Klezmer music not for sitters> Flying Bulgar band sets toes tapping at MCA

Here’s what you don’t want to do at a performance of klezmer music: sit. This is music for working, for dancing, for weddings and celebrations and lamentations. But not for red-carpeted concert halls where expressive movements are limited to an enthusiastic tap of the toe.

And so, hearing the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band on Saturday at the Maine Center for the Arts, it’s tough not to resent the sitting. That aside, this six-man band out of Toronto has a crisp approach to Jewish folk music derived from Eastern European and Hebrew songs and polkas. Incorporating elements of jazz, pop tunes and Caribbean styles, the Flying Bulgars have come up with a neo-klezmer sound that has historical roots and a contemporary snazziness. And the combination is exactly perfect for, say, a festival or wedding or holiday.

After 10 years of playing music together, these guys have a full repertory of original songs written by vocalist Dave Wall and trumpet player David Buchbinder. “Sam,” which quietly opened the two-hour concert, “Buma” and “Mazl Tov Variations” were well-received by an eager audience that loved clapping to this music.

The love song “Tsu A Tsotsyalitsn” had a gentle waltz beat and was sung in Yiddish — as were all the songs with vocals — by Wall, whose voice is a pleasant mesh of silken notes and friendly tones. He could get oversentimental at times, and that quality almost always made the music less interesting. But this band, in general, could be called somewhat sentimental. It’s not that it lacked professional talent. It’s that it seemed misplaced and not quite at home in the larger, less-personal hall.

The absolute highlight of the show was clarinetist (and sometimes bass clarinetist) Bob Stevenson, whose sensual and lyrical playing was intoxicating. His solos, particularly in “Patsh Tants” (a song that required clapping), were smart and loose. His work with the ensemble added an elegant richness, like a subtle dash of salt that brings just the right flavor to an already delicious meal.

Pianist and accordian player Sasha Luminsky also was a formidable force in this group. Drummer Bucky Berger could be white hot, and bassist Andrew Downing excelled with a sound that was both classical and funky.

Drinking songs, shtetl songs, songs for joy and songs for pain were all a part of this concert. The ultimate treat would have been to see these musicians at an event that provided dancing, too, because there was a niggling itch to get up and move to the rhythmic beats. And perhaps that’s the scenario in which their band-style stage banter would also seem less corny. Yet this concert, which was the Flying Bulgars’ first appearance in Maine, attested to the place klezmer music has held and continues to hold in the hands of folk musicians.