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Guitarist/song writer 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.

Caitlin and her father have played together since she could talk, and the overwhelming response to her rich vocals and musical interpretation has led to her prominence in live performances and studio work.

Steve was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Detroit, MI. Although he wandered away from that style of worship, he has maintained an appreciation for and connection to the prayers and music he heard in shul as a child. In his early 30s, he took up his guitar and began arranging the Jewish music of his youth, adding jazz rhythms and syncopated beats to the eastern European nusach and traditional melodies he'd sung with his father. Later, as Youth Choir Accompanist at Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI, Steve was challenged to come up with new material for the kids he played with - including his then 10 year-old daughter. In a few years he had enough material to produce his first CD, Azamra!

In addition to recording and concert performances, Steve has developed a Song & Spirit Shabbat service that he and Caitlin have brought to many diverse congregations. He currently serves as Music Director of Temple Emanu-El, and has written hundreds of Jewish-themed songs.

Caitlin M.G. Klaper grew up surrounded by music of all kinds and was first recorded singing at the age of three. After years of music camps, youth choirs, musical theater and voice lessons she will complete her BA in Music in 2007. She began performing and recording with her father at the age of 15 and continues to serve as lead vocalist at their live performances and Song & Spirit Shabbat services.

Caitlin teaches Jewish music to the children of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills, MI, accompanies the High School Choir at Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI and serves as High Holiday Cantorial Soloist for Congregation Kol Chadash in Solon, OH. She has recently contracted to teach elective music classes at Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

This unique father-daughter duo has released three CDs of contemporary Jewish music: Azamra! (2001); Kavanah (2002); and Azamra! LIVE (2003). In 2005 they released an award-winning collection of children’s music, "I Have a Little Shadow," featuring Steve’s original melodies and the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson. In Spring of 2006, Steve released "Prayers & Melodies," a collection of 27 songs for worship, including several melodies written specifically for Mishkan T'filah, the soon-to-be-published prayer book for the URJ. They have performed at CAJE, and at URJ Regional Biennial conferences.

For information about their Song & Spirit Shabbat service, contact Steve at www.klaper.com.

View all albums by Steve Klaper & Azamra

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