Odessa Klezmer Band

Ed Goldberg

Jay Dubin

Joel Pecchioli

John Lesniak

Joel Pecchioli

Dennis Ionata


Barbara Goldberg









John Lesniak


Barbara playing a Middle Eastern drum called a darbuqua.

Last night, Daddy and Kay went to visit grandma in Trenton, while Liam and I planned our "Mommy and Me" time.

Liam and I made plans to attend the live music performance by the Odessa Klezmer Band at the Burlington County Library. We were first introduced to them 2 summers ago and loved them. (Click here to see the June 28, 2008 concert photos.)

The presentation was schedule to start at 7:00 p.m., but we arrived at 6:15 to enable us to get good seats. While there was already a crowd forming, Liam and I were able to score front-row seats! Woohoo! I recall that last time we attended, we arrived at 7:00 p.m, but the library was jammed-packed. The only seats we found were all the way in the back and the kids couldn't see the musicians. We ended up sitting in the floor, by a tree, which was uncomfortable, but gave us a better view of the performance.

Last night's presentation was outstanding. Each and every musical piece was better than the next, and had me foot-dancing and toe-tapping. Liam enjoyed the lively, exotic sounds and was totally engrossed in the experience.

Anyone that knows Liam knows that Liam has a short attention span and can't sit still for long periods of time; but I have to tell you that he sat quietly (without squirming) for the entire performance. As a side note, I have to add that during the 2008 concert, Dennis played the flugel horn, which Liam adored. As a result, he wants to learn to play the flugel horn, trumpet and clarinet. Had it not been for this free performance at the library, I don't believe that Liam would have been introduced to this wonderful music genre. I do have recordings by the Klezmatics, the Barry Sisters and also listen to the Klezmer station on AOL, but somehow the experience is different when experienced live.

But I digress, I must say that all of the musicians are at the top of their game. They played cohesively and stayed on-cue while still allowing Ed to improvise at will. A mere look at their faces and at their body language would tell you that they totally love what they are doing and are truly happy to share their joy with the audience. The audience, in return, hung to each note and word, and gave them their undivided attention.

I especially loved the performance by the clarinet player, JAY DUBIN, who attends the Cleveland Institute of Music. (Wishing you much success, Jay!) He not only played the music, but was immersed and driven by it. Liam was mesmerized by him and asked me how come he kept "dancing" around. I told him, "that my son, is the love of music."

During intermission, I approached Dennis, and had a nice chat. We were then joined by John, and both graciously agreed to pose for several photos. Dennis even let Liam hold his trumpet! (These are the only posed photos of the bunch!)

Anyway, the 2 hour performance went by like a quick blur. We thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend them. I hope that they return for a concert at the library next year! I am crossing my fingers... :)

If you'd like to learn more about the Odessa Klezmer Band, or want to book them for a private performance, check them out HERE.
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Odessa Klezmer Band

Holiday Village at Smithville Park

Ebenezer's assistant.


Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. I love his accent and he was quite expressive. A good character actor.


Another painting from the Hugh Campbell exhibit. I love the brushstrokes and composition. I will certainly keep this one for future reference. I can see Spring bursting forth.

Painting from Hugh Campbell exhibit.

Liam was admiring this player's clarinet.

One of our highlights was watching the musician playing Christmas tunes, they even took requests. Liam wanted to hear Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer but they had just played that tune. Kaylie wanted to hear Grandma got Ranover by a Reindeer, which was not in their repertoire. LOL. I can't say I blame them. :) They did play an except from IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR just for me. They even asked me if the kids wanted their photos taken with them. Of course, we did!

Kaylie loved her pink Santa hat...she obviously had no trouble posing or smiling.

Liam had been hounding us for days to get him a Santa hat. Daddy took them to Grandma's house and they were both sporting new hats on their return home. He posed but wouldn't smile.

We didn't get a chance to enjoy the carriage ride, but it was cool watching it come down the street lined with antique lamposts.

Oh, isn't this bear a beaut? It was perched atop the STAR BYCICLE, which is the jewel of Eastampton.

Today we went to the Holiday Village @ Smithville Park. The weather was a lovely 49 degrees F.

Since we didn't get there at noon time we didn't get a chance to see Santa arrive in the firetruck. The place was jam-packed so we couldn't see Santa at all. A shame really as the kids really wanted to see him. We couldn't see the ballerinas do their dance routine either because it was jam packed.

Another disappointment was the horse drawn carriages. By 1:00 p.m., the line was full to capacity and they were only there for 3 hours. Bah Humbug!

The kids and I got in line for free apple cider and gingerbread cookies. They got cookies, I only got the cider, which wasn't even half a cup. We barely made it. They were complaining that they were running short on supplies.

Dasher and Prancer were caged...like animals. Needless to say, they weren't dashing or prancing around much. Liam wondered out loud how these reindeer were going to make it to the North Pole in time for xmas.

There were Christmas carolers and a presentation of "A Christmas Carol." (pict. of Ebenezer and of his assistant uploaded.) We loved it.

We also went to an art exhibit featuring the art of Hugh Campbell, an artist who was a resident of this area. He had chicken sketches! These 2 oil paintings were really captivating, though I like most of his paintings.

The kids didn't do any of the crafts either because they had run out of crafts. They had advertised the event in the local newspapers and sent notices home with all students, but weren't prepared for the onslaught of people that showed up. Maybe they'll learn from this experience and do a better job next year.

Holiday Village at Smithville Park