Performers' Index K
Kabalas Klez-Kat Korner
Exhuberant local site promoting the music of a youthful set of musicians from Moline, Illinois (Quad Cities) described by local press as a "vaudeville inspired, polka-delic klezmer act."
http://www.qconline.com/kabalas/index_a.htm
Kahina Productions
Organization started by Eyal Bitton, that produces Jewish musicals, and oratorios. They will bring productions of various levels to different locales. Some of the musicals are: Journey to Jerusalem, David, Moses, Strangers in Strange Lands and Beloved. Eyal Bitton is currently the Choir Director of Toronto's Beth Tikvah Synagogue Choir, formerly conducted by Srul Irving Glick. Eyal's choral compositions and arrangements have been performed in synagogues, churches, and concert halls in Montreal, Ottawa, New York, and Israel. He has conducted choirs for The Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (Canada's first congregation), Adath Israel Poale Zedek , Jewish Peoples and Peretz Schools, La Chorale Kinor of the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée du Québec, and others. He has composed over 130 liturgical pieces.
http://www.kahinaproductions.com/
Kame'a Media
The website of Wolf Krakowski promotes his recordings which incorporate Yiddish and modern musical elements. Musical samples are available at the site.
http://www.kamea.com/
Kenny Karen
Composer and recording artist. Born, January 8, 1944 Troy, NY to an Orthodox Rabbi's family. Grew up in Montreal. Recordings for Elvis Presley movies and for Burt Bacharach including Bacharach’s original “Alfie”, “This Guy’s in Love With You” and countless other American “pop” classics. Show score demos include “Hello Dolly” and “Promises, Promises”. Participated in years of achievement in the jingle industry. Sang on over 15,000 radio and television spots. In October 1975, wrote and introduced “Jerusalem Is Mine” at the Jerusalem Theatre in Israel. Won 5 National Academy of Radio Arts & Sciences (NARAS) MVPAward for “Best Male Studio Singer.” Formed independent label, Eden Record Corp., in 1995. Kenny has 4 CDs listed are on website which highlight many of his Jewish creations. He has mp3 files to hear samples, along with a photo gallery of his life, lyrics, and a bio. His latest recording, “A Privileged Man,” is a retrospective with 18 original songs.
http://kennykaren.com/
Karkov Klezmer Band
Four piece klezmer band playing around the Ukraine.
Nominated for a second place on II International Jewish competition of Jewish national music named by Solomon Michoels in Moscow. Raiko Stanislav, violin; Krupnikov Michail, vocals; Fomin Gennady, clarinet;Polonsky Valery, accordian.
http://www.biomusic.hu/eng/zenekarok/kharkov.shtml
Judith Karzen, Director
The Halevi Choral Society is a professional Jewish choir located in Chicago, IL under the direcction of Judith Karzen. Founded as a community chorus in 1926 by Harry Coopersmith and Hyman Reznick, the choral group, devotes its entire repertoire to Jewish music. Styles include liturgical, Israeli, Yiddish, Ladino and secular Jewish music. The Choral group presents many new works and commissions compositions. The website includes contact information, a history, a mission statement and a concert schedule.
http://www.vjc.org/halevi/
Kaskeset
Kaskeset is the SUNY Binghamton a capella group made up of very enthusiastic college students who love to sing Jewish music. Their website includes discography, news, reviews and links. It looks like they're having a lot of fun out there.
http://www.kaskeset.com
Neal Katz
Neal Katz, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, (formerly from Virginia Beach, VA) writes and performs music in the folkrock-Reform tradition, ala Jeff Klepper. Neal has a pleasant folk voice and is a widely touring musician in the Reform camp movement, visiting many camp and youth groups each year. His website, nicely laid out, features a tour schedule, a bio and audio clips. A nice feature of the clips are that lyrics for the songs are included, along with a printer-friendly version of the texts. Sources for the Hebrew-transliterated texts are provided. The currently featured CD is called "Who Am I?"
