Who would have thought it possible?

Jewish folk music made not only hip, but funky and danceable; an intertwining of swinging ‘hot jazz,’ full-throttle second-line street groove, and a myriad of compositional ideas from popular, classical and so-called ‘world music,’ played with the wildly humorous intensity of Frank Zappa conducting a beach bonfire concerto on the eve of the millennium.

But this is New Orleans, where exotic experimentalism can paradoxically find a home within street-flavored party music, and this is The Klezmer All-Stars, a band that, given the right circumstances, could probably make Vice President Al Gore plotz (that’s Yiddish for ‘collapse from excitement’ folks.)

This new record, a brilliant follow-up to The Big Kibosh (Shanachie), documents their evolution- into, as clarinist/alto sax player Robert Wagner puts it in the liner notes, ‘more than a great party band.’ Wagner, accordionist/pianist Glenn Hartman and guitarist Jonathan Freilich contribute a combined total of 12 adventurous compositions that venture to the outer regions without sacrificing a rootsy, dance feel.

“’Dr. lizard”, with guest drummer Willie Green (of the Neville Brothers band, also an original Klezmer All-Star), has a rollicking North African groove and an intoxicating, snake-channing call and response refrain, Inspired by Hartman’s recent trip to Morocco. Wagner’s “Mr. Nine 0′ Clock” Is an exuberant romp inspired by the tiny village of Tarifa at the southern tip of Spain. Freilich’s ‘Struttin’ With Some Doner Kabob’ is a second line that departs from Louis Armstrong’s “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” and arrives in the midst of an all-night street festival on a Mediterranean island.

On the whole, Fresh Out The Past tums out to be lively dance from the Treme through Europe, Africa, the’ Mediterranean and into the fanciful inner worlds of highly imaginative musicians.