How good is Andy Statman? Good enough that Vancouver’s resident mandolin maestro, John Reischman, has been heard quoting his lines on occasion. Good enough, too, that avant-garde guitarist Henry Kaiser has compared him to the very finest of Hindustani masters. And good enough that David Grisman, who essentially invented modern mandolin music during the 1980s, will duet with him at the drop of a hat.

Even more remarkable is that Statman’s every bit as good on the clarinet as he is on the mandolin. Genius, for once, isn’t too strong a word. Don’t miss this master of Jewish music when he and his jazzy rhythm section play a Chutzpah Festival show at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre on Wednesday (February 24).