Sam Sadigursky and Nathan Koci
The Solomon Diaries Vol. IV and Vol. V
(Adhyaropa Records)
In 2022, Westchester-based composers Sam Sadigursky and Nathan Koci released The Solomon Diaries, a triptych of stunning albums whose music evoked the lost world of the Jewish Catskills, inspired by photographer Marisa Scheinfeld’s visionary book, The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland. This time around, the duo has expanded their instrumental palette to include contributions from pianist Timo Andres, mandolinist Joe Brent, kaval player and alto saxophonist Matt Darriau, pianist Danny Fox, and violinist Meg Okura across two more albums in the Solomon Diaries series. The music remains intimate and personal, but the addition of other musicians gives Sadigursky and Koci more colors to work with, and these new pieces reveal an eclectic, idiosyncratic approach.
Klezmer is still in the mix, certainly, but the composers give free range to their omnivorous tastes, touching down in jazz, folk, chamber music, and modern minimalism—the latter no surprise, as Sadigursky is a member of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Still inspired by that lost world, the composers have expanded their thematic approach, dedicating a number of songs to prominent figures in their respective musical and personal lives, including Sadigursky’s late father Isaac (a prominent clarinetist and accordionist himself), accordion legend Guy Klucevsek (Koci’s mentor and teacher), violist and composer Ljova, clarinet and mandolin virtuoso Andy Statman, and others. In sum, the music—forefronting Sadigursky’s clarinet and Koci’s accordion—is a poignant and profound meditation on what truth and beauty can be in 2025.
This article appears in November 2025.
