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MUSIC

From the APOCALYPTIC INTIMATE version of Charming Hostess

The Bowls Project - Charming Hostess

THE BOWLS PROJECT CD, Tzadik sings of mysticism and magic, angels and demons, and the trials and joys of love and sex. It is based on inscriptions from ancient Babylonian Jewish amulets. Especially audible are the voices of Talmudic-era women: their work, hopes and dreams. Weaving together Babylonian devotional songs, apocalyptic American folk music and a radical take on ritual power, The Bowls Project marks the deepest and most creative work by Charming Hostess yet.

The Bowls Project CD
Price: $15

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CHARMING HOSTESS is Jewlia Eisenberg: vocals, dulcimer; Marika Hughes: vocals, cello; Cynthia Taylor: vocals; Jason Ditzian: clarinets; Shahzad Ismaily: bass, percussion, guitar; and Ches Smith: drums, electronics.

Honored guests on 2010 The Bowls Project album include: Marc Ribot, Jenny Scheinman, Megan Gould, Jessica Troy, Nils Frykdahl, Dawn McCarthy, Ganda Suthivarakom, Boris Martzinovsky, Aaron Kierbel, and Nir Waxman.

The Bowls Zine - Liza M. Frolkis

Zine

BOWLS Zine. Liza M. Frolkis' take on exploring The Bowls Project songs and themes in 16 page original zine!

Price: $3

From the NERDY-SEXY/COMMIE-GIRLY genre of Charming Hostess

GINZBURG GEOGRAPHY

GINZBURG GEOGRPAHY. The Ginzburg Geography is drawn from the life and work of Natalia and Leone Ginzburg, Italian Jews famous for anti-fascist resistance and intellectual brilliance. Release pending 2021.

Sarajevo Blues - Charming Hostess

SARAJEVO BLUES: Following up on the enormous success of Trilectic, Jewlia Eisenberg's Charming Hostess gives us a remarkable program scored for voices, beatbox, and string trio. The genre of ChoHo on this CD is NERDY-SEXY/COMMIE-GIRLY.

Price: $15

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Juxtaposing music and text from the Jewish, African, and Bosnian Diasporas, Charming Hostess sings of genocide and nationalism, freedom under siege, the nature of evil, and resisting war by any means necessary--themes that Jews think about, maybe even obsess over. Incorporating Jewish, Balkan and Sufi musical influences, Jewlia's boldly original compositional voice weds the sexy, soulful sound of 60's girl groups to the ambition and scope of 21st century classical music. Sarajevo Blues is an exciting new release with some of the most creative women working in new music today.

Trilectic - Jewlia Eisenberg

The heart of Jewlia/ChoHo's 2002 release, “Trilectic,” is a song cycle for female voices exploring the tumultuous relationship of two radicals: Walter Benjamin (critic/philosopher of aesthetics, language and history) and Asja Lacis (Bolshevik firebrand and queen of agitprop). These two had an intense connection, both political and erotic. They talk about whether Benjamin should join the Communist party, what’s wrong with Zionism, and how the masses are controlled by spectacle. But they also discuss their sensual world--for instance, what it’s like to lie in bed with a lover, just kissing and touching. The music is both sexy and cerebral, as suits these lefty nerds in love. Released on Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture Series.

Price: $15

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From the KLEZMER-PUNK/BALKAN-FUNK genre of Charming Hostess

Punch - Charming Hostess

PUNCH: The long-awaited big band album from Charming Hostess. Blends eerie harmonies, complex rhythms, with a playfulness about gender. The final effect is of a hoedown where bodacious babes belt the blues in Bulgarian while a punk-klezmer band rocks out in accompaniment. The genre of ChoHo on this CD is KLEZMER-PUNK/BALKAN-FUNK.

punch

Price: $15

Get Punch CD via download for $9.99:

Latest release from "Big Band Charming Hostess". The rock band that blended eerie harmonies, complex rhythms, and a playfulness about gender. Charming Hostess drew on women's vocal traditions (primarily from Eastern Europe and North Africa), and integrated them with American folk forms both white and black. The final effect was of a hoedown where bodacious babes belted the blues in Bugarian while a punk-klezmer band rocked out in accompani-ment. Still thinking about CD release show.

