Heart Beats

‘Heart Beats,’ an inspired collection of original solo piano compositions steeped in North African, Middle Eastern and American jazz.

“There is great freedom and a very deep, primal feeling in the concept of one human being playing a musical instrument alone,” says Omer on the catalyst for ‘Heart Beats.’ “You can take the music anywhere you want.”

The solitude of ‘Heart Beats’ allows its odd meters and unbounded, wordly melodies sound more casual, like one natural pulse.

For the enigmatic “Sun Light,” “nothing was previously conceived ; it includes some of my favorite music on the record.”

“Ship of Fools” was composed as the soundtrack for a video-art work about a desperate ship captain trying to navigate his way through storms. “Yemen” is inspired by the music of that land, while “Arak” is a Middle Eastern hymn in honor of Klein’s favorite alcoholic drink, “The anise instantly reminds you of Turkey, Greece or Israel.”

As AllMusic noted, “Following up his 2008 debut Introducing Omer Klein with a solo piano work is something of a bold move, but the set of a dozen original compositions accomplishes its goal of establishing the wide parameters of Klein’s abilities.”

Omer recorded all the music during a 6-hours session at Brooklyn’s Systems Two Studio. The album includes many of Omer’s loved compositions, including Yemen and Niggun, both of which were later added to the trio’s live repertoire as well.