Schmaltz and Pepper were back at Walter Hall on Wednesday night as part of Toronto Summer Music.  It was a generous two hour programme featuring some of the music on their recently released CD; like “Mozart the Mensch” and “I’m Sorry Mama” plus plenty of new stuff.

The new stuff included the follow up to “Mozart the Mensch”, “The Ode to Oy” with some possibly recognisable tunes.  There was “Shofar Sho Good” in which the irrepressible Mr. Abramovitz demonstrated (sort of) how to play the clarinet without a mouthpiece.  Probably the piece that gave the audience the most shear pleasure was “Melody for a Mohel” featuring Drew Jurecka on giant snippers.  That’s just a small sample.  There was loads of good new stuff and this lot just keep churning it out so a second CD can’t be far away.

I continue to be in awe of the creativity and musicianship and sheer virtuosity of this band,  They are also just very entertaining.  My enthusiasm was clearly shared by a sold out Walter Hall on Wednesday.  Also, cool hats.

Photo credits: Lucky Tang