They Came To Play

Goddess of Arno Rocks The House:  OK, it ain't exactly Jewish, but it is Albuquerque, and it is freylech.  In case you were wondering:  The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy, the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.  Alibi.com announced last Saturday's gig thusly:

Shake your tail feathers this Saturday [April 9th] to some traditional tunes from locales like Albania, Macedonia and Greece at Goddess of Arno’s 14th Annual Spring Balkan Dance Party. The award-winning six-piece band combines classic Balkan and Rom (Gypsy) instrumentation and singing with its own playfulness and improvisation. Think hand drums, violin, saxophone and tamboura—a funky lute—combined with guitar and electric bass. A master folk-dancer will lead traditional Balkan line dances, with a crash course for novices at the top of the party. Footwork instruction starts at 7:15 p.m., official party at 8 p.m.

The short Abq Jew version:  Ya gotta watch these videos.  Most, but not all, Goddess of Arno musicians are also members of the Nahalat Shalom Community Klezmer Band, which see.  And Beth Cohen, featured in the first video, is our leader!