NIGUN

"Leonid Levin is outstanding violinist" (Harold Berlinger,Professor of Music, North Eastern University of Illinois ).
"Mr.Levin,s tone is sonorous...Bloch,s "Nigun" is an outburst of passionate lamentation.Mr. Levin clearly identified with its rhetorical style and Judaic idiom"
(New York Concert Review,April,2008)

Award-Winning Classical Violinist Leib Levin presents deep and

soulfull interpretation of Jewish Songs.(from recently released

CD"From Nigun to Klezmer",available at CDbaby.com,Itunes.com)

Association of Jewish Libraries NEWSLETTER
February/March 2008

Levin, Leib & Piano Trio. From Nigun to Klezmer. Portland, Or.: CD Baby, 2006. 1 Compact Disc.
This is an exquisite collection of eight short cuts: four nigunim, interspersed with a version of "Bei mir bist du shein," a freilach, a klezmer dance piece, and a slightly longer "Dance of the reb?bitzen" by the late, respected composer George Perlman. The trio arrangements are ideal for the soulful, melodic nigunim as well as the more joyous freilachs. All of the playing is master?ful, especially the piano work of Yaron Gershovsky, the musical director of the Manhattan Transfer. The violinist at the heart of this work, Leib Levin, shows tremendous understanding of Jew?ish music.,he gives the lower notes a magical warmth. There is no showiness here; the music takes center stage. The jazz arrangements achieve a perfect fusion, avoiding the awkwardness that so often accompanies at?tempts to inject jazz into Jewish music. The nigunim are played with a particular reverence and appreciation, and the violin substitutes well for the wordless voice. It is suitable for all Jewish libraries that are collecting recorded music.
Beth Dwoskin, Proquest Information and Learning, Ann Arbor,MI