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Draft:Ben Bazyler

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Berl „Ben“ Bazyler (a.k.a. Borya, Beniek, Boris Muzikant) (1922 in Kałuszyn, Poland – 1990 in Los Angeles) was a percussionist and singer.

His father, a tavern owner, discouraged him from becoming a musician because Klezmorim enjoy a low reputation and income. At the age of eight, he played in his uncle Nusn Spiewak's (clarinetist) ensemble “Kalushiner Klezmorim” a portable tenor or small bass drum, called poyk or baraban.

Mr. Bazyler describes his early repertoire as follows:

"We played a whole world of music. First there were the melodies for the “seating of the bride” ritual for the wedding. When the party would get going we’d play the Jewish dance tunes like the freylekhs, sher, and khusidl, and also nigunim, Hassidic tunes. We also played the londres and gasn nigunim, dance tunes and processionals in 6/8 time. Then there were tunes “for the table,” for the guests to listen to and to let the musicians show off and make money: a vulekhl or a doina, some zmires, and Yiddish folk or theater songs. You had Polish dance tunes like krakowiak, oberek, na wesoło, mazur, and polonez, and of course polkas and mazurkas and waltzes. And tangos — Polish tangos were very big in the 30’s. Finally, we played Russian folk songs and popular music, and “continental” music, and American dance music. We even played famous classical pieces, like the waltz from Gounod’s Faust."[1]

At the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939 (Battle of Kałuszyn on Sept. 11), "Bazyler fled with his parents and sister to Soviet-occupied eastern Poland. After the German invasion of the U.S.S.R. in 1941, the family was deported by the Soviet government to a series of prisons and labor camps in Siberia and central Asia, where all but Bazyler died of starvation. He credits his musical ability, and more important his skills as a entertainer, with havin saved his life during this periode - performing in bands organized in the camps, he was largly able to avoid hard labor. He came into contact at that time with Soviet Jewish musicians, whose style and repertoire profundly influenced his own musical development."[2]

His daughter described to Yale Strom: Released from the Gulag in the Uzbek S.S.R. in 1946/47 Bazyler settled in Tashkent where he played in restaurant and at weddings, earning the nickname Boris Muzikant. In Tashkent Manya Bazyler (Weber), Michael and a further child were born.
He made the acquaintance of other Ukainian Jewish musicians, including violiniist Mishka Shuster (Bershad), trumpeter Petya (Peysye) Irzailevich (Zolotonosha), bassit Dodik Blinder (Gaysin) an certain Polyakov also from Gaysin. From them Bazyler assimilated the Odessa style.
In 1958 he returned to Poland moving to Łódź, wher he drove a taxi and performed with many different musicians Jewish and Polish music. Manya remembered songs as "Tumbalaika" and "My Yiddish Mama" being sung.
Then in 1964 HIAS (Hebrew Immigration Aid Society) brought the family to Minneapolis where he worked in a furniture factory and played music until they finally moved to Los Angeles in 1965. Bazyler himself was a hereditary Polish klezmer an his mother's side. In America he switched from an Orthodox to a Reform synagogue.[3] He got his barber's licence and joined the musicians union to meet younger musicians. One of his favorite groups he loved to hear sing was the "Rat Pack". At a Klezmer-Kamp he met Dave Licht.[4]

Michael Alpert conducted in-depth interviews with Ben Bazyler between 1984 and 1990, exploring many aspects of his life and work.

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Interviews on casette

References

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  1. ^ Hankus Netsky: Three Twentieth-Century Jewish Musicians from Poland: Frydman, Rosner, and Bazyler
  2. ^ Michael Alpert: American Klezmer. Its Roots and Offshoots; p. 76
  3. ^ Walter Zev Feldman: Klezmer. Music, History, and Memory; 2016, p. 182
  4. ^ Yale Strom: Shpil. The Art of Playing Klezmer; 2012, p. 77
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