Daniel Kahn's Painted Bird

Wed., Sept. 5, 9 p.m., Tritone, 1508 South St.

by Shaun Brady

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Like your diaspora with a sneer? Daniel Kahn's Painted Bird plays the type of klezmer that would feel at home behind chicken wire and in front of a mosh pit full of whirling dervishes. Whether in English or Yiddish, Kahn's songs express a sense of nomadic drama, with a bit of Leonard Cohen deadpan and Tom Waits swagger. Kahn splits his time between Detroit and Berlin, their dual influences emerging through his Motor City Cabaret. "Six Million Germans" memorializes Jewish poet and resistance leader Abba Kovner, who aimed to even the Holocaust's score by poisoning the German water supply, with the sort of lyrics that Brecht and Weill could hand to Jello Biafra to spew. For this show, Kahn's piano and accordion will be accompanied by a trio of klezmer/jazz experimentalists: Philly trombonist Daniel Blacksberg, bassist Jorge Roeder and clarinetist Michael Winograd.

Wed., Sept. 5, 9 p.m., $10, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475, www.tritonebar.com.