Back in the Day: Alon Braier's Mizrachi Musician Cards

Alon Braier is a freelance graphic artist and illustrator based in Tel Aviv. I recently ran across his fantastic project "Back in the Day (בזכרי ימים ימימה)" which consists of a boxed set of cards that pay "tribute to the great Israeli mizrachi music pioneers of the 60's and 70's." Looking to get a bit more information, and hopefully score a set of the cards, I contacted Braier about the project.

Teruah: What was origin of the Mizrachi musician card project? Was this something you did as a freelancer for a customer? A personal project? Are you personally a fan Mizrachi music?

Braier: I started working on the Mizrachi musician card project, or "back in the day" as it translates from its Hebrew name, about two years ago. It was my final project before achieving a bachelor's degree at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. On my junior year I spent one semester as an exchange student at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and while visiting New York City on spring break, I stumbled upon a beautiful, illustrated trading card deck named "Legends of Rap". I was blown away by the whole idea of illustrated music related trading cards, It was then that I decided to make my own deck as a final project when I'll get back to Israel.

Mizrachi music was never exactly my cup of tea (at least not before the project). I chose to focus on that specific genre because I wasn’t familiar with it. Back then, it occurred to me that by digging into a subject I know very little about my interest will stay high throughout the process.

I also wanted my project to deal with social matters and I knew Mizrahi music always carried a big social and political baggage. Mizrahi music was created by migrating Jews from the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa who created a unique musical style that combines elements of Arabic, Greek, and Turkish music. At the early days of Israeli radio this type of music was excluded from the airwaves, basically because the people who owned the media and the main cultural institutions in those years where of Ashkenazi heritage and preferred a more European taste. At the beginning of the 80's Mizrahi music suddenly got in to the playlists and became very popular until this very day. The sad thing is that in order to reach this state the genre lost most of its authenticity and unique musical roots. Today it's basically all about simple pop songs on an Arabic scale with some occasional oriental instrument thrown in the mix. My project is focusing on the early days, the 60's and 70's, when Mizrahi music was a special fusion of east and west, a one of a kind blend of rock soul and middle eastern music.

Teruah: Who is included?

Braier: The deck has all the great pioneers of the genre, people who became legends like Zohar Argov (pictured above) – the king of Mizrahi music (5) and Aviu Medina (1) the composer who wrote many mizrahi classics like "Haperach Begani" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcpgpEUlKfk which was Zohar's first international hit. I also included the main producers and representatives of Mizrahi artists, "The Reuveni Brothers" (12) and the most essential Mizrahi bands- Tzlilei haoud (3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9_hY8bhuzc&feature=related and Tzlilei hakerem (11 ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JynC5hxfSZM&feature=related.

Among the well known artists I illustrated some truly underrated ones, like Aris San (10)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-LCj-wGAQI - Filfel al Masri (19) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM-vE9ngljg - The Gang (15) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU301lExnO4 - Jo Amar (17) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xclyyCzMM0Q (my personal favorite). And some surprising rarities like Shechunat Hatikva workshop Theater (8, pictured) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2xNTzlFSk0which includes the very young and talented Ofra Haza.

I really wanted to include Yosef Ben Israel, the first DJ who actually played Mizrahi music on the radio, but I couldn't find any pictures of him.


Teruah: Are these cards available for purchase?

Braier: I'm afraid not, I did have a few of them in a handmade box with a poster in every pack but they were sold out pretty quickly (I have only one complete pack left, which I carry with me to job interviews) but I'm planning to re-print them sometime during this year.

Teruah: Have you done any additional music related projects? Do you plan any?

Braier: Since the Mizrahi project came out I did some editorial illustrations for local papers that had article about Mizrahi culture. I also did the cover art for Lo dubim's debut album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ADtnkFUV-U&feature=related lately, I began working on another card deck about the Israeli new wave scene of the 80's but I'm still in the research stage.

-----


So no cards for me. At least not yet. But go check out the full set on Braier's website.

As a final treat, here's Braier's favorite, the great Jo Amar, singing Great My Cousin. Amar, who passed away in 2009, was a widely popular Moroccan born vocalist whose 1971 "Shalom le-ben dodi" was one of the first big Mizrachi hits.

Jo Amar Greet my cousin ג'ו עמר שלום לבן דודי

Asefa: (noun, from Hebrew) A collective, assembly or gathering, with purpose.

I love meeting interesting folks, and there are no shortage of interesting folks in the Jewish music world. This week I got an email from Samuel Thomas, Ph.D candidate in Ethnomusicology at the City University of New York and the leader of the musical collective Asefa. Asefa plays a wonderfully exploratory fusion of Arabic Jewish music and jazz that includes Yoshie Fructer, guitarist and New York Jewish scene staple, bass player Noah Jarrett, and percussionists Eric Platz and Rich Stein. This is the kind of music, deeply rooted in tradition and wildly adventurous, that I could crawl inside and live in.

Here's their official blurb...

