Slivovitz or Slivovitsa (/ˈslɪvəvɪts/; Bulgarian: сливовица, Serbian: шљивовица, Czech: slivovice, German: Sliwowitz, Croatian: šljivovica, Hungarian: sligovica, Italian: slivovitz, Macedonian: сливова, Polish: śliwowica, Romanian: şliboviţă, Slovak: slivovica, Slovene: slivovka, Yiddish: שליוואָוויץ, Ukrainian: слив'янка) is a distilled beverage made from Damson plums. It is frequently called plum brandy, and in the Balkans is part of the category of drinks called rakia. In Hungary and Slovakia it is part of the category of drinks called Pálinka (Hungary) or Palenka (Slovakia), which are essentially the same as Rakia.

The word Slivovitz derives from (Slavic) "sliva" /ˈslivɐ/ - damson plum, and the postfix "-vice" or "-vica" /vɪtsa/ to add to the name of the brandy to distinguish what fruit was distilled (e.g. meruňka (apricot) → meruňkovice (apricot brandy), broskva (peach) → broskvovice (peach brandy)).

Slivovitz is primarily produced in Slavic regions of Central and Eastern Europe, both commercially as well as by many households on an informal, homemade basis. Primary producers are in Serbia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria. It is most popularly consumed in those nations, as well as wherever communities of expatriate from these nations exist. Similar plum brandies are also produced in Germany, Switzerland, France, the United States, and Canada, but marketed under other names, such as brandy, Pflümli, or eau de vie. Clear Creek distillery in Oregon is now producing clear slivovitz labelled as such.

Josef Erich Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.

First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with elements of rock and world music. Later, Zawinul co-founded the groups Weather Report and the world fusion music-oriented Zawinul Syndicate. Additionally, he made pioneering use of electric piano and synthesizers. Zawinul was named "Best Electric Keyboardist" 28 times by the readers of Down Beat magazine.

Several artists have honored Zawinul with songs, notably Brian Eno's instrumental "Zawinul/Lava", John McLaughlin's instrumental "Jozy", Warren Cuccurullo's "Hey Zawinul", Bob Baldwin's "Joe Zawinul", Chucho Valdés's "Zawinul's Mambo", Biréli Lagrène's instrumental "Josef" and Toninho Horta's instrumental "Balada para Zawinul". Zawinul's playing style is often dominated by quirky melodic improvisations — traversing bebop, ethnic and pop styles — combined with sparse but rhythmic playing of big-band sounding chords or bass lines. In Weather Report, he often employed a vocoder as well as pre-recorded sounds played (i.e. filtered and transposed) through a synthesizer, creating a very distinctive synthesis of jazz harmonics and "noise" ("using all the sounds the world generates").

Andy Statman (born 1950) is a noted American Klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.

Andy Statman was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Andy spent 1969-70 at Franconia College, located in the heart of the White Mountains, in Franconia, New Hampshire, where he attended classes and played a lot of saxophone, teaching himself circular (or "chain") breathing, dabbled with bagpipes, and began to play the mandolin. He first gained acclaim as a mandolinist in pioneering bluegrass bands Country Cookin' and Breakfast Special. Statman, who grew up in a traditional but secular Jewish home, began to explore his Jewish roots. He turned to Klezmer music, traditional Eastern European Jewish instrumental music. Now playing clarinet, he recorded various albums that were highly influential in the Klezmer revival that began in the late 70s. Soon, he began playing Chassidic melodies, fusing bluegrass, klezmer, and jazz along the way.

Statman learned Klezmer clarinet from legendary Klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras, who bequeathed several of his clarinets to him. Statman also produced Dave Tarras's last recording. Given this apprenticeship and his subsequent teaching at workshops such as KlezKamp as well as privately, Statman has become the dean of living Klezmer clarinetists.

Brighton Beach is an oceanside neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As of 2007, it has a population of 75,692 with a total of 31,228 households. It is known for its high population of Russian speaking immigrants and as a summer destination for New York City residents due to its beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and its proximity to the amusement parks in Coney Island. In popular culture, the neighborhood served as the setting for the 1983 Neil Simon play Brighton Beach Memoirs, a coming of age story about a family living in the neighborhood during the great depression. In current popular culture, the neighborhood has been used as a setting for New York television shows such as Law & Order, Blue Bloods, and Person of Interest. In August 2011 a reality TV series, Russian Dolls, followed the lives of eight women living in the community.

Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island at Ocean Parkway to the west, Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to the east, Gravesend at the Belt Parkway to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south (at the Riegelmann Boardwalk/beachfront). It is patrolled by the NYPD's 60th Precinct.