Yes, some of you die-hards may think it is a bit wimpy, but the location for “A Shabbat Sweet” has been moved for tomorrow, July 6.

The service will still be at 7:00 pm (byo dairy dinner at 6:00).  But it has been moved from the beach, where they are predicting it will be over 100, to the cool, air-conditioned confines of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC) because… well, health and safety first!!!

So, to be clear, we’ll move from experiencing  “A Shabbat Sweet” like this:

To experiencing it kind of like this inside JRC at 303 Dodge in Evanston.

Click HERE for directions and… see you then!!!!

Now doesn’t that sound great?  Can’t you just imagine the rhythm section of the waves breaking on the beach, joined by the leaves in the trees as the symphony, and the voices of the community gathered in song?

If this sounds good to you, then come on out on July 6, 2012 at 7:00 pm to join me and Howard Friedland, the cantor of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (and maybe the Sweet Sisters?).  Come at 6:00 pm with you own food to join in the eating festivities.  Click HERE for more details.  Ah… shabbat on the beach!!!  Sounds like a peach of an idea!!!

Here are a couple of pictures from my performances June 10th at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival 2012.

Here we are playing a children’s music set, with me obviously enjoying the “Sweet Sisters” amazing harmonies!

Here we are playing selections for “A Shabbat Sweet,” when I may have been singing Dodi Li, the song I released recently.  Give it a listen if you haven’t, and if you have, have another listen.  Heck, feel free to make a donation while you’re there so I can record more of this music!!!!

Thanks to Beverly Friend for the photos!!!

I know you’ve heard me say it a few times…. It’s like my jokes… I just keep repeating the same ones.

Anyhoo… this Sunday, June 10th I will be performing at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival at 11:30 am (children’s music) and 3:00 pm (selections from “A Shabbat Sweet“).

So come out for a nice day… See some great music (ME!!!), eat some kosher food, make some crafts with the kids, and feed a goat at the petting zoo! Can you believe it? All this in one place AND you can see me perform twice!

I rehearsed with the whole band and the “Sweet Sisters” (trio of teens) last night.  Hey, I’m leading a band!!!  It was a delight hearing everything come together – the instruments and the vocals really balanced each other well.  I admit leading a band is a new and challenging skill set.  AND… I think I could get used to this!!!

The Great Chicago Jewish Festival is this coming Sunday. I am SO looking forward to it. Remember, we’ll be playing children’s music at 11:30 and we’ll be sharing selections from “A Shabbat Sweet” at 3:00.

I had an amazing rehearsal with the “Sweet Sisters” Monday night for our performances at 11:30 am and 3:00 pm at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival June 10.  The “Sweet Sisters” are my daughter, Hannah Kaplan, Rena Newman, and special guest “sister,” Kelsey Waxman.

Wow, do these teens sound great! We’ve developed harmonies for almost every piece of music we’ll be doing at the Festival.  I think their blend is just fantastic!!!!  Yes, I AM biased (but I’m allowed, aren’t I?).

By the way, at 11:30 am, we’ll be playing original children’s music, including a Hanuka set!  And at 3:00 pm we’ll play selections from A Shabbat Sweet.

And don’t forget… Dodi Li, the first recording released from the forthcoming album, was just released over the weekend. Check it out and download it by clicking HERE.

I had the first first rehearsal tonight with all three of the “Sweet Sisters,” a trio of amazing teenagers who will be backing me up during both of my sets at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival June 10, 2012 (11:30 am and 3:00 pm).

While I had practiced and performed with two of the three girls before (my daughter, Hannah, and Rena Newman), the third (Kelsey Waxman) is “filling in” for another who can’t be there for the Jewish Festival (poor kid HAS to go to Hawaii with her family). It was a terrific rehearsal in which they created new harmonies to several songs, and found their parts to ones we’d worked on before.

I am excited that we worked through all of the pieces for the children’s music set (11:00) and several of the ones which will highlight the music from “A Shabbat Sweet“.  I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get through the music in time… now I’m feeling more relaxed and confident we’ll put on a couple of wonderful shows!!!!