Andy Statman is a noted Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 clarinetist and bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

/newgrass mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

ist.

Andy Statman was born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He first gained acclaim as a mandolinist in pioneering bluegrass bands Country Cookin' and Breakfast Special. Statman, who grew up in a traditional but secular Jewish home, began to explore his Jewish roots. He turned to Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 music, traditional Eastern European Jewish instrumental music. Now playing clarinet, he recorded various albums that were highly influential in the Klezmer revival that began in the late 70s. Soon, he began playing Chassidic melodies, fusing bluegrass, klezmer, and jazz along the way.

Statman learned Klezmer clarinet from legendary Klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras

Dave Tarras

Dave Tarras was possibly the most famous 20th century klezmer musician. He is known for his long career and his very skilled clarinet playing.-Biography:...

, who bequeathed several of his clarinets to him. Statman also produced Dave Tarras's last recording. Given this apprenticeship and his subsequent teaching at workshops such as KlezKamp

KlezKamp

KlezKamp is a yearly Klezmer music and Yiddish culture festival which takes place in late December in New York State. Founded in 1984, participants come from all over the world, but especially the East Coast of the United States and Canada, for a week of immersion in the culture and the chance to...

 as well as privately, Statman has become the dean of living Klezmer clarinetists.

The Andy Statman Trio, which includes bassist Jim Whitney and percussionist Larry Eagle, plays regularly at Derech Amuno Synagogue in Greenwich Village in New York City, and tours nationally as schedules allow.

In 1983, he performed on the Antilles Records

Antilles Records

Antilles Records was an American record label that was a subsidiary of Island Records.Its jazz catalog is now managed by Verve Records.-Discography:*1001 Joanne Brackeen - Special Identity 1981*1002 Biréli Lagrène- Routes To Django 1980...

 release Swingrass '83

Swingrass '83

Swingrass '83 was a jazz and folk music ensemble which recorded one eponymous album for Antilles Records.Members Andy Statman, Richard Greene, Marty Crystal, Peter Ivers, Fred Tackett, Peter Erskine and Buell Neidlinger crafted the album in studio but with no overdubbing.The album consists of...

.

He has participated in a yearly Klezmer concert series with Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...

 and other Klezmer superstars.

In 2007, he was a Grammy Awards nominee in the Country Instrumental category for his version of Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

's "Rawhide" on Shefa CD "East Flatbush Blues."

In 2008, Statman appeared as a guest on Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...

 holiday album Jingle All the Way, playing both clarinet and mandolin. The album won Best Pop Instrumental Album at the 51st Grammy Awards. He joined the group in concert on December 10 at University at Buffalo, Center for the Arts, and December 16 at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center.

"Old Brooklyn," his latest recording project, was released in October 2011 on Shefa Records. This double CD features the American roots, R&B, Chassidic and other sides of his music, performed with his trio, Jim Whitney on bass and Larry Eagle on drums and percussion, along with fiddler Byron Berline

Byron Berline

Byron Berline is an American fiddle player.-Biography:Berline started playing the fiddle at age five and quickly developed a talent for it. In 1965, he recorded the album Pickin' and Fiddlin with the Dillards...

 and guitarist Jon Sholle

Jon Sholle

Jon Sholle, born April 2, 1949 in New York City, is an American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and musician who plays mainly jazz, bluegrass, rock, country, roots music, and folk music.-As musician:...

. Guest artists include Ricky Skaggs

Ricky Skaggs

Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...

, Béla Fleck

Béla Fleck

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

, Paul Shaffer

Paul Shaffer

Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...

, Bruce Molsky

Bruce Molsky

Bruce C. Molsky is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region.Molsky was born in 1955 at New York Infirmary in Manhattan, and grew up in The Bronx...

, Art Baron

Art Baron

Art Baron is an American jazz trombonist. He also plays didgeridoo, conch shell, penny-whistle, alto and bass recorder, and tuba.Baron is an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music...

, Marty Rifkin, Bob Jones, Lew Soloff

Lew Soloff

Lew Soloff is a jazz trumpeter, composer and actor. He studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. He is likely best known for his work with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1968 to 1973...

, Kristen Muller and John Goodman

John Goodman

John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...

.

Personal information

Andy Statman is married to the former Barbara Soloway, an artist and teacher. They have four children and six grandchildren. Andy is a baal teshuvah.

Discography

• 1979 Jewish Klezmer Music
• 1980 Flatbush Waltz
• 1983 Mandolin Abstractions
  Mandolin Abstractions
  Mandolin Abstractions is an album by American musicians David Grisman and Andy Statman, released in 1983.Additional tracks on the CD reissue included "Japanese Sunrise", "Blackie and Sunburst", "Crosby, Stills and Nash", "Song of the Dawg" and "Ballad of Ouzo".- Track listing :All compositions by...
  
  
• 1985 New Acoustic Music
• 1986 Nashville Mornings, New York Nights
• 1988 Rounder Bluegrass, Vol. 2
• 1992 Andy Statman Klezmer Orchestra
• 1994 Klezmer Suite
• 1994 Andy's Ramble
• 1995 Acoustic Disc: 100% Handmade Music, Vol. 2
• 1995 Doyres (Generations): Traditional Klezmer Recordings, 1979-1994
• 1995 Songs of Our Fathers
• 1995 Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics & Other American Heroes
• 1996 American Fogies, Vol. 1
• 1996 Blue Ribbon Fiddle
• 1996 Klezmer Music: A Marriage of Heaven & Earth
• 1996 Rounder Bluegrass Guitar
• 1997 Between Heaven & Earth: Music of the Jewish Mystics
• 1998 The Hidden Light
• 1998 Holiday Tradition
• 1998 The Soul of Klezmer
• 2000 Klezmer: From Old World To Our World
• 2001 Bluegrass Mountain Style
• 2001 New York City: Global Beat of the Boroughs - Music From New York City's Ethnic....
• 2004 Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge
• 2005 On Air
• 2005 Avodas Halevi
• 2006 East Flatbush Blues
• 2006 Awakening from Above
• 2011 Old Brooklyn

External links

• andystatman.org
• Handler, Judd. Andy Statman's musical soul (retrieved January 27, 2010)
• Andy Statman. Clarinet Klezmer between heaven and earth (retrieved January 27, 2010)