http://katzmusic.com/index.htm
Noam Katz
American. Born in Rochester, NY. Attended summers at URJ Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA. learning the world of contemporary Jewish music, and social activism. He released RAKIA, a collection of 12 original songs in Hebrew and English in 2001. His career really started taking off in the summer of 2003, bringing programs "to hundreds of campers and staff at Union for Reform Judaism summer camps. He performed at the 2003 NFTY Convention in Washington, D.C., as well as for over 5000 Reform Jewish leaders at their 2004 Biennial Convention in Minneapolis, MN." Noam has also served as the cantorial soloist for Temple Isaiah in Lexington, MA.
http://www.noamkatz.com/index
Joy Katzen-Guthrie
Singer. Tours widely. Website includes bio, recordings, merchandize and information about her tours.
http://www.joyfulnoise.net/JoyBio.html
Ruth Kaye
Musical theatrical actress and mezzo-soprano. Native of New Jersey. Tours widely in two one-woman shows "My Grandmother, My Mother and Me", which includes Jewish material, including Yiddish and Hebrew songs, and in "Broadway's Fabulous Females". She has often had roles in off-Broadway productions. Her website includes information about recent bookings and reviews.
http://www.ruthkaye.com./main2.html
Daniel Kazez, Cellist
Daniel Kazez who works at Wittenberg University in Ohio, has put up a website with music on Jewish themes for cello. He also gives brief biographies of some of the composers whose works he performs.
http://userpages.wittenberg.edu/dkazez/dk/jmu.html
Jack Kessler
American. Cantor. Jack Kessler was ordained as a Cantor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and went on to have a twenty-year career serving Conservative congregations. During that time he received a Master's degree in voice from Boston Conservatory and pursued studies in composition in the graduate department of Brandeis University, where he worked with Arthur Berger and Harold Shapero, and Bethany Beardslee at Harvard. A lyric baritone, he has performed opera, oratorio, and premiered new works, in addition to his ongoing career as a singer of Hazzanut, the sacred cantorial art. Originally trained as an Ashkenazi Hazzan, his performance style and original compositions also embrace Sephardi and Mizrachi styles. Hazzan Kessler has lectured and taught master classes in Jewish music at New England Conservatory in Boston, the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and presented many concerts in an educational format. He is the dean of the Cantorial department of the professional training program of Aleph: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, and
teaches a number of cantorial students.His current performance projects are
directing, composing for, and being the vocal lead of the two touring
ensembles Atzilut, a duet format of Arab and Jewish musicians performing together, and Klingon Klezmer, which does 'Jewish music
from other planets.' He can be reached at goldenmedina@comcast.net
Steve Klaper
Guitarist and vocalist who combines Jewish-themed music with jazz and Latin flavor music. Has several CDs, Kavanah and Azamra. Part of the Jewish contempo movement. Works with Caitlin M.G. Klaper.
http://www.klaper.com
Shira Kline
American. Singer. Musician, educator, and performer, and Jewish-Bop sing-along music for children. Lives in New York. Grew up in Monroe, Louisiana at Temple B'nai Israel. Father, Rabbi David Kline. Attended Sarah Lawrence College. She writes: "My family infused every moment of life with Jewish celebration and love for all aspects of Judaism-special homemade foods, singing and dancing to Jewish music, exploring and reveling in all holidays, ethics, lessons learned through Jewish eyes. My father taught me meditation as a form of prayer at a very early age. My mother brought in each Shabbat with her beautiful candle-lighting and homemade challah and at bedtime my father sent me to sleep with sweet dreams of Shabbat angels. In all of my work, I strive toward the path of Oneness with ourselves, Oneness with God and the beauty of the world around us." CD called "Sing Shabbat with Shira Kline".
