Sandra Layman, violinist

Small image of Little Blackbird CD cover Little Blackbird: Klezmer, Romanian, Greek, Turkish, and Hungarian music

Release date: December 14, 2001
Label: Rosin Dust MusicTM (RD-CD 101)
Duration: 74 minutes
Number of tracks: 35 (see tracklist)

Audio clips at CD Baby


Musicians on Little Blackbird


Musician bios


Sandra Layman

violin (all tracks)

Seattle-based violinist Sandra Layman's specialties include klezmer, Romanian, and Greek fiddling, as well as classical violin and viola performance and teaching.

Recent performances include klezmer music with Yankl Falk (of Di Naye Kapelye) and Lev Liberman (co-founder of The Klezmorim), and a variety of Balkan music and original compositions with Cafe Dunav (Cathie Whitesides, Hank Bradley, Lori Goldston, and Kyle Hanson) and others.

She plans a studio recording for late 2002 to early 2003. (If you'd like to help finance this project, please send Sandra a message using this simple form, or e-mail Sandra here.)

Sandra studied classical violin starting in childhood and later studied music at New England Conservatory and Oberlin, history at the University of Pittsburgh, and ethnomusicology at the University of Washington.

In the late 1970s, she began also to study and perform traditional music of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Near East and beyond. Her style was also heavily influenced by rare older recordings from the first decades of the 20th century. She traveled independently to Greece and Romania for music and language study.

Having played klezmer music since 1978, Sandra co-founded the Pacific Northwest's first klezmer band, the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band. After that group disbanded in late 1982, she played klezmer music with Joel Rubin (clarinet) and Lisa Rose (tsimbl), as a member of The Old Country klezmer trio; Yiddish vocal and fiddle music in a duo with Ellie Kellman; and Romanian and Hungarian music in the Layman-Eppler Duo with Alex Eppler (cimbalom). At the same time as she continued to play classical violin and viola, she also freelanced playing Greek and Arabic music in the Pacific Northwest, California, and Detroit.

Starting in December 1985, she spent several years in Romania on IREX and Fulbright music fellowships. Her CD, Little Blackbird, released in December 2001, features performances from the years preceding Sandra's years in Romania.

Currently, she performs with various top-flight musicians: Romanian music and more in a duo with Alexander Eppler (cimbalom); klezmer music with Yankl Falk (clarinet and vocals) and other friends; and, on occasion, Balkan and other music with Cafe Dunav (Cathie Whitesides, Hank Bradley, Lori Goldston, and Kyle Hanson). She also welcomes inquiries from musicians interested in a serious collaboration.

A separate and more detailed bio page for Sandra will posted on this site soon. Please visit again before long!


David Adlhoch

piano (tracks 5-8, 15-17, 29-31)

The late David Adlhoch (1959-1990) was a pianist, composer, and dancer. He studied music at the University of Washington.

David played klezmer music with Sandra Layman in the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band from early 1981 to late 1982, and occasionally thereafter, up to 1985.


Hank Bradley

guitar (tracks 1, 11, 21-23); bouzouki (track 10); violin (tracks 34-35)

Hank Bradley has been playing old-time American string music since 1961, and Balkan music (Croatian, Serbian, Romanian and Greek) since 1970.

Proficient at a variety of instruments, he is also the author of Counterfeiting, Stealing and Cultural Plundering (1989) and A Brief Introduction to Balkan Music (1991)(Mill Gulch Music). He has composed many beloved tunes.

Currently, Hank plays traditional and original music with his wife, Cathie Whitesides. He is also in demand as a Greek musician. Hank and Cathie also are part of the group called Cafe Dunav, with which Sandra Layman sometimes appears.

Recordings include Hassle the Caller (Sage Arts, 1991) and Music of the Poison Coyote Kid (Bay Records, 1978), as well as appearances on numerous other recordings, from American to Croatian music.

Find out more at Hank's web site.


Alexander Eppler

cimbalom (tracks 3-4, 9, 12-14, 18-20, 25, 32-33)

Educated in the U.S. and Bulgaria, Alexander Eppler is a master of the cimbalom (large hammered dulcimer), Bulgarian kaval (end-blown flute), Russian balalaika, and other instruments. He studied and concertized with the late Romanian cimbalom master Toni Iordache and continues to be in demand as a cimbalom soloist and accompanist.

He is also a composer and an internationally-renowned flutemaker. His collection of Russian liturgical choral music will be published in 2002.

Solo recordings include Barinya (Flying Fish/Rounder).

After a long hiatus, the duo of Sandra Layman and Alexander Eppler is back together, and available for concerts and private engagements. (A page about the Layman-Eppler Duo will be posted later on this site.)


