11.17.08 | The (Piano) Keys To The City - Article About Omer Klein in The Jewish Week
Go to this link to read the detailed article that was written about Omer by Eric Herschthal. The story recently appeared in The Jewish Week.

09.02.08 | World Premiere of Omer Klein's Piece 'Septet' at Merkin Hall in NYC, September 18
'Septet' is Omer Klein's new piece for piano, bass, percussion and string quartet.

It will be performed in a special concert at New York's Merkin Hall on Thursday, September 18.

The concert is entitled 'Dialects: Israeli Jazz & Klezmer', and is a part of the 'Musically Speaking' series. The first half will include a set of Klein's music performed by Omer and his trio. The trio will then be joined by a string quartet to perform 'Septet'.

The second half of the concert will feature trumpeter Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars.

'Septet' was commissioned especially for this performance by AICF's Adele and John Gray Fund for Composers.

Tickets: (212) 501-3330

12.28.07 | Omer's new CD, 'Introducing Omer Klein' Is Available In Stores and On Line!
CHECK OUT THE NEW TRACKS ON THE 'LISTEN' SECTION

'INTRODUCING OMER KLEIN’
(SMALLS RECORDS / FEB 12th),
COMPOSER / PIANIST AND NEWEST FORCE
IN THE ISRAELI-NEW YORK CITY
JAZZ MOVEMENT

25 YEAR-OLD ARCHITECT OF ISRAELI, ARAB AND NORTH-AFRICAN MUSIC TEAMS WITH OMER AVITAL (bass, oud), ZIV RAVITZ (drums) & ITAMAR DOARI (percussion)
FOR NEW RECORD

RELEASE PARTY CONFIRMED FOR SAT, FEBRUARY 2nd @ JOE’S PUB

“I don’t know when I’ve ever seen more joy at a recording session,” says Luke Kaven, producer for ‘Introducing Omer Klein’ (February 12th / Smalls Records). “To get the feeling, picture dancing in the streets, but the kind of dancing that bears all the marks and wisdom of the ancients, the kind of dancing that celebrates another year of surviving against all odds.”

Meet 25 year-old pianist and composer Omer Klein, the latest force in the Israeli-New York City jazz movement. While keeping a strong connection with the sounds of his homeland, Israel, Klein’s compositions meld the music of Africa and the Middle East with American Jazz. The musicians - Omer Avital (bass, oud), Ziv Ravitz (drums) and Itamar Doari (percussion) - have the kind of tribal bond that connects people back through centuries, and the result is high energy and virtuosic, yet stripped to the melody and accessible.

“Omer Klein is an exceptional musician,” says Avital, a pivotal figure in Klein’s musical upbringing who, in 2006, recruited him to be a member of his acclaimed ensemble. “He seems to have his own voice already at this early stage of his musical development. We connected the first time we ever played; it felt like we were speaking the same language.” The album’s opening song, “Abutbul” – the original last name of Omer Avital’s family – is an homage featuring Avital's musical motives, an oriental-flavored bass solo and a Moroccan groove set beautifully by Itamar Doari.

“Netanya” is an especially meaningful song to Klein. “It’s my hometown and I love it the way you can only love your hometown. I grew up there and my family is still there. With this song, I tried to capture the city, with the combination of the western world and the Arab world that is so characteristic of Israel.”

Omer began to study and compose music at age 7. He excelled and was accepted to Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, a national arts academy that fostered a number of the talents that make up the Israeli-American jazz movement, including mentor and bandmate Omer Avital.

Klein achieved recognition officially as an “Outstanding Musician” by the Israeli Ministry of Culture and later received a scholarship to attend the New England Conservatory in Boston and moved to the United States. Since 2006, he has been living and working in New York, and working with artists such as Joel Frahm, Clarence Penn, Ben Street, Meshell Ndgeocello, Jason Lindner, Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital, Donny McCaslin, Joe Martin, and Jaleel Shaw.

09.06.07 | Omer wins an ASCAPLUS award for his achievements during 2007
Omer Klein is one of 2007's recipients of the ASCAPLUS award, awarded by ASCAP to musicians active in various musical styles.

ASCAPLUS Awards are determined annually by a panel of distinguished music experts. The primary basis for panel determinations is the activity generated by each musician's catalog, with emphasis on recent performances.