Fran Kleiner
Fran has been singing Yiddish songs for young and old alike, and has spent over 30 years teaching Yiddish, Hebrew, Jewish and folk music to students in Philadelphia. Fran's website includes a bio, concert schedules and contact info.
http://www.franmusic.com/
KlezCentricity
Washington D.C. klezmer group billed as "Wild and Authentic Modern Klezmer Music".
Features David Julian Gray, Wendy Morrison and Richard Seidel.
http://klezcentricity.com/
Kle-zmer Veg
Russian (or is that Ukrainian?) language only. A website devoted to some Ukrainian musicians doing klezmer. Contains information on the klezmer modes. Schedules of events. Links to Jewish Ukrainian organizations.
Klez Dispensers
Princeton University's brand new Klezmer Band founded in the Fall, 1998. The web presentation has a wonderful history of klezmer written by Evan Variano.
http://www.princeton.edu/~klez/
Klezfactor
Klezfactor band i s "a high-energy band playing traditional and progressive Klezmer music." Website has band bio of the 5 musicians, and short clips of the music. Band hails from Toronto.
http://www.klezfactor.com
Klezcentricity
Klezmer band with David Julian Gray, Wendy Morrison and Richard Seidel that performs in the Maryland, Greater Washington area.
http://www.klezcentricity.com/
Klezical Tradition
The Klezical Tradition is a klezmer band based in western New England. They have outstanding blend of Yiddish and klemzer songs, vocal andinstrumental.
http://members.aol.com/klezical/tradition.html
Klezmer Bands by Location Around the World
Part of Ari Davidow's Klez Shack site, Klezmer Bands by Location is an alphabetical listing by location of performers of klezmer music. Contact information, usually an email address, is linked to further information elsewhere on the site about the bands.
http://www.klezmershack.com/contacts/klezbyloc.html
The Klezmer Connection
A musical quartet called The Klezmer Connection now has a website advertising the group, with Iosif Zilberman, violin; Dimitry Cernavski, clarinet/saxophone; Michele Levine, vocalist and pianist/keyboardist and Andrea Valentini, percussion. They perform in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area. The Klezmer Connection specializes in klezmer, Yiddish and Israeli music, as well as American standards such as Broadway showtunes and lots of swing music. Klezmer Connection has "performed throughout the US, Europe and Israel at concerts, music festivals, and, most joyously, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings." They are often joined by Jim Gold, a folk-dance teacher and leader. Contact Michele Levine: 914-328-3408 or email:klezmerconnection@hotmail.com
http://klezmerconnection.com/
The Klezmer Conservatory Band
Now in its fourteenth season and based in Boston, the Klezmer Conservatory Band has performed concerts from coast to coast and has seven albums: Yiddishe Renaissance, Klez, and A Touch of Klez , Oy Chanukah, A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden, OldWorld Beat and their latest release, Live!
http://www.aaronconcert.com/acm/kcb.htm
Klezmischpoche Luebars
Large performing group in Berlin. They have a CD called Oifn Jorid. The webpage is in German and gives some details about where and when they perform.
http://www.freilach.com/Labsaal/klezmisch.htm
Klezmorim
The "history" of Klezmer is part of this website --about The Klezmorim -- "the Berkeley, California band that jump-started the worldwide klezmer revival
in 1975." The website provides an easy-to-peruse chronology of the band's history, biographies, discography, and lots of "inside stories." With several books published recently on the history of klezmer, it will be interesting to readers to gain access to this perspective from someone who was there "in the beginning"-- of the American klezmer revival, that is!
http://klezmo.com/
Klezmos: World-Klez Music
The Klezmos webpage provides a calendar of upcoming programs, information on group members and contact information.
http://www.klezmos.com
The Alexandria Kleztet
The website of this klezmer group contains bios, concert calendar, photos and links to related sites.