Lisa Rose

tsimbl/sandouri (tracks 2, 24, 26-28)

Lisa Rose received her BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and has been active professionally in the visual and performing arts for over 30 years.

The instrument Lisa plays on Little Blackbird is a Greek sandouri which doubles as a Jewish tsimbl. Her other recordings include Hungry Hearts (Schott Wergo).

Lisa is also a vocalist, pianist, and composer, and a visual artist, software developer, art director, writer, and videographer. Visit Lisa Rose's web site.


Joel Rubin

clarinet (tracks 26-28)

One of the great klezmer clarinetists, Joel Rubin has a doctorate in music from City University, London.

With Rita Ottens, Rubin is author of Klezmer-Musik (Baerenreiter/dtv 1999) and Juedische Musiktraditionen (Jewish Musical Traditions; Bosse 2001). He is editor of the Jewish Music Series of CDs for Schott's Wergo label and the CD klezmer trilogy for Trikont Publishers.

He appears in the documentary A Tickle in the Heart (Germany/Switzerland/USA, 1996), for which he co-wrote the screenplay and served as consultant. The film is based on his research with the Epstein Brothers.

An internationally-acclaimed performer of Jewish instrumental klezmer music since 1981, Joel has led the Joel Rubin Jewish Music Ensemble (USA/Italy/Hungary) since 1994.

Joel's most recent CD is Beregovskis Khasene (Beregovski's Wedding): Forgotten Instrumental Treasures from the Ukraine, the first recording devoted exclusively to music collected by Russian-Jewish folklorist Moyshe Beregovski and his predecessors in Ukraine and Belarus, 1911-1948.

Visit Joel Rubin's web site.


Sue Thompson

guitar (tracks 10, 34-35)

Sue Thompson has played in old time, country, western swing, and bluegrass bands, including Seattle's legendary Tall Timber and the original All Star Cowgirl Revue.

She has performed in Balkan vocal and instrumental ensembles including Svadbari iz Seattle, has made field recordings, and was playing Irish music when "Celtic" referred only to a basketball team.

Recording credits include The Washington Traditional Fiddler's Project, Vol. 2 - Generations, and Mike Seeger's Grammy-nominated Third Annual Farewell Reunion.



The Mazel Tov Klezmer Band: Seattle's first klezmer band (1980-82)

(track 17)

Founded in early 1980 thanks especially to trumpeter Peter Lippman, the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band was the first "klezmer revival" band in the Pacific Northwest.

Co-founding members Sandra Layman, Meg Glaser, and Jim Mirel played in the band until the group disbanded (around late 1982). Other personnel and instrumentation underwent some changes during the band's first year.

At the time of the recording on this CD (Shver un shviger tants), David Adlhoch was the pianist, and Carey Bluhm the trumpeter. The performance was recorded on May 2, 1982, at Seattle's first all-klezmer concert, presented jointly with Portland's Hester Street Klezmer Band (which featured Joel Rubin and Yankl Falk, among others).

MTKB's repertoire derived mainly from early twentieth-century instrumental recordings of traditional Yiddish klezmer music. (Many of our recordings came from the collection of Professor Martin Schwartz in Berkeley. See a lovely tribute to Marty Schwartz by Lev Liberman of The Klezmorim.)

More information on the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band will be posted later on this site (sandralayman.com).


Meg Glaser

clarinet (track 17)

Meg Glaser studied ethnomusicology as a graduate student at the University of Washington.

She was the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band's clarinetist for the entire life of the band (1980-82).

Meg is currently Artistic Director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada.


Carey Bluhm

trumpet (track 17)

Carey Bluhm has been playing traditional music since 1978.

He played trumpet with the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band in 1981-82.

Also an old-timey and contradance fiddler, Carey currently lives in New Hampshire, where he plays contradances in the duo Paradocs (with Larry Siegel, piano).


Rabbi Jim Mirel

double bass (track 17)

Rabbi Jim Mirel was an original member of the Mazel Tov Klezmer Band.

After MTKB disbanded, he co-founded a separate Seattle group, the Mazeltones.

Currently, he leads the Shalom Ensemble, a Seattle-based world Jewish band.


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Excerpts from, and links to, reviews of Little Blackbird.
Information on purchasing the CD.



See a larger image of the CD cover (39 KB)(illustration by Martha Lewis; design by Anna Peekstok).

View the CD's tray card (back of the CD package), with abbreviated track list and list of musicians. (Note: this is a graphic file, 114 KB.)

See the back page of the CD booklet, with some further credits (image, 76 KB).



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Return to Sandra Layman's home page.

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This page was created on March 10, 2002. Last update: April 23, 2002.

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