08.27.07 | Omer Avital Trio feat. Omer Klein will perform live on NPR's program 'Sound Check'.
This coming Wednesday, August 29 at 2:30pm:

Omer Avital, Omer Klein and Ziv Ravitz will be the guests of the radio program 'Sound Check', on NPR's WNYC.

The trio will play some of Avital's originals. The show will be broadcasted live!

WNYC - 93.9FM

07.18.07 | Raving review in GARA magazine for Omer Klein's performance in the 2007 Getxo Festival in Spain.
On Saturday, July 7, Omer Klein and Haggai Cohen Milo performed their music in Getxo, Spain. Their show was a part of the 2007 Getxo Jazz Festival, that featured such notables as Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, Chuchu Valdez, Uri Cane and others.

The spanish magazine GARA has published a great review of Klein and Cohen Milo's show. Here are some quotes; the rest can be found in the PRESS section.

"THE GETXO PUBLIC AWARDED THEIR ORIGINALITY WITH ABUNDANT APPLAUSE AND ENTHUSIASTIC PURCHASE OF THEIR CD."

"THE COMPOSITIONS OF THESE YOUNG MUSICIANS WALKED A PATH OPEN AT ALL TIMES TO DISCOVERY AND SURPRISE. IT'S NO WONDER THAT THEY WON THE HOEILAART JAZZ COMPETITION IN BELGIUM."

For those of you who read Spanish, the link will take you to the Gara website.

06.26.07 | DUET Recieves a raving review in DOWNBEAT's June issue!
Journalist Barry Davis wrote a raving review of DUET - Omer Klein and Haggai Cohen Milo's debut CD for Fresh Sound New Talent.

The review is published in the current issue of the famous DOWNBEAT magazine.

Here are some of the quotes:

"Duet...offers a mouthwatering glimpse of burgeoning talent"

"Klein and Cohen Milo seem to know instinctively where their partner is going"

"On 'Song #1', Klein draws on all manner of source muses - from Keith Jarrett to Eric Satie - as he winds his way along a bluesy path"

"On 'Stav', the pair hit a sublimely lyrical vein..."

"This is a pair to watch"

05.20.07 | Tour in Israel!
During May and June, Omer will performing in his home country. There will be three special concerts with Haggai Cohen Milo, celebrating the recent release of "DUET" - Omer and Haggai's highly acclaimed debut CD for Fresh Sound New Talent.
Dates:

May 23 - "Hag HaJazz" Festival at Shuni. Special Guest: Itamar Doari.
June 1 - Levontin 7, Tel Aviv. With the great Shem Tov Levi.
June 6 - Yellow Submarine, Jerusalem. Special Guest - Hadas Dagul.

Omer will also be performing with the bands of two great musicians - saxophonist Daniel Zamir and singer-songwriter Hadas Dagul. Omer will play with both in the 'Israel Festival' in Jerusalem.

03.24.07 | This website have passed the 3,000 visits!
Earlier today, this website was visited for the 3,000 time!

omerklein.com is on the net since September 2006.

Thanks everybody for showing interest in my music. I really appreciate it! Thanks a lot for the visits... I'm going to keep the site as resourceful and fun as possible :)

Peace,
Omer.

02.05.07 | "Duet" is now available on CD Baby!
"DUET", Omer's debut CD with Haggai Cohen Milo is available for sale at CD Baby strating today!

Please use the link below to go to DUET's CD Baby page. You will be able to buy the CD, listen to many tracks, read the liner notes and more.

Enjoy!

01.31.07 | "Duet" is released!
Omer Klein's debut CD is finally released! "Duet" features Omer's collaboration with bassist Haggai Cohen Milo.

Omer is proud to join the catalog of Fresh Sound New Talent, which includes such artists as Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Omer Avital and more.

The CD is already available in many European stores and websites. It will soon be available in CD Baby, American stores and Israeli stores.

12.11.06 | Omer Klein Trio, live in NYC, December 2006!
Omer Klein Trio
Smalls: Mon, 12/18. Fat Cat: Fri & Sat. 12/22-23.

