Published: 3 January 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
The Berlin-based singer-songwriter and “punk-Klezmer” musician Daniel Kahn is one of the most innovative performers working with Yiddish today. A world-class singer of more traditional Yiddish fare and a brilliant songwriter in English in his own right Kahn’s unique genius lies in his self-described “tradaptations,” his translations and adaptations of songs across languages.
He, along with his friend and mentor the late Theo Bikel, is one of the few masters of creating singable English versions of Yiddish songs. Kahn is particularly adept at taking Yiddish songs from generations and even centuries past and getting them to sound like contemporary American songs. At the same time, he remains loyal to his source material, always performing the original Yiddish lyrics interspersed with his new English versions.
WATCH VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH1fERC_504