Drawing upon a plethora of musical traditions from North Africa, the music Asefa presents is a blend of North African grooves and song traditions with passionate and innovative composition and improvisation. This is Mitteleuropean proto-blues. This is music that honors both ritual and experimentation, reminding us of the vitality and variety within the Jewish tradition -- a tradition that reflects the world. Listen and trace your own roots, whatever they are.

They've got an album out. I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but the tracks on the website sound great. I'd link to them, but I'm a live show guy. I'd rather show off this clip from one of their concerts at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club



In addition to playing Asefa, Thomas conducts a variety of workshops

"Whether you want to discover more about Middle Eastern musical traditions, Sephardic poetry, or simply have an interactive experience touring different world musics, the educational programming and performance workshops add incredible value to any Asefa experience! "

To give you a sense of what he's about, here's a short talk by Thomas about his experience with Arab Jewish music given to the Brooklyn Historical Society - Roundtable: Arab Music Traditions and Their History in Brooklyn.

Pioneers for a Cure: The Israel Sessions Volume 1

I'm sitting in San Diego, in a hotel overlooking the bay, listening for the dozenth time to Pioneers for a Cure: The Israel Sessions Volume 1. I'm a sucker for compilation discs. It's like getting a great radio show on one CD. In variably I fall for bands I'd never heard of and probably wouldn't have. Right now Uri Miles is crooning and playing pipes over a gentle rhythm that is both Matti Caspi lounge, Celtic drone and Mizrachi wailing at the same time. Odd but beautiful.

Pioneers for a cure is a charity compilation that trading up and coming musicians exposure for an opportunity to raise money for cancer research. The Israel Sessions is the second phase of the project. The first phase, produced by one of my favorite musicians Rabbi Greg Wall (of Hasidic New Wave and the Later Prophets) featured a wonderful cross section of contemporary Jewish music. This phase focuses on Israel music and other than an inclusion Greg Wall's Later Prophets is full of artists I don't know. Great fun and great music, gentle pop and driving rock, Israeli folk and art music. I think the Later Prophets and the Uri Miles tracks are my favorites, but there's not a dull track in the set.

Here's Greg Wall's Later Prophets Featuring Shai Bachar and Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, playing Sobu Tzion live in Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem, August 24, 2009. A studio version is part of the Israeli Sessions.



To get in on Pioneers, check out tracks yourself. Donate and download the tracks you like. Only the first 5 tracks of the collection are up on the site, but the rest are coming soon. And while you're there, check out the songs from the first phase. They're all still available and just as great. They include tracks by Teruah favorites David Broza, Y-Love, Stereo Sinai, Sway Machinery, and Adrienne Cooper, just to name a few.

Here's a short video article on Pioneers for a Cure. It was made at the time of the first set of songs, not the current set, but it will give you the right idea.

More possible musicians for Detroit's JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest: Sephardic / Mizrachi musicians

Here is a list of Sephardic / Mizrachi musicians that I passed along to the JCC Stephen Gottlieb Music Fest committee. For more of an explanation see yesterday's post about Yiddish singers.

Pharaoh's Daughter
Led by Basya Shecter, Pharaoh's Daughter plays neo-psychedelic Sephardic/Mizrachi folk rock. A friend described them as "a Jewish Jim Morrison getting lost in the desert." Something like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCVUDQrxFwQ
http://www.pharaohsdaughter.com/

Divhan
Led by Galeet Dardashti, Divhan plays Sephardic/Mizrachi folk music. A bit more mannered than Pharaoh's Daughter, but equally great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdvHiRSpz2M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b8QQaRFMvQ
http://divahn.com/

Smadar Levi
Israeli singer of Morrocan descent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAw12T4PFFU
http://www.smadarlevi.com

Yasmin Levy
Wonderful Sephardic vocalist. A mainstay on the world music festival circuit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kFhqS1yMu
http://www.yasminlevy.net/

Sara Aroeste
Sephardic Ladino rock band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LEf1QegfuA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8Q6duj9U
http://www.saraharoeste.com/

Deleon
Sephardic psychedelic indie-rock band. Saw them live last fall and they were GREAT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo7aXTCCdZA

Yair Dalal
Israeli "Ethnic Musician," which means something like Mizrachi folk music treated as art music without becoming theatrical. wonderful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sYp5S-jkZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sYp5S-jkZo&feature=related

Jaffa Road
Sephardic/Mizrachi group from Toronto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozOMNiqu2Q0
http://jaffaroadmusic.squarespace.com/

Jaffa Road also just recorded a wonderful album of original Jewish
wedding music called The Hupah Project and sometimes performs under
that name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXOk8zwmQk
http://www.thehuppahproject.com/

Cantor Aaron Bensoussan
Moroccan born Aaron Bensoussan performs Cantorial, Yiddish, Ladino and
Moroccan Folk Music, as well as jazz w/Uri Caine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K3_AsC4KVc

Flory Jagoda
Grande Dame of Sephardic music, songwriter of Hanukkah classic "Ocho
Kandelikas" and NEA heritage award winner. In this video, she's
singing with Cantor Gaston (see below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA6X3y8jS58
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flory_Jagoda

Cantor Gaston
Cantor in MA, originally from Argentina. Sephardic music with South American flair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46QmCFIIYbg
http://www.cantorgaston.com/

Toronoto's Jaffa Road & The Huppah Project

I got an email this morning from Toronto musician, Aaron Lightstone about his two groups, Jaffa Road and the Huppah Project. Both take a world music approach to Jewish music, mixing new and traditional melodies with "Classical Arabic and Indian music, modern jazz, rock, pop, and dub."

