano at age seven, and throughout young adulthood avidly practiced classical repertoire and informally composed. At the same time, she grew up surrounded with traditional folk music from all over the world, especially Balkan music, because of her family's connection to a vibrant music community and yearly music camps. In 2006 she discovered the accordion, and hasn't put it down since! Diana plays a wide range of styles including Klezmer, Balkan, Brazilian choro, Scandinavian, French musette, waltzes, swing, plus a growing repertoire of originals. The newest member of the Chachkas, she was a founding member of Babes in the Woods, plays with cellist Myra Joy as Sweet Moments of Confusion, performs with singer-songwriter (and cousin) Juliet Strong, played with Moh Alileche, and appeared in the 2009 Accordion Babes Pinup Calendar and CD. Diana also teaches at Zambaleta community world music and dance school, and private lessons. See dianastrong.webs.com or contact diana[at]redhotchachkas.com
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| Aharon Wheels Bolsta (Drums)...is the newest member of the Chachkas, joining in June 2012. The rhythms of India combine with jazz and funk, West African poly-rhythm, Balkan meters, and various Middle Eastern rhythmic traditions in his drumming, whether the instrument be the drum set, the Indian tabla, Egyptian dumbek, framedrum, shakers, Malian calebasse, vocal percussion or any of the vessels on his multifarious palette of percussive sounds. He has studied with masters of percussion from all over the world, and has played many kinds of music with many bands, see rhythmwheels.com.
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