Naftule Brandwein

b : 1884 in Przemyslany, Galicia (now Ukraine) d : 1963 in USA Clarinet player and probably on the most influential musician in the history of klezmer music. In 1908 he emigrated to the USA where he became a star of the 78 rpm record era, as the (selfproclaimed) "King of Jewish Music". Brandwein possessed a talent for seemingly endless and subtle rythmic and melodic variation on his C melody Albert clarinet, and his recordings belong to the best of the entire klezmer genre. Although he made his last recording in 1941, Brandwein continued to perform at weddings and other simkhes in New York, as well as at hotels in the Catskills until shortly before his death in 1963.