“superb band….” “….distinctive approach to Klezmer…”
Andrew Gilbert, San Diego Union Tribune

“A Bintl Lider” Velasco’s choreography for Myron Fink’s eponymous, appealing score was…performed by the 2nd Avenue Klezmer Ensemble with Fink at the piano.. . the score is moody and adventuresome containing Klezmer sounds and Ladino melodies and featuring the terrific soprano Deborah Davis”
Jennifer de Poyen, San Diego Union Tribune

“…Listeners thrilled to the music of the Second Avenue Klezmer Ensemble. Leader Robert Zelickman played his clarinet with emotional fervor as he led the ensemble in lively freylakhs, nostalgic waltzes, Russian shers and Romanian bulgars…George Svoboda, guitar and Gunnar Biggs, string bass, lent excellent support to Zelickman’s inspiring artistry.”
San Diego Jewish Press Heritage

“ The band is wonderfully entertaining and gives us a realistic sense of a different culture. Deborah Davis has a great voice and great stage presence…We swamped Choices restaurant (at a Second Avenue concert sponsored by San Diego Folk Heritage) and broke our record by a mile.”
Jim Hayes, Co-Chair, San Diego Folk Heritage

Deborah Davis, “an enthralling Jewish singer,” and the Second Avenue Klezmer Ensemble, play “wonderfully joyous music.”
Gert Thaler, San Diego Jewish Press Heritage

“We clapped, we swayed, we tapped our feet…Soloist Deborah Davis is a singer with a sweet, clear voice, an actress with an expressive face. She likes her work and does everything from ‘Bay Mir Bist Du Sheyn’ to ‘Yossel, Yossel.’ And, OK, it doesn’t hurt that she’s good-looking. She has a fine Yiddish accent, even though she’s American-born.”
Dan Schaffer, San Diego Jewish Times

“Second Avenue has a ‘Yiddish tam,’ a taste of Yiddishkayt that is reminiscent of times gone by–times we hope to keep alive through their music.”
Cantor Felix Groveman, San Diego

“We thoroughly enjoyed it (a concert by Second Avenue at the East County JCC). It truly warms my heart. My hands and feet can’t sit still. It’s ‘heymish’…It makes me cry and brings up good memories for me.”
Toby Dorfman, Madrikha, San Diego Society for Humanistic Judaism

“They express ‘Shtetl Nashuma’ and Yiddish musical theatre with great authenticity. They performed with real Yiddish ‘tam,’ including Deborah Davis’ wonderful pronunciation.”
Eileen Wingard, Chair, East County Jewish Community Center