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It would be easy to get sucked in by the curiosity factor of Andy Statman and just stop there. This New York Jew was born into a family of cantors back in 1945, and although he grew up singing Hasidic melodies as a teenager he got hooked on bluegrass via a Flatt & Scruggs album. His early education came from listening to a West Virginia radio station on shortwave, but eventually he met mandolinist David Grisman—the soon-to-be prog-bluegrass heavy who made that annoying Old and in the Way record with Jerry Garcia in 1975—who became his primary teacher. But Statman had wide-open ears, and while his mandolin playing was good to land plenty of session work, his interest in jazz later led him to pick up the clarinet, through which he began exploring his own Jewishness. Before long he was studying with klezmer legend Dave Tarras, and by the late 70s Statman himself was prime mover in the NYC klez revival, although much of his work has favored delicate, heartbreaking balladry over the genre’s more raucous, dance-oriented strains.
Statman makes a rare local appearance Monday night, February 5, at Martyrs. Unfortunately, he won’t be with his working trio; he’ll instead be joined by the local trio Lucky Break, a group of bluegrass vets. Of course, that also means that Statman will be sticking to the mandolin and playing bluegrass all evening, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Personally I prefer to hear him on the clarinet, but beggars can’t be choosers.