Eat - Second Print

"Eat" is a Charming Hoedown where bodacious babes belt the blues in Bulgarian while a punk-klezmer band rocks out in accompaniment. Featuring the Charming Hostess big band, EAT blends eerie harmonies, complex rhythms, and a playfulness about gender: it's Girly-Punk/Klezmer-Funk. New-2007 reprint of 1999 original. This run features the 14 original run tracks plus two bonus live tracks, 'Cici Bunici' and 'Poor Lazarus'. High-quality duplication uses on-disc thermal print process. The printing has a durable, waterproof finish, is scratch resistant, and won't smudge. Sound quality is as good as a glass-master press.

Price: $15

Released in 1998, this is the second-run print and contains two live bonus tracks.

Get EAT CD via download for $9.99:
Other: SEEDY ARTFUNK & AMERICAN PSALMODY, YIDDISH GOTHIC

Thick - Red Pocket

GET THICK : Art-funk! The seedy underbelly of the Supremes! This CD by Charming Hostesses Jewlia Eisenberg and Marika Hughes features songs about sexuality and its discontents. Thick is filled with passion, catchy hooks and avant-garde lyricism. The genre of Red Pocket is RAUNCHY-ARTFUNK.

Price: $15
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Second superb Tzadik release from that fabulous & feisty Charming Hostess singer/composer/bassist Jewlia Eisenberg with 2 Foot Yard's cello wonder Marika Hughes also singing and Nels Cline's Singers drum wiz Scott Amendola on percussion and electronics. Both listening to Charming Hostess and Jewlia's 'Trilectic' (Tzadik) releases on cd and in concert have shown us just how immensely talented and strangely charming Jewlia and her friends can be. Her new trio Red Pocket once again an infectious blend of wickedly incisive and hilarious lyrics, funky/rockin'/hip hoppy rhythms with enchanting layers of vocals, harmonies and strings.

BOOK OF J



BOOK OF J. Book of J is engaged in new psalmody, drawing from the rich biblical commentary of Black and White American traditional music, Yiddish songs of ghosts and police violence, and piyutim (paraliturgical songs) with a queer bent. Expect old-time religion, radical politics, angels and demons, workers and bosses, diasporic languages, erotic longing, close-text reading, hard times resolved and destiny fulfilled. Also, singing along is good. Book of J is Jewlia Eisenberg (Charming Hostess) and Jeremiah Lockwood (Sway Machinery). Book of J tells Relix, “We found when we started playing together that we had a shared knowledge of old gospel songs that we loved to sing, but we had learned them in different contexts. Jewlia from her involvement with radical politics and protests and Jeremiah through his relationship with blues musician Carolina Slim. Our version of 'Do Lord' reflects both of these rich heritages."

Book of J - Available Here from 3rd Generation Recordings

SOUNDTRACKS

SHOW is based on the Hebrew letter Hei, which represents divine breath. As the fifth letter of the Alef-Bet, it corresponds on a physical level to the five fingers, the five senses, and the five dimensions.



ANTIGONE A score for Ripe Time theater with gamelan, voices, clarinet and bass clarinet, viola and cello. Translations used: Anne Carson and Seamus Heaney.



GRIM ARITHMETIC OF WATER Scores for Flyaway Aerial on water politics and buildings. Voices, percussion ensemble, kaens, guitars and electronics.



WOMAN A LIFT Scores for Flyaway Aerial on water politics and buildings. Voices, percussion ensemble, kaens, guitars and electronics.



MEET US QUICKLY Scores for Flyaway Aerial on water politics and buildings. Voices, percussion ensemble, kaens, guitars and electronics.

GRIM - The 2004 Dance Score

"The Grim Arithmetic of Water" is a dance piece choreographed by Jo Kreiter about women and water politics.

Grim CD

Price: $10

The score by Jewlia Eisenberg incorporates diverse sources such as medical literature on dehydration and field recordings of water music from Bahrain to Zaire. Much of the texture of the score is derived from looped vocal and breath patterns, based on how the body changes in response to the amount of available water. The mood of the score moves between propulsive joy, rooted contemplation, and terror. Performed by the musicians of Charming Hostess and Red Pocket, instrumentation includes vocals, cello, jews harp, guitars, electronics, and a vast variety of percussion. "Grim" is 45 minutes long and was engineered by Charming Ho/Sleepytime production wizard Dan Rathbun.

MINOR UNPUBLISHED SONGS

Live shows and songs of whimsy

MERCH

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Copyright 2006 Charming Hostess

Last updated March 16, 2021

choho@charminghostess.us Charming Hostess