4/5: Accordion virtuoso Geoff Berner returns with The Wedding Dance of the Widow Bride, an inspired and passionate blend of klezmer music and holy matrimony.
Geoff Berner, the world’s self-proclaimed modernizer of klezmer music, returns with his highly-anticipated follow-up to 2005’s Whiskey Rabbi. The new album, The Wedding Dance of the Widow Bride, stands out for its coherence, craftsmanship, and most of all, it’s frenetic, contagious energy.
As a writer, Berner is known for his proclivity for combining shocking, sometimes tragic and/or horrific images with moments of levity and humor. On this record, he continues to rely on this lyrical tension, but now pushes it to its logical conclusion.
He notes that klezmer music has always been associated with weddings. Therefore, Berner decided to write his own “wedding album,” where all the songs are linked to the general theme of “wondering how much of our happiness is built on the misfortune of others.”
Throughout the nine originals and one cover that appear on the disc, the music’s tone rises and falls, moving seamlessly between emotional apexes and devastating nadirs.
The album starts with a sigh from Berner, immediately followed by a hypnotic riff of “Good Luck Now,” played at break-neck speed. Here, and throughout the record, Diona Davies’s violin work is incomparable. She has a unique ability, from bar to bar, to either jump to forefront or subtly blend into the background. Either way, her rich tone and innovative improvisations would be instantly missed if absent.
Percussionist Wayne Adams, who also produced the record, shines on “Weep, Bride, Weep,” a contemporary take on the traditional “Song to Make the Bride Weep.” His minimalistic, but forceful rhythm drives this track as it creeps along, before exploding into one final manic chorus.
The record features one well-chosen cover, Berner’s take on Leonard Cohen’s “Queen Victoria.” It comes across as the chaotic, antithesis of the original. While the original is about as stripped down as one could imagine, the new klezmerized version bursts through the speakers in a tidal waves Berner’s raspy voice.
“Can’t Stay Dry,” toward the end of the album, is perhaps the record’s strongest melody. At the same time, it highlights what makes Berner’s songwriting so unique. On one hand, his songs contain social commentary on subjects as diverse as racism, materialism, and how we use history.
Nevertheless, he is able to defuse tension through his humor and through such slyly profound tracks as “Song to Reconcile.” This song, which is about uniting opposite personalities, has an infectious chorus that asks, “How we going to get them together?” Moreover, it does so in a manner that fills the listener with hope that an answer can be found.
In the end, this is the message music lovers will take away from this fantastic new work from one of Canada’s most underappreciated artists.
