Aspaklaria

The word aspaklaria has contrasting definitions in the Jewish Talmud: one rabbi defines it as a mirror, while another claims it is a transparent lens. In the case of Mordechai Beck & the Aspaklaria Group, however, it means both. They take verses from Biblical Jewish texts that have been regularly put to song and refocus them through a new lens. The compositions are all very original, incorporating elements of English and American folk and blues that feel fresh and novel. Their version of ‘Ashrei Yoshvei Ve'eytechah’ (Happy Are They That Dwell of Your House) is notably modern, with Beck's guitar noodling, Dennis Bernstein's up-tempo percussion and Inbal Kaplan's jazz-like vocals giving an age-old song a modern sensibility.

Yet they also act as a mirror to tradition, retaining the core of the Jewish style. The accordion, played throughout by Dudi Sherman, is a gentle allusion to Ashkenazi klezmer music, while the tune of ‘Lechah Dodi’ (Come My Beloved to Greet the Bride) has a warm tenderness often present in many other versions of the song. On this album, Beck carefully balances tradition with modernity to create music that, all at once, looks respectfully to the past and excitedly at the present.