When not booked in ballrooms or theatres, many Jewish and Latin musicians in the late 1950's sustained themselves on the Bar Mitzvah and wedding circuit.
To celebrate the rhythms of this golden era, Yale Strom and members of his band Hot Pstromi will take the audience from an East European shtetl to a swinging night club in Miami Beach and back performing “Jews and Latinos! — Jewish Music and Latin Rhythms.” The concert begins at 7 p.m., April 22 in Smith Recital Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
Band members are Duncan Moore, percussion; Gene Perry, Afro-Cuban percussion; Fred Benedetti, guitar; Irving Flores, piano; Stephanie Richards, trumpet; Jeff Pekarek, contrabass; Dan Reagan, trumpet; Lou Fanucchi, accordion; Tripp Sprague, tenor sax; Elizabeth Schwartz, vocals; and Yale Strom, violin.
Gene Perry, a staff member at SDSU, has performed and recorded a range of rhythms from calypso, reggae, salsa, samba, Afro-Cuban and African Diaspora music. His extraordinary abilities and wealth of experience have gained him fame in the San Diego and Los Angeles area.
“Jews and Latinos” includes such songs as “It's A Scream How Levine Does the Rhumba," "A Yidishe Mambo" (by Mickey Katz), "Channa from Havana."
Parking is available in Parking Structures 4 or5 on campus for $1 per hour. For more information, visit the Jewish Studies website.