‘We hope it brings our community a lot of joy’
The album ranges from funked up takes on traditional Yiddish dance tunes to klezmerified Britney Spears, soulful jazz to reggae and samba, Fiddler on the Roof to Mozart.
Australian Jewish klezmer fusion band Chutney will launch its debut album Ajar at Sydney’s The Great Club in Marrickville on March 7. Ajar is a compilation of Chutney’s best 13 tracks, featuring originals and fresh arrangements of classics honed over a hundred shows over the past four years.
The album ranges from funked up takes on traditional Yiddish dance tunes to klezmerified Britney Spears, soulful jazz to reggae and samba, Fiddler on the Roof to Mozart.
The album also features award-winning lead singer of The Potbelleez, Ilan Kidron, musical theatre star Doron Chester (performing in Opera Australia’s West Side Story), and the Israeli ballad Kama At Yafa with soul singer Sarit Michael. Chutney released the song two months after the October 7 massacre in solidarity with Israelis, and its music video has been viewed over 400,000 times on social media platforms.
Speaking to The AJN about Ajar, band leader Ben Adler said, “This album is of the community, literally made possible by generous members of the community, and created for the enjoyment of the community. With 13 tracks totalling over an hour of music, we believe Ajar is the biggest album of Jewish music to hit Sydney and perhaps Australia for 20 years. We hope it brings our community a lot of joy and nachas, nationally and internationally.”
Regarding the inspiration for the album, Adler said, “Everywhere we’ve gone, people have asked us whether we’re on Spotify, where can they buy our album? We were compelled to sheepishly mumble ‘not yet’ until we ultimately took heed of Rabbi Hillel – if not now, when? Additionally, the more we toured, the more we recognised Chutney’s capacity for positive and powerful inter-communal bridge-building: we are many Australians’ first experience of Jews and Jewish culture. An album was a non-negotiable step to enable us to broaden that outreach.”
On how the October 7 massacre has impacted the band, Adler said, “We made a very conscious decision within 48 hours of October 7 to ‘out’ ourselves as a Zionist band.
“We postponed a big public show scheduled for October 12 in Marrickville and pivoted to serving the emotional and spiritual needs of our community.”
Chutney has played at community vigils and synagogues including at the Never Again is Now rally on February 18.
Adler was also personally impacted, having been doxxed as part of the WhatsApp group of Jewish creatives who had their conversation leaked online.
As to how he has coped with this, Adler said, “From my perspective, I was surprised to have had my photo shared publicly but honoured to be considered among the most Zionist Jewish artists in Australia. I am ready to defend every word that I have written publicly and in the Jewish artists’ WhatsApp chat.
“I will neither retreat nor apologise, and invite our detractors to bring it on.”
Chutney will play in Melbourne on April 4 at the Kadimah Theatre, at CresFest in Creswick on April 6-7, Canberra on April 8 and in the Albury-Wodonga area on April 3. To pre-order the album and for tickets: chutneyband.com
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