Introducing ‘Ajar’

IN JANUARY 2020, 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, we have 

Ajar, 

of Chutney.

Chutney is a rich composite of disparate ingredients, bound in harmony by the warm, sugary, schmaltzy embrace of klezmer - the folk music of Jewish Eastern Europe. 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 - all refracted through the dual lenses of our cultural identity: contemporary Australia and timeless Jewishness.

Ajar is a spicy mix of instrumental and vocal, old and new, fresh arrangements and juicy originals. These thirteen tracks represent a coming of age for Chutney: it is the band’s bar mitzvah - welcome to the party!