The group's leader Seth Kibel (clarinet) and Scott Harlan (bass) both provide original compositions for the group in jazz-fusion and surf music (among other influences) to create an "alternate klezmer" sound. the others rounding out the quartet are Claire Cardon (violin) and Tim Jarvis (percussion)
http://www.kleztet.com/
Klezska
New klezmer band with some reviews, photos and sounds bites. Watch these folks. Klezska plays a blend of klezmer and ska.
http://www.klezska.com/
Klingon Klezmer
A lot of tongue in cheek, and lots of fun. CD Honey Would You Be Meshuga Tonite and Blue Suede Jews are available through cdbaby.com.
http://www.klingonklezmer.com/
Kol B'Seder
A duo of Rabbi Dan Freelander and Cantor Jeff Klepper perform widely for Reform audiences. Their primary music is religious Jewish melodies in a modern American folk/pop musical idiom.
http://www.artistbooking.com/artists/kolbseder/talk.html
Kol B'yachad
Brown University a capella singing group.
http://www.brown.edu/Students/Jewish_Student_Union/Committees/
Kol_bYachad/pages/home.html
Kol Halev Choir
Led by Cantor Annie Rose, the Kol Halev Choir is part of Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, MI. They have released a video of their Eastern European Tour. It's a delightful 16 minute film showing the joy of Jewish community members hearing the choir sing in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, Bulgarian and Romanian. Kol Halev went on a tour of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece singing to very appreciative audiences. The filmmakers share a short chat, also included in the DVD. Kol Halev is also planning to release a DVD of their journey to Argentina.
http://www.kohalevfilms.org.
Kol Simcha
Kol Simcha, a Swiss ensemble formed in 1986, plays an assortment of klezmer styles from traditional to "contemporary." The website provides an up-to-date schedule, including venues in Switzerland, Germany, France and Norway. The biographies reveal that band members include both American and European trained musicians. Four CDs are featured with playlists and sound snippets. The newer website features news, movies and videos online, as well as all their sponsors and managers all over Europe.
http://www.kolsimcha.com/english/TheBand/frame_band.html
Kol Tefilah
All male synagogue ensemble. This group travels to lead services at various synagogues. They are an a cappella group with rich harmonies. They rehearse in the Boston area but come from various cities. They lead services in what they term "traditional" chazzanut style. "Demo tape" online.
http://www.KolTefilah.org/
Kol Zimra
Based in Englewood, N.J., this is a vocal group of orthodox men who perform a capella and with simcha bands. Benny Amar and Alex Katz co-founded the group to perform "at bar/bat mitzvahs, chuppahs, sheva berachos, banquets and more." They have a CD, Kulanu B'Yachad, which has instrumental accompaniments interspersed with a capella. It is interesting to see how the group's tunes turn from traditional Jewish music to incorporating elements of American music including moments from old spirituals and pop tunes to modern orthodox.
Eric Komar
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Raised in New Jersey. NFTY songleader. CD Notes from the Underground. Music Specialist at two synagogues in Brooklyn, NY. Eric’s compositions feature a combination of folk, jazz, and rock. Choral arrangements influenced by jazz and leading Jewish music composers.
http://www.komarmusic.com
David Krakauer
David Krakauer, clarinetist, is fast getting the reputation as one of the premier klezmer clarinetists. His virtuosity and brilliant creativity have been hailed in numerous reviews. His webpage includes a biography, discography and contact information.
http://www.bernsarts.com/krakauer/krakauer.htm
Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer is a violinist. United Kingdom's Jewish Performer of the Year 1995. Her grandfather was a Cantor and two of her uncles were concert violinists. graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she was awarded the Performers Certificate for Exceptional Young Artists, she studied violin with Charles Castleman and chamber music with Zvi Zeitlin. Studied with Yfrah Neaman on the Advanced Solo Studies Course at the Guildhall School. Won the National Federation of Music Clubs First Prize, the Stillman Kelley Prize and the Artists International Young Artist award. In November 1999, her disc of the music of Josef Achron was released.
http://www.miriamkramer.com/