Masters of Synthesis

By Tom D’Antoni special for The Oregonian

One of the jobs of the( often justifiably reviled) individual writing a review is to describe the music. Lucky is the writer who finds such a description included in the lyrics of the album in question.
To wit: as artistic director Eric Stern sings on “Welcome to the Opera” the second track on their new album: ” Vagabond Opera plays original bohemian cabaret, Weimar,Bulgarian provos, Romany, Russian waltzes, Ellingtonian jazz, classical Arabic and boisterous klezmer,one Flemish Ballad here, a Macedonian beranche there, but wait! we also play songs that are slow and dulcet and beautiful.”
There are also music and lyrics from Verdi’s ” Traviata” in that tune. They did not include the Raymond Scott, Monnot, Brell, or Tom Waits tunes, and perhaps forgot to mention that while they may play all of those styles, most of the music is original.
The new album ” The Zeitgeist Beckons”, produced by cellist Skip Von Kuske, with an appearance by violinist Bela Balogh and the Portland Cello project, purports to be the story of a Kabbarista, Or a cabaret performer, through Europe. In fact, the story and the albums elaborate design were created after the songs had been recorded.
Stern believes that the beckoning zeitgeist is musical, A “sea change away from that insipid vapidness to something a little more complex and enriching.” But if the word defines the cultural and political climate of a particular era, the Vagabond Opera may have stumbled upon the connection between that of times past, in which the album is set, and the present era, “the despair and poverty of an empire in tatters” and the art that results from it.
On some levels the album is arch and campy and silly. And that’s part of it’s charm. The writing, the musicianship, and vocals take it to a higher level. The members of Vagabond Opera are masters of combining cultural eras, styles and attitudes, and this album finds them at the top of their game.