AZAMRA!  I WILL SING

Guitarist/songwriter Steve Klaper and daughter, Caitlin, record and perform original Jewish music that combines spiritually uplifting stories with high energy pop, jazz, folk, blues, reggae and Latin rhythms.

$10 + shipping

Stories!  Melodies!  Adventure!

Long ago, in another life, I thought spirituality was something only the old guys understood – the Chassidim I saw in shul as a kid, with their beards and tzitzis and black silk capottes. The magic that happened as they sang and danced and davvened only seemed
available to those who devoted their
lives to study, those who lived by the
rigid traditions set down by the
righteous.

But it seemed like a difficult and
austere path, and there were so
many other paths I wanted to
explore as well. So I observed
most of the holidayssome of the
time, learned a little Torah, a little
Talmud, and decided to forego the magic.

And 30 years went by.

Long ago, in that other life, I thought
that you could only achieve transcendence through music by first devoting your life to technical mastery – that guys like Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix and Bach were the only ones who really understood. But it seemed like an impossible and all-encompassing path, and there were so many other paths I wanted to explore as well. So I kept playing my guitar, a little bit every day, played in a few bands, kept writing songs, and decided to forego the transcendence.

And 30 years went by.

What I learned from all those other paths that I ended up exploring, what I discovered in those 30 years, is that spiritual, musical, magical transcendence is all around us – it permeates life – it is the voice of God that has always been transmitting. Our challenge is to learn how to quiet the passions and the anxieties and the rationalities that rage within us, so that we can hear that small voice – kol d’mama daka – that small, fine silence that is the name and the substance of the Divine.

There is music waiting to happen, there are miracles surrounding us at all times. We need only get out of our own way and allow our individual talents the opportunity to serve as a conduit for something truly extraordinary. We need merely clear our minds, calm our hearts, and let the music occur.

Azamra.

Steve Klaper, May 2001

Steve Klaper: guitars, vocals, harmonica

Caitlin M.G. Klaper: vocals

Randy Leipnik: keyboards, bass, tibetan prayer bowl, canadian fishing bell

Jamie Rusling: congas, bongos, gato, dumbek, klong yaw, tabla, brushes,
roto-toms, tambourine, bowls, goblets, triangles, shakers, rain-stick, cocoa beans, avocados & other novelties

Paul Vornhagen: alto and soprano sax, flute, penny whistle

Marvin Kahn: alto clarinet

Kids Choir: Katie Bonner, Jackie Gubow, Steven Olender, Rebecca Starks

Produced by Randy Leipnik at Semper Records, Oak Park, MI
All songs by Steve Klaper, © 2001 Ashira Music (BMI)
Design by The Write Stuff, Inc.

1.Sim Shalom

2.Eitz Chayim Hi

3.Ein Komocha

4.Kadsheinu 

5.Ki Mitzion 

6.Psalm 150

7.Azamra

8.Ki L’olam Chasdo

9.Mi Chomocha 

10.Tzur Yisrael 

11. Nishmat Kol Chai

12.Ahavat Olam 

13.Y’hiyu L’ratzon 

14.Sim Shalom (reprise)

15.Ribbono Shel Olam 

STEVE KLAPER  •  CAITLIN M.G. KLAPER