In a sense, the folks at NAMA were fellow travelers, but not part of the revival. At the gigs NAMA was playing 25 years ago, people came to dance, and to some degree, perhaps, it was the desire to dance that pushed the music. I was not part of that scene, so I am speculating based on conversations with David Owens, and with others over the years. I think that mostly, it is a good thing to better recognize the specifics than to mush everything together. Other things have changed since the time this album was recorded.
Today there is also far greater access to the music.
Here, most numbers were learned from recordings, or arranged from several similar recordings. Today, with a plethora of field recordings and videos, greater popularity of ethnic music in most cities, at least in the US, and the presence of Balkan Camp, KlezKamp, etc., it is far easier to learn the music, dances, language, and culture from people who grew up with them. What I can't deny is that, despite everything and all the changes, this music stands up well to the passage of time. Nor do Freylachs get better than the slightly bluegrass-fiddle tinged recording here. The mix of Israeli and Yiddish music was frequent during this period, but would never have fit the strong emphasis on Yiddish culture that accompanied the mainstream klezmer revival.