Soviet Hebrew writer Isaac Babel, voice of the pearl on the Black Sea, said in the first of his Odessa tales that “Odessa is a nasty city.” By the first decades of the 20th century half the city’s population was Jewish, and so was the city’s picaresque criminal underworld. Odessa became known for its incomparable wit and humor, which knows no equals – and this may explain why this city became the greatest school for violinists of all times. AdessO OdessA (literally: Now Odessa) is an unorthodox, irreverent exploration of the insides of this “nasty” city – a revelation of its passion for music and the depth of its rambunctious songs, bringing together musical spirits and tales of an exceptionally brazen city.