If you were to come across SoCalled in the street, you would be forgiven for imagining him as some sort of eccentric scientist or computer nerd. Amazing, creative, intellectual Jewish musician might not be the first thing you think . But that is precisely what he is. I had the pleasure to run into him just after he had performed with his latest project, Abraham Inc., at the Transmusicales de Rennes festival last December. I had to wait ages while hordes of highly-excited fans queued up to have their copies of the group’s first album “Tweet Tweet” signed by SoCalled and his acolytes, funk’s finest Fred Wesley and klezmer star David Krakauer. But it was all worth it as So-Called, the epitomy of charming good manners, despite probably feeling knackered and jet-lagged, explained just why it is that funk and klezmer get along so well.

An interview that you can catch in the podcast of Future Beats25 from last Saturday, 24th April at 13:00.