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Lighter things and shattering stuff |
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Richard Smerin presents his new CDs in Kufo |
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 Who
doesn't know him in Fürth? Shaggy lion's mane, shield of David
dangling from his neck, guitar in his hand: Richard Smerin - bard by
profession, Fürther by choice, originally from London, restlessly
moving from place to place in the pedestrian precinct, with a passion
for "Blues and Folk". You could taste a sample of his new CDs;
"Anywhere Else But In Clover" and "Ikh Vel Nisht Fargesn"
(I Shall Not Forget) on Saturday in Kulturforum Schlachthof. Light and
melancholy sequences of sound merge with delightful colours. An
experienced hand reaches for the guitar and with the first few chords
you can rest assured there is an artist at work. Since he was seven
years old, his guitar has been constantly ready, keeping an eye on the
Blues and Folk playing geniuses like Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters. His
career reached a high point when he appeared on stage with B. B. King
and John Lee Hooker. From that time on, his "Folkpicking-Fingers"
have become unmistakeable. "Love" predominated in the first
half of the Schlachthof performance, but it gave way, after the break,
to more serious, sorrowful sounds. As a contemporary Jew, Smerin devoted
himself in his songs to another subject; the holocaust, the persecution
and extermination of German Jews, like the selfless teacher from Fürth,
Dr. Hallemann, by the National Socialists. Accompanied instrumentally by
Smerin, his brother Barry sang two Yiddish songs. The lyrics alternated
between irretrievably beautiful childhood memories from the Moldavian "shteytele
Belts" (little town of Belz) and the shattering atmosphere in a
Polish "shteytl" during the pogrom of November 9th, 1938. The
Smerin brothers make an important contribution to keeping memories
alive. Ignatz Bubis' warning: "Whoever forgets the dead, kills them
once again", shows that those who remember are currently
life-supporting. Especially on a day like this Monday, when Fürth
will witness a demonstration by the right-wing extremist NPD, Smerin's
argument should be heard: To leave the security of one's own four walls,
to protest in the street.
Alexander Brock |