When renowned klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer (last at the Quick with Abraham Inc.) and South African pianist and composer Kathleen Tagg found an opportunity to escape their Manhattan apartment and head to a farm in the Adirondacks for a few weeks early in the pandemic, they seized it. Two weeks turned into three months, and a new project – Good Vibes Explosion – was born. Responding to negativity in the world, they created a musical celebration of our shared humanity. Their first album from the project, Mazel Tov Cocktail Party, offers an exuberant, high-octane mix of dance music, blending square dance, polka, hora, calypso, hornpipe, and hip-hop. It’s pure joy.

Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert presented with the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies.