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The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band

The Premiere Jewish Music & Cultural Experience

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band has charmed audiences from Carnegie Hall to the Barbican Centre in London with their unique Klezmer Big Band sound. Classical sophistication crossed with theatrical fun meet in a world-class performance filled with joy, soul, and good humor.   

 

  • Chicago's original Klezmer revival band since 1983

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  • Master musicians and engaging entertainers

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  • Programs tailored to audiences of all ages and backgrounds

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"Thank you for one of the very best parties I've ever been to. Your band is the best!" (Inauguration Ball)

-Jan Schakowsky, 9th District,

Illinois U.S. Congress, Washington D.C.

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"It was wonderful to hear Chicago's Maxwell Street Klezmer Band cut loose so exuberantly…(they) brought the audience to its feet, cheering its approval."

-John von Rhein, Music Critic,

Chicago Tribune, Review of Klezmer

Rhapsody, Chicago Symphony Center

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band is named for Chicago's Maxwell Street, which was famous at the turn of the 20th century for its open-air Sunday marketplace crowded with Jewish pushcart peddlers--an institution which has survived in the hands of fresh waves of immigration. The band takes its musical ingenuity and sense of humor from the spirit of Chicago's early immigrants.

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In the years since its creation in 1983, Maxwell Street has become the Midwest's most popular klezmer band, touring seven times in Europe and performing throughout the U.S., including Carnegie Hall.

 

Audiences of all backgrounds have been delighted by Maxwell Street's high-energy performances that glow with warmth and humor. 

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Photo by David Sutton

According to Theodore Bikel, "These are fine musicians...they care about the music.  And when they care--I care!"

See the band in action. Maxwell Street Klezmer Band has been spreading the "Joy of Klez" in the U.S. and Europe since 1983.

Rabbi Joe Black and Maxwell Street Klezmer Band play at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Read a review of the concert here.

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For more information, email maxwellstreetband@gmail.com or call (847) 675-4800.

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