Mames Babegenush

History

Mames Babegenush was founded in 2004 by a group of friends with an ambition to reform the Klezmer scene in Denmark. In the beginning they mainly played at Jewish weddings, bar mitzvahs and other celebrations in Copenhagen. They soon introduced a concept they called Klezmer attack, spontaneous, unannounced concerts for unknowing audiences in public spaces, like cafés, parks, bars, or private celebrations. The band increasingly contributed to the world music scene in Denmark, enjoying great underground success within the first two years of the group's existence. In 2007 the band started to be noticed more widely and has since played literally all of Copenhagen's venues, such as Vega, Rust, Huset, Global Cph, Copenhagen Jazzhouse, Stengade 30, Pumpehuset and even the Royal Danish Theatre.

In 2008 the group was invited to participate in a workshop in New York City conducted by David Krakauer. As part of the workshop they played at the David Krakauer Young Artists Concert in Carnegie Hall. The band returned to the city later that year, where they performed for the New York Gypsy Festival and were the resident band at the legendary Mehanata Bulgarian Bar, performing 12 concerts in 16 days.

2009 saw Mames Babegenush release their first album, Klezmer Killed The Radiostar. They also performed a concert in the auditorium of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, a venue otherwise mainly used for classical concerts. They also performed at the biggest Danish showcase SPOT in Aarhus, supported the American band Gogol Bordello at Vega, played the final concert for the Copenhagen Jazzfestival (Cph Jazzhouse) and went on international tours, both back to New York City and around Argentina.

In 2010 Mames Babegenush played a long range of concerts in the DK, pumpehuset, toldkammeret, nordkraft, kulisselageret, global cph and RUST, as well as around Europe, Bucharest (yiddersher velt), Berlin (POPKOMM), Vienna (KlezMore) and Amsterdam (IJMF). The IJMF, an international music competition with 24 bands, was a big success for the band, as they were the band with the most awards: booking for the Fürth festival (in 11), the jury award for the biggest contribution to cultural bridgebuilding and the audience prize.

2011 saw the band's second album, My Heart Aches When Angels Dance, as well as many performances around Denmark and abroad. In the dk the band performed at venues and festivals including Bygningen, Vesterbro Festivalen, Stengade, Tivoli, Copenhagen Jazz House, Global Cph, Templet and a showcase for the world music fair WOMEX. Abroad, the band performed in Germany for the Klezmer Festival in Fürth and at TreibsAND in Lübeck, Bonnefooi in Belgium, the Concertgebouw and Paradiso in Amsterdam,the Groningen Synagogue in the Netherlands, and the Wiener Metropol in Vienna for the KlezMore Festival.

Members

Discography