j. Reader's Choice Awards -- Best Band for Five Years Running!

Best Klezmer Band, North Bay, First Place (2010)

The Red Hot Chachkas’ joyful and frenzied tunes have struck a chord with j. readers, earning the group a No. 1 spot. “You can’t listen to klezmer music and not want to dance,” says manager and violinist Julie Egger. The group performs at parties and lifecycle events, as well as at concerts near and far.

Best Dance Band, North Bay, First Place (2010)

The soulful tunes of the North Bay’s Red Hot Chachkas have been known to inspire feet to tap and bodies to sway. “When we play, people are having a good time and they’re joyous,” says manager and violinist Julie Egger. In 13 years, the six-person group has entertained crowds with klezmer tunes infused with jazz, rock and Latin flavors, recorded three CDs and managed to snag a Readers’ Choice award six years in a row. Whew!

j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (August 19, 2010)

Best Klezmer Band, Bay Area, First Place (2009)

Bay Area klezmer band the Red Hot Chachkas almost went by another name. “It was either that or the Seventh Inning Kvetch,” says Julie Egger of the Chachkas, “but that didn’t work out right.”

The Red Hot Chachkas have been playing klezmer for the Bay and far beyond for the past dozen years. They whip their audiences into a joyous frenzy with thumping grooves. “The stunts that people try to klezmer music are pretty wild,” Egger says. “At Chabad weddings the men do juggling, fire eating, all types of wild stuff.”

Musically, the Red Hot Chachkas can play all the traditional klezmer classics, along with a number of original songs that can be considered “klezmer fusion.” “It’s wild, it’s creative, it’s energetic — it makes you move,” Egger says.

j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (August 19, 2009)

Best Klezmer Band, San Fancisco and North Bay, First Place (2008)

In a nice score, the Red Hot Chachkas won in the Bay Area-wide categories of Favorite Klezmer Band and Favorite Dance Band. Mazel tov to Julie Egger and her band mates.

The klezmer sounds of the Red Hot Chachkas have made them a reader favorite for years, and it's no surprise that they won over fans in San Francisco and North Bay. The band has been together for 11 years, and its longevity truly makes the Chachkas special. Says Julie Egger of the Red Hot Chachkas: "Whenever we play together we have a really good time."

j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (August 14, 2008)

Best Klezmer Band, First Place (2007)

When Julie Egger (violin), Michael Arrow (drums), Tony Phillips (mandolin), Barbara Speed (clarinet), Breck Diebel (bass) and Rob Reich (accordion) get together, a “red hot” time is sure to be had by all.

Since getting started in 1999, the Red Hot Chachkas have entertained crowds with their eclectic style that is influenced by reggae, bluegrass, classical and jazz. Their new CD, coming out in the fall, is a collection of mostly original songs. If you’re not up for the new tunes, the Chachkas are always happy to play “straight klezmer,” Egger says.

Best Dance Band, First Place (2007)

What’s a party without a ton of people rocking out to vibrant tunes? The Red Hot Chachkas, j. readers’ favorite local dance band, isn’t satisfied until nearly every guest at a party is moving to the music.

“Basically we get about 90 percent of the people out dancing,” said violinist Julie Egger. How? By guilt-tripping the guests, of course. “I’m not going to start [the music] until everyone is up,” she tells them.

Red Hot parties are filled with the band’s signature array of eclectic music and dances, including polkas, waltzes, swing and salsa. They almost have every genre covered — though “I don’t think we’ve ever done hip-hop and rap,” Egger said with a laugh. “And we’ve never done the macarena.”

j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (August 10, 2007)

Best Klezmer Band, First Place (2006)

Not too many band managers can report that their congregation helped them come up with their name. But with a group like the Red Hot Chachkas, picked as the best klezmer band in the Bay Area, it’s no surprise that manager Julie Egger concocted the title on a synagogue camping trip.

“We had ‘red hot,’ and we were sitting around thinking of all these other words when we landed on ‘chachkas,’” Egger says. “I came up with a different angle to spell it – most Americans probably can’t pronounce ‘tchotchkes’!”

j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (August 4, 2006)

Klezmer Revival Feature on KQED-TV Spark*

What's going on in the Bay Area klezmer music scene and how it was revived. KQED-TV Spark* segment, featuring Prof. Martin Schwartz, KlezCalifornia and the Red Hot Chachkas. Originally broadcast on June 27, 2007.

Klezmer Podcast 26

Klezmer Podcast (27 min.) featuring Julie Egger, leader of Red Hot Chachkas.  Julie discusses forming the band; her musical background; many original songs on the album "Spice It Up!;" her association with KlezCalifornia as Co-Founder and President. We hear "Little Gouda" from the album. Originally broadcast on December 12, 2007.

"The Chachkas demonstrated that they are a top-notch musical aggregation, with just the right kind of spirit for their first B&R show. Even before the show, Julie, the bandleader and violinist, went around the room greeting people as they arrived. The people gathered seemed intrigued by the combination of instruments: the violin, plus clarinet (Barbara), drums (Michael), mandolin (Tony), and standup bass (Breck). With these instruments, they created a glorious mix of sounds, with origins in Eastern European and Klezmer music. Sultry rhythms and melodies that make you move in your chair. In fact, during one song, Julie went dancing through the crowd, inviting others to join in the fun. Also, Julie and the others take the time to talk a little about the music, giving the background and stories about the songs, which makes them even more enjoyable."

