"ZION UNIT is an art ensemble originally from Reunion Island and based in France, UK and Israël. His musical work is an exotic and disorder opera kitsch, intimate, baroque, tinted soul, funk, trip hop, moods filmesques, colors and ethnic psychedelics."
Taking the best from LA VIE EN ROSE and AMÉLIE, renowned comic book artist Joann Sfar’s GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE is a completely original take on one of France’s greatest mavericks, the illustrious and infamous Jewish singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino). Born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents, Sfar follows him from his precocious childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his beginnings as small time jazz musician and finally pop superstar. Along the way he romances many of the era’s most beautiful women, including Juliette Greco (Anna Mouglalis), Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon). Employing a witty surrealistic style and a soundtrack that includes many of the musician’s greatest hits, GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE is a quintessential time capsule to ‘60’s Paris.
"French from birth with African and Carribean roots, the members of Hazkeni Voices met while performing in gospel choirs throughout France over ten years ago. Ethel Adams and Guillaume Eyango, lead vocalists and founding members of Hazkeni Voices, were performing together at various Jewish celebrations and were introduced to the Hebrew culture by way of its music.
Ethel and Guillaume were immediately amazed by the beauty and the deepness of the traditional melodies...so full of emotions, so expressive and so simple at the same time. Singing these songs in Hebrew drove them to experience the same kind of feelings as when singing traditional gospel songs. They progressively realized how similar the Hebrew and Black communities were in regards to music--the significance of music in our spiritual lives, the way it helps in keeping the memories of the trials our people went through alive and most importantly, how music always brings us together to express our joys and our pains.
Thus was born the will to form Hazkeni Voices as a vocal ensemble based on the interpretation of hebraic traditional songs with Gospel music's feeling. They have created original vocal arrangements and new instrumentations of some of the most popular Hebrew songs.
They are about to release their debut CD in June 2009. A sincere labour of love, the fruit of a spiritual and musical crossing."
Here is a traditional song on the Biblical Psalm XXII ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"), arranged and sung by the great singer Magdalith. Magdalith is a renowned French singer of Jewish and Gregorian songs with a voice covering three octaves and she has made several records. She has made an enormous work of rediscovery of the Gregorian song and several religious communities in France and abroad use her songs for their liturgy (she sticks to the theory that the Gregorian song originates in the songs of the synagogues). She is also a composer and has recorded some experimental compositions of her own, where she sounds a little like Yma Sumac, backed by minimal percussion, occasional keyboards and xylophone. Magdalith says of herself: "I am a dancer on the vocal cords".
Listen to her deep contralto voice and enjoy!
Check out my talk at the Ann Arbor District Library last year. "Ignite Second Stage: The Silver Age of American Jewish Music is Happening Now! And You're Missing It!"
Posts
All Comments
