Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird is a Germany-based klezmer band founded by Jewish-American singer-songwriter and actor Daniel Kahn, originally from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The band was formed in 2005 and is based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. They have released five albums through German world music label . The name of the band comes from the title of the novel '' The Painted Bird'' by Jerzy Kosiński.

History

Daniel Kahn was born on September 11, 1978, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he studied Theater, Playwriting, Poetry and Politics. After graduating, Daniel moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

where he was first introduced to modern

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate ...

. He then went on to live and perform in

, New York and

Musical style

Daniel Kahn coined the word "", meaning "alienation klezmer music", to describe their music, in reference to Bertolt Brecht's theory of . The group describes their music as "a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

and folk punk", and it has been compared to the music of

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

and

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

. Some of the songs are written by Kahn, but many are adaptations of poems and songs by Jewish authors such as Mordechaj Gebirtig, frequently with socio-political themes. The Painted Birds have had songs about varied political topics, such as

Nakam Nakam ( he, נקם, 'Revenge') was a paramilitary organization of about fifty Holocaust survivors who, after 1945, sought genocidal revenge for the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. Led by Abba Kovner, the group sought to kill ...

, a group of

Holocaust Survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

who conspired to kill

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

in revenge for the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and the government response to Hurricane Katrina, set to the tune of , a 1912 Yiddish song originally about the sinking of the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

. Kahn also sings songs by

Franz Josef Degenhardt Franz Josef Degenhardt (3 December 193114 November 2011) was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter ( Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic d ...

, Heinrich Heine , Bertolt Brecht, and , and

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

as well as a Yiddish version of the classic

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...

. In 2016 he translated

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

" into Yiddish, which he has occasionally sung at concerts since then. He sings in English, German and Yiddish, often mixing several languages in one song. Translating lyrics has been an interest and source of inspiration. The Painted Birds have previously collaborated with Russian singing Vanya Zhuk as well as Michael Winograd, Paul Brody and Dan Blacksberg.

Discography

* ''The Broken Tongue'' (Chasma Records, 2006; re-released Oriente Musik, 2009) * ''Partisans & Parasites'' (Oriente Musik, 2009) * ''Lost Causes'' (Oriente Musik, 2010) * ''Bad Old Songs'' (Oriente Musik, 2012) * ''The Butcher's Share'' (Oriente Musik, 2017) * ''Bulat Blues'' (Oriente Musik, 2019) * ''The Third Unternational'' (Oriente Musik, 2020) * ''The Fourth Unternational'' (Oriente Musik, 2020) *''Word Beggar'' (Oriente Musik, 2021)

Citations and References

External links

*
Video: Interview with Daniel Kahn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird Klezmer groups 2005 establishments in the United States Musical groups established in 2005 Jewish American musicians University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Musicians from Detroit Musical groups from Berlin 1978 births Living people Yiddish-language music Yiddish-language singers Folk punk groups American expatriates in Germany