~ Kurt Huget, Producer, Bread & Roses (August 2008)

Bay Cruise (June 2007)

Special Dinner-Dance-Cruise on the San Francisco Bay, sponsored by the Peninsula Jewish Community Center, see Cruising with the Jews, klezmer style, by Dan Pine, Staff Writer, J. - the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California (June 1, 2007):

Since joining the Red Hot Chachkas five years ago, Berkeley clarinetist Barbara Speed bandies about Yiddish words with the ease of a Crown Heights resident. Of course, most of her vocabulary has to do with music.

Like "kreksin," which refers to the musical ornamentation she adds when playing her clarinet. 

"It actually means a little chirp, wail or cry," she said. "Kreksin is an attempt to recreate the cantor chanting holy texts. Even though klezmer is for the most part secular music now, religious tones have been extracted. That ecstatic communing with God is made into music."

Klezmer (and Chachkas) fans will have a chance to party hearty on June 10 at Klezmer by the Bay, a three-hour cruise for Jews with kosher-style food, great views and, of course, live klezmer. The event is co-sponsored by the Peninsula Jewish Community Center and the JCC Jewish Cultural Collaboration.

Speed can't wait for the floating gig, though she hopes any rocking and rolling they do is limited strictly to the music. "I've played on one of those boats before," she says of the upcoming performance on the Royal Prince ferry. "People can lose their equilibrium. But when you play a woodwind, you continue to breathe deeply."

Once at sea (or is it at bay?), the Red Hot Chachkas will mix it up with a combination of originals and traditional Eastern European klezmer tunes. Such mixing is standard these days for bands like hers. The klezmer band Brave Old World calls it 'new Jewish music' instead of klezmer," she said.

Still, she adds, "Even the new material will be grounded in the spirited cadences of klezmer."

Although she's not Jewish, Speed locked on to klezmer's Yiddish vibes the moment she heard it. "Klezmer is a very free music, with a lot of improvisational aspects. Musicians are attracted to the kinds of scales it has: the harmonic minor scale or the 'freygish' scale."

Speed grew up in Washington Heights, as Jewish a neighborhood as one could find in uptown Manhattan ("Whenever there was a Jewish holiday, there was only three of us in the classroom," she said). She studied classical piano and flute, but took up jazz saxophone after moving to Berkeley in 1979.

Her participation in the Westwind International Folk Ensemble exposed her to klezmer, and she promptly fell in love. It was a musical shidduch made in heaven. "I see klezmer as very much like old-style Dixieland improvisation. Dixieland had group improvisation like baroque, where everyone had an equal part and every part was interesting."

The same is true for klezmer, which is why Speed is sticking with it for the long haul. How does it feel for a non-Jew to make traditional Jewish music her stock in trade? 

"Pretty natural," she said. "I still don't know what's going on in the service, but having grown up as an ethical culturalist, I'm at home wherever. All religions are good, and people are what's important. Judaism is very people oriented, certainly around here."

Getting the Crowd Involved

Julie Egger of the Red Hot Chachkas, a Marin-based klezmer band, also knows how to surmise the situation and adjust tactics accordingly.

Sometimes she throws herself into the middle of things to get the party rolling. “Dancing works to get people involved,” she says. “We lead and teach Yiddish dancing, and bring out the limbo pole and chairs and have Yiddish music.”

For the more reticent participants, many of whom, Egger says, tend to be teenaged males, “I can dance with a water bottle on my head all the way to the floor, then I’ll pass the bottle and for the boys it’s a macho thing, ‘Oh, I can do that.’”

There’s also the “sher,” — Yiddish line dancing, Yiddish hokey pokey and other group dances such as “threading the needle” and “weaving” round the chair.

... “Klezmer music is contagious,” says Egger, who plays violin and teaches music. “We help bring Judaism to a bar or bat mitzvah and make the whole party Jewish, an extension of the service. We don’t want to offer a teenage disco party.”

... Added Egger, “the party is for everyone, not just the kids, to feel good.”

~ Steven Friedman, Correspondent, j. (the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California) (March 16, 2007)

Blurbs

• "The Red Hot Chachkas had everyone dancing, from the very young to the older members of the audience, all were up and kicking up the rug." ~ Suzanne S. (Jewish Congregation of San Geronimo Valley)
• "Bought your CD and love it! Klezmer is not part of my cultural heritage, but your music resonates so deeply in me that it feels like it's touching something very elemental. As a sometimes violinist, I'm particularly inspired by the violin parts. Thank you all for this music!" ~ Stephanie L.
• "The dance teaching is a valuable contribution and a unique offering of this band." ~ Stuart Brotman (Brave Old World & Veretski Pass)
• "The DJ played 'Avinu Malkenu' from your Family Album CD and it was a hauntingly beautiful waltz tune for our dance.  Your music is the first klezmer music that has inspired me to actually purchase the albums because I want to hear more.  Your creative talent is just amazing and I thank God for your musical gift, and I thank you for sharing it with the rest of the world!" ~ Steve A. (Seattle, WA)
• "Listening to Red Hot Chachkas -- great work music, if you like the gypsy/klezmer thing. I do. Nice to imagine dancing in the primeval woods outside the shtetl, while I'm coding financial reports. Now if someone would just invent the fully wearable computer, I could actually do both." ~ 
• Vanessa C. (San Rafael)