Davka's music has been called "neo-Jewish-roots-fusion," "the acoustic equivalent of a Chagall painting," "Middle Eastern Ashkenazi jazz," and "fiddler-on-too-much-Turkish-coffee," but they're perhaps best described by their own name, a Hebrew slang term meaning contrary to expectation. Redefining world music with seamless compositions inspired by klezmer, classical, Middle Eastern and Asian rhythms, jazz and avant garde, the Bay Area group's music brims with passion, lyricism, and virtuosic interplay. Ori Nir in Israel's Ha'aretz put it this way: "Davka does with Jewish motives what composer Bela Bartok does with traditional Hungarian motives. The result is impressive -- the group creates rich, colorful, and polished harmonies infused with inspiration."

Davka includes Paul Hanson on bassoon, Daniel Hoffman on violin, Kevin Mummey on percussion, and Moses Sedler on cello. To date, they have released three CDs on John Zorn's Tzadik label, most recently The Golem, a recording of Daniel's dramatic score to the famed 1921 film of the same name, which won last year's East Bay Express Best Local Album Award.

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