Jim Marcovitch loses battle against Lymphoma

Another great blow has been dealt to the small British Klezmer Community with the untimely death of one of its biggest characters and most well-loved musicians, Jim Marcovitch (34). Jim had been suffering from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Tributes have been pouring in from near and far, including a poignant obituary in The Guardian on Wednesday 22nd October by Tom Morris. It included a comment by friend and fellow musicians, Mandolinist Ben Samuels, who surmised that Jim "was a man who lived the life he wanted".

A talented musician with a gift for performing, Jim was the bandleader of Shekoyokh, a KLezmer band that formed and developed through JMI's Klezmer Summer Schools: KlezFest. Shekoyokh have continued to thrive and play all over the world at both prestigious events as well as busking on street corners, and recently won a major Jewish Music festival in Amsterdam.

In addition Jim was an exceptional song-writer, penning quirky, darkly humorous and very alternative songs that audiences cannot fail to sing along with due to their catchy if not slightly obscene subjects: such as "I chopped her up" and "We are all B@%$££^"#ed in the end". He performed these and others with his latest band "Soup" and there are CDs available to get a taste of Jim's unique style.

Jim also performed and worked on theatrical and puppet performances including The Mouse Queen which went from a small Islington theatre to a sell-out run at the New Victory Theatre in New York.

Jim was buried in a beautiful woodland spot near Lewes and is survived by his wife Jenny who he married just 6 weeks before he died, his parents, brother and sister, nieces and nephews.

He will be sadly missed by everyone here at JMI - we all felt that he added something special to everything that he did and had such a great energy and enthusiasm for Klezmer and Yiddish dancing. There really is noone quite like Jim.