For more than fifteen years Klezmerband Mazzeltov has toured along theatres and concert halls, mainly in the Netherlands, but also abroad. The personnel of the group has changed a bit over the years, but the current line-up of six musicians has been together for quite some years now. In this combination, singer Rolinha Kross plays a leading role. With her tender voice and warm personality she takes the band and the audience by the hand, for a journey trough the magical world of Yiddish music.

Rolinha Kross learned the art of singing from her mother, and it was also her mother who taught her the Yiddish language. Mom and daughter even performed together, as Duo Sense. Later on, Rolinha took Yiddish lessons with Willy Brill, renown expert of the Yiddish language in the Netherlands. It’s this very Willy Brill who still helps Rolinha with the Yiddish lyrics of the songs she sings with Mazzeltov. For the album Amsterdam, Willy Brill translated some of Rolinha’s favourite Dutch and French songs to Yiddish, such as Opzij, opzij, opzij! by Herman van Veen and Le port d’Amsterdam by Jacques Brel. For the latest Mazzeltov album Mayn Umru Willy Brill selected some of her favourite Yiddish poems as lyrics for Rolinha. Most of the music for these poems was written by Mazzeltov. A video bonus track on the cd even shows Mrs. Brill, reading a Yiddish poem.

This shows how Mazzeltov treats Yiddish music. Not as a precious museum piece, but as a living thing that the musicians can work on and remodel as they wish. Yiddish music originated in the Jewish quarters and villages in Eastern Europe and was played on religious gatherings or family festivities. But the style can also be seen as a mixture of Jewish music and local Eastern European Folk music. Mazzeltov keeps this tradition alive. Not only by playing the well known and lesser known jewels of the Yiddish songbook,  but also by making their own original compositions and klezmer-like arrangements of Western European songs. And the band likes to make side-steps to Gypsy music, Sephardic music, jazz or Israeli music.

Over the past years Mazzeltov played at most Dutch concert halls and theatre stages, among which three times in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and also three times in the Utrecht Vredenburg. In 2007 and 2008 the band toured in Germany and in 2009 the band played in the Cabaret Sauvage in Paris. But the group also feels at home on smaller stages. And of course the group loves to play at parties or events. After all, this is what the music was meant for.

Mazzeltov’s music is frequently played by the Dutch radio stations and more and more also abroad. Recent TV appearances  of the group were in de Wereld draait door and Verre verwanten. All major Dutch newspapers have reviewed Mazzeltov’s shows and cds. See also the reviews on this website.

Mazzeltov recorded six cds. The cd Mishpoge (2004) was nominated for an Edison Award in the category World Music. The cd Amsterdam (2007) contains unexpected cross-overs and klezmer-arrangements of Dutch and French songs. The band’s latest cd Mayn Umru (2009) contains original compositions and wonderful Yiddish poetry. But the most striking feature of this cd is the sense of joy for the music that can be heard all in all the songs.

Mazzeltov:
Rolinha Kross: vocals
Edith Mathot: violin
Gottfrid van Eck: clarinet, birbyne
Harm van den Berg: accordion
Harold Berghuis: guitar
Tis Marang: double bass

Rolinha Kross
She is one of the leading Dutch singers of Yiddish songs. She appeared on just about every major stage in the country, not only with her own groups, but also as a guest singer for several theatre shows. She worked with famous Dutch artists such as Ramses Shaffy and Willem Nijholt.

Edith Mathot
She studied classical violin at the Sweelinck conservatory in  Amsterdam. After graduation she said farewell to classical music and focussed solely on klezmer. Besides Mazzeltov she also plays in klezmer trio Tzivalo.

Gottfrid van Eck
He has been addicted to klezmer for more than 20 years. He studied music at the DJAM in Amsterdam and is one of the founders of Mazzeltov. Gottfrid also plays in his own klezmer trio Vilde Katshke, where he combines his passion for klezmer and Jewish folk tales. Recently he initiated the new Balkan Beat band Kasha Nasha.

Harm van den Berg
He has played accordion since he was eight and graduated 1989 at the Hilversum conservatory. He likes playing tango and jazz, but his main focus is Eastern-European music. Together with Gottfrid he founded Mazzeltov in 1994. Harm also plays in klezmer trio Tzivalo.

Harold Berghuis
He plays jazz, Eastern-European music and gipsy swing. But most of all, he likes mixing up all these styles to see what happens. Besides Mazzeltov, Harold plays in groups such as the Hot Club de Frank, the Taf Taf Club, the New Hot Trio and klezmer trio Tzivalo.

Tis Marang
He studied bass at the Brabant Conservatory and chamber music at the Den Haag Conservatory. He plays classical and baroque music, but also likes to play jazz and folk music such as klezmer, fado and americana. Besides his work as a musician, Tis is a professional manufacturer of bows for double bass.