15 Facts About Naftule Brandwein

Naftule Brandwein, or Naftuli Brandwine, was an Austrian-born Jewish American Klezmer musician, clarinetist, bandleader and recording artist active from the 1910s to the 1940s.

Naftule Brandwein was born into a dynasty of klezmer musicians, part of the Stretiner Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Yehuda Hirsch Brandwein of Stratin.

Naftule Brandwein's father Peysekhe played violin, clarinet, and was an improvising wedding poet ; of his thirteen sons, Moyshe played violin, French horn, and valve trombone, Mendel played piano, Leyzer played drums, and Azriel played cornet; Azriel became Naftule's first music teacher, and had a lasting impact on his playing.

Naftule Brandwein married his wife Dora, and they had their first son Moses, shortly before emigrating to America.

Naftule Brandwein emigrated to the United States in April 1909, sailing from Hamburg to New York City.

Naftule Brandwein was joining his brother Israel who was already living on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side; Naftule and his wife and son settled on nearby Pitt Street.

Naftule Brandwein applied for US citizenship in 1912, adopting the Anglicized name Nathan Brandwein, although in his music career he continued to be known as Naftule.

Naftule Brandwein finally became a naturalized US citizen in 1919.

Naftule Brandwein was already a highly skilled clarinetist when he arrived in the US and used his skills of self-promotion to build himself a reputation as a klezmer and bandleader.

Naftule Brandwein stayed there for several years, making roughly two dozen recordings from 1923 to 1927, consisting mostly of virtuosic klezmer music put out under the label Naftule Brandwein Orchestra.

Naftule Brandwein's career declined from the mid-1920s onward, as demand for his traditional approach to klezmer music waned; his run of Victor Records sessions ended in 1927.

Naftule Brandwein finally returned to the Victor Records studio in 1941, recording a handful of klezmer dance pieces under his own label .

Naftule Brandwein was buried in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing in the Progressive Musical Benevolent Society section.

Naftule Brandwein wore plugged-in Christmas lights as part of his costume on several occasions, which once shorted out when he perspired too much, almost electrocuting him.

Naftule Brandwein took risks in his playing, often improvising a wildly different interpretation of a passage with each attempt.