David Krakauer on YouTube

David Krakauer is a phenomenal clarinet virtuoso who can play Brahms with the same mastery as he plays Klezmer. He is the clarinet player who synthesizes the tradition of the past with the novelty of the present, an eye opening to the future, he is a 21th century Klezmer. While solidly rooted in tradition he have simultaneously his two feet embedded in the avant-garde. He breaks the facticious boundaries between genres, Klezmer is not a demarcated style anymore but tends towards a universal language.

At its origin, Klezmer is a dance music, so it seems legitimate to incorporate elements of modern dances, funk, hip-hop, rock, techno, house... to expand the repertoire to a wider scope. Imagination is not incompatible with tradition. During 2000 years of Diaspora the Jewish people was wandering across the continents absorbing different cultural elements, David Krakauer is one of the pursuer of this journey. Diversity must be a keyword in the evolution of Klezmer music.

Krakauer received a classical music  education but fortunately his teachers introduced him to Jazz musicians such as Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins and many others. Sidney Bechet was for him a revelation, the discovery of a passion. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory and the Juilliard school. 

The young Krakauer was always experimenting new ways of music expression, he heard Greek, Turkish music... In the late 80s he met people seeking for a clarinet Klezmer, David grab the opportunity and decided to give it a try. That's the way he started playing Klezmer.

After a while he joined the Klezmatics and played with the group for seven years.

He created then the "Klezmer Madness" which is touring succesfully all around the world. Just listen to the following clips and let be transported by the beat.

David Krakauer does Tarras Trio

David Krakauer, Josh Dolgin (DJ Socalled) and Guy Shalom do a very good take on the sound of the old Dave Tarras Klezmer trio of the early 1940s at a rehearsal for a concert on the Dnieper

David Krakauer - Odessa Concert

Klezmer Cruise May 2007. David Krakauer's brilliant performance, with Eric Stein on mandolin and bass, Vanya Zhuk on electric guitar and Guy Shalom on drums.

David Krakauer plays Der Gasn Nigun

From a concert in the synagogue of Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine - part of The Klezmer Cruise. On his left are Michael Alpert and Bob Cohen. On his right are Alex Kanterovitch and Josh (SoCalled) Dolgin

David Krakauer finale at ClarinetFest

He starts with an improvisation then plays a traditional tune, Der Heyser Bulgar.

David Krakauer plays

KLEZMER CONCERTOS and ENCORES

David Krakauer with the Rundfunk- Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin performs Abe Ellstein's Hasidic Dances Jacob Weinberg's The Maypole and The Canzonetta, with The Seattle Symphony performs Paul Schoenfield's Klezmer Rondos, with The Barcelona Symphony performs Robert Starer's Kli Zemer Concerto-Music Director Gerard Schwarz