This month, Omer Klein will be featured in two of New York's greatest Jazz clubs - Smalls and Fat Cat. Omer will lead a trio with some of the world's finest musicians. The bassist on all three dates will be Omer Avital, Klein's close friend, mentor and collaborator. Two of the gigs (18 and 23) will feature the drumming of Ferenc Nemeth, best known for his work with Guitarist Lionel Loueke. The 22 gig will feature Johnathan Blake, drummer with Tom Harrell, Kenny Garrett, Russell Malone and many more.
The music will be comprised of original compositions by Klein, most of them are new, and of Omer's hearty interpretations of songs from his homeland, Israel.

12.08.06 | Omer Klein praised on "All About Jazz" article.
Go to the link below to read Tom Greenland's article on Omer Avital that was published on "All About Jazz". After reviewing Avital's CD "The Ancient Art of Giving", Greenland reviews an Avital gig at Smalls that featured Omer Klein, and hails Klein for his "tumultuous lyricism".

12.05.06 | 5 new tracks on this site!
Check out these unreleased songs that have been recently added to the LISTEN section.
Stav is a song by Haggai Cohen Milo. This version will appear on the Klein/Cohen Milo joined release on Fresh Sound, "Duet".
Shalom Aleichem was written by the magnificent Ehud Manor and Matti Caspi and performed by Caspi and Boaz Shar'abi. This version features the Street Musicians trio with Mark Moshayev and Haggai Cohen Milo and was recorded in the summer of 2005.
Two Mantras was composed by Omer Klein and performed solo at New England Conservatory's Brown Hall, April 2006.
The Mountain Top is a composition by Omer Avital. This track was recorded live at a recent Smalls gig that featured Avital, Klein, Joel Frahm and Johnathan Blake.
Sinai Memories is another one of Avital's beautiful melodies. The track is from a studio recording (May '06) and features Klein, Avital and Daniel Freedman.
Enjoy the music...

11.10.06 | New section on this site - WEB LOG
Hi Everybody,

This new section will be the place where I will write some of my thoughts and ideas, as well as recommendations of music and other stuff. Comments are more than welcome and can be made in the Contact section. I will post some of the comments on the web log, so please specify if you wish to avoid it. I will try to write regularly, so stay tuned...

Peace,
Omer.

11.04.06 | New CD Release! - "Duet" with Haggai Cohen Milo
Omer Klein's debut recording as a co-leader will be released in late January, 2007 on the "Fresh Sound New Talent" label.

Omer and Haggai have recently won the Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Group, and joined a prestigious list of artists like Chris Potter, Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones and Larry Grenadier that have received this award in the past.

"Ha'aretz" recently wrote: "The duo of pianist Omer Klein and bassist Haggai Cohen Milo offers a fascinating combination of Jazz, Ethnic music and Israeli music."

In May 2006 they went to the studio and recorded their first CD, Duet. The album contains eight original tracks including five compositions by Omer.

Available in stores and on this website starting late January.

09.24.06 | Omer Klein & Haggai Cohen Milo Are the Winners of the Jazz Hoeilaart Contest in Belgium!
On Saturday, Sep 23, Omer Klein's duet with bassist Haggai Cohen Milo has won the prestigious First Prize in the Jazz Hoeilaart Contest for Jazz Groups. 65 groups from 22 countries auditioned, 6 played in the final round and the Duet picked up two prizes: besides the first prize, they have also received an award for best intrpretation of the song "Moon at Noon" by Belgium-born composer Anne Wolf.
Apart from the prize money, Omer and Haggai will be signed on a contract to perform at the 2007 Getxo Jazz Festival in Spain this July, and will be booked for a tour of Belgium and other Europian countries next fall.
Commentary of the judges: "The Duet added a remarkable stylistic maturity to a rich and balanced sound register. The pianist exposed a clear and open sound, and the bass player supported him as an equal partner. We heard a team with an interesting interaction. They put new life into Jewish folk songs and mould it into a timeless story that perfectly fits the definition of jazz as universal language. They match a romantic idiom with a flavour of humour."

09.19.06 | October at Smalls with Omer Avital Group!
In October Omer will be featured on piano with the Omer Avital Group on 3 consecutive Wednesdays: October 4, 11 and 18, as well as on a Friday night gig at Fat Cat, on the 6th.
Check out the Shows section for more details.
See you there!