DaZoque! by DaZoque!

‘The playing is beautiful and passionate’
- HOUR, Montreal

‘Delicious…astonishing…audacious’
- Le Devoir, Montreal

‘Lovely & very soulful playing. Had me thinking of my favorite Kronos stuff’
- Jowi Taylor, Global Village, CBC Radio,Toronto

‘Sprinkled with Jewish & gypsy inflections, dramatic & intense, blending multiple layers of sound, this invigorating orchestral brew transports you to a world of mysterious ecstasy.’
- Alain Brunet, La Presse


‘Wedding music for anarchists.. while they fiddle, sampled loops & electric guitars burn’
- The Globe & Mail

‘Arm-raising, foot-stomping stuff’ -The Toronto Star

‘Think East European folk music with a moody, surreal twist…puts klezmer music into orbit’
- The Hamilton Spectator

‘Extremely expressive…masterful composition’
- View, Hamilton

‘This is moody music that allows plenty of room to be melancholy, reflective, humorous or joyously danceable … a luscious soundscape where violins flow like molten lava, tiptoe gingerly in pizzicato, then pensively yearn in anticipation, mushroom into ethereal angelic realms, or careen madly like gypsy dancers in the midst of a Canadian buffalo stampede.’
- The Beat Magazine, Los Angeles

‘An East European mix of sorrowful and joyful celebration…on the first track they sound like Paganini, a marachi orchestra and even Asian string pluckers; later like Godspeed! or even hasidic, New York, new wave.’
- VOIR, Montreal

‘ An improbable but happy mix of klezmer, gypsy & experimental music…original and captivating.’
- l’Express d’Outremont, Montréal

‘Freshly treated Serb & Romanian folkdance tunes, spiced with klezmer & original compositions fling the listener into a freefall of musical ecstasy…some tracks invite uninhibited, gypsy-style dancing…some would be perfect for a film soundtrack, with enough breadth & emotional landscape in them to accompany an epic.’
- Canadian Jewish News

‘Fabulous!’
- HOMERUN, CBC Radio, Montreal

‘A warm accomplished debut’
-Montreal Mirror

‘Brilliant’
- Music Director, CKUT Radio,Montreal

‘Superb!’
-Montreal International Jazz Festival Programmer, Dan Behrman


Minda Bernstein and Norman Nawrocki met in 1992 when they were both violinists with Montreal’s Bagg Street Klezmer Band. The duo discovered they couldn’t stop playing together, even during their tuning breaks, so they formed DaZoque! They jammed the nights away, filling drawers with new compositions. Curious friends, neighbours and family often asked, “What the hell are you two violins up to?” Finally, by popular demand, they were compelled to go public – gingerly – with a series of home shows in living rooms.

In 1998, they brought their work to a wider audience, playing underground venues in Montreal and sold out nights in a violin shop. The shows were a luscious, drunken mix of moody, dark and wildly fun instrumental numbers, modified with a Fender Twin amplifier, distortion pedals, a sampler, and the odd beer bottle, kazoo and cookie tin. In 2001, they invited a handful of amazing musicians from Montreal’s alternative scene to join them on this, their first album.

It landed the band their second ever show inside Place des Arts at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Since then, DaZoque! has logged a remarkable performance career from the Guelph Jazz Festival to the Harbourfront Ukrainian Festival while collaborating with local community groups like FRAPRU and Maison La Virevolte on special choir / band community musical projects.

Urban Montréal meets a Slavic mountain village under a full moon. High energy East European flavored strings and beats ensemble playing original, cutting-edge compositions and infesting traditional Jewish/Ukrainian folk with edgy fable-inspired soundscapes.

Branchez 2 violons, ajoutez des rythmes, d’autres cordes, secouez et écoutez! Montréal urbain + un village montagnard sous la pleine lune.

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