Sydney Band Chutney Launches Debut Album ‘Ajar’

Sydney-based klezmer fusion band Chutney is set to launch its debut album Ajar in early August. Ajar is a degustation of folk, funk, classical, jazz, Latin, pop and musical theatre – a whirlwind tour through Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Italy, Austria, Germany, Egypt, Israel and the USA – all refracted through the lens of contemporary Australia.

Ajar is a potpourri of Chutney’s best 13 tracks, totalling over an hour of originals and fresh arrangements of classics honed across 100+ shows over the past four years. From traditional klezmer dance tunes to samba, from the jazz lounge to the concert hall, from Beethoven to Britney Spears, Rimsky-Korsakov to The Godfather, Mozart to Fiddler on the Roof, Chutney has left the door  ajar for everyone’s tastes!

The voices of APRA award winning singer-songwriter Ilan Kidron, musical theatre star Doron Chester and soul diva Sarit Michael surmount the unbridled virtuosity of the band, whose members have played with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Monsieur Camembert, Elton John and Jimmy Barnes. Chutney’s first single, Israeli ballad Kama At Yafa, was released in December and went viral internationally, having been viewed over 400,000 times across social media platforms. Rolling Stone recently named Chutney’s most recent single with him a Song You Need to Know.

Chutney was launched in January 2020, when a bunch of mates gathered around a piano to jam out some klezmer tunes and munch on apple slices dipped in a jar of chutney. Four years and over a hundred gigs later, they have created “Ajar” of Chutney.

Chutney is a rich composite of disparate ingredients; a spicy mix of instrumental and vocal, old and new, fresh arrangements and juicy originals bound in harmony by the embrace of klezmer. Ajar is a degustation of folk, funk, reggae, disco, Latin, jazz, swing, Dixieland, pop, classical, musical theatre, circus and film. It is a whirlwind world music tour through Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Italy, Austria, Germany, Israel, Egypt, Latin America and the USA.

Pre-order Ajar here.