Jaffa Road, the full band, includes Lightstone on oud, and vocalist Avaiva Chernick , bass player Chris Gartner, percussionist Jeff Wilson and sax player, Sundar Viswanathan. Like many Jewish groups that have appeared in the last few years, they lean toward a Sephardic / Mizrachi sound. Unlike the DeLeon, the Sephardic indie-rock band I saw earlier this week, Jaffa Road has a warm open sound, gentle and passionate. I particularly enjoy the tracks where they introduce rougher, staticy, electronics squawks and buzzes. It's not quite on the level of DJ Olive's work with Uri Caine, but well done and convincing. (In fact, with cantor Aaron Bensoussan joining them as a guest vocalist, their recent album Sunplace, is very reminiscent of a lighter, warmer, version of Uri Caine's ZOHAR album.)

Here's Jaffa Road in concert.

As much as I enjoyed Jaffa Road (and will have to pick up their album), I'm even more taken with The Huppah Project. Centering around the interplay of Lightstone's oud and Aviva Chernick's vocals, The Huppah Project is a collection of music inspired by Lightstone's wedding and explores Jewish wedding music from a vantage that is intensely personal and at the same time open and inclusive. I love seeing artists take the traditions seriously, but at the same time using them as a jumping off point for their own exploration.

The Huppah Project

Check out Jaffa Road and the Huppah Project, and their albums Sunplace and Under the Canopy.

Kol Shira - World music from eastern Iowa

One of the interesting movements in American Jewish music at the moment, is the adoption and promotion of Sephardic music. Kol Shira is the latest group I've run across that happily mixes music (Jewish and otherwise) from around the world, but draws heavily Sephardic and Misrachi music for their basic sound and approach. This, in my opinion, is a good thing.

And they do it well. Not quite world stage, Galeet Dardashti, well, but definitely 'drive for an hour see them' well. Valerie Davine's got a lovely, passionate, voice, and the rest of the combo (Linda Wertz on bass, Debbie Singer on guitar, Julie Anolik-Cassell on percussion and cello, Karen Charney on flute and vocals, and Rita Offut on vocals) are tight and talented. I don't think they have any recordings out, but if you live in Iowa you should check their upcoming performances list.

Here's a video from a 2005 performance, for more videos see their video page.

Kol Shira: Mizmor L'David

Vashti's Revenge - Galeet Dardashti presents music from The Naming

Twitter's been bubbling. The blogosphere's been buzzing. Strange costumes and mask's are popping up in unlikely places. I've been invited to a dozen parties I'm too far away to attend. I declare it officially Purim.

If you're in the New York City area and want to kick off the Purim season in style, I recommend you check out Galeet Dardashti's show on Thursday, March 5 at Santos Party House in NYC. Dardashti, who specializes in Misrachi and Sephardic music, released the stellar Divahn album a few years back. This week she'll be debuting Vashti's Revenge and other music from her new album, The Naming. (Note: This is not the CD release party. The disc isn't out yet). Here's the official description of the album...

"The Queen of Sheba's shaven legs. A witch's bitter prophecy. The female superheroes who saved Moses. These stories make up The Naming, singer and composer Galeet Dardashti's exploration of the little-known lives of the Bible's phantom women."

I'd simply describe it as a passionate whirlwind. Enough said. Go to the show. For more information about, check out Dardashti's website or FaceBook page. Tickets to the show, you're going right?, can be had through TicketWeb.

Vashti's Revenge

Sarit Hadad - Israeli singer & Mountain Jew

Zeitgeist is a funny thing. Yesterday I posted about the music of the Mountain Jews from the Caucuses. I've had it on my to do list for months and finally got around to it (I'm very distractable). After I post it, I go and catch up on my mailing lists and there is an email from Eva, one of the Klezmershack gang, pointing to this great video on YouTube. The video..Sarit Hadad. Israeli Mountain Jew. The internet is just like that sometimes. Hadad is a popular Israeli performer with a slew of records to her credit and who represented Israel's the 2002 Eurovision contest. You can find out more about her, and buy her albums, through her website and Myspace page.

Sarit Hadad - Inta Omri

Update: The original video I posted got yanked from YouTube. The one up there is a perfectly fine replacement, though not the one recommended by Eva.

Hat tip to YouTube user djelina for posting the video.

Six Points Fellowship Recordings (Sway Machinery, Clare Burson, David Griffin, Divhan)

I found another cool Jewish music source this week. The site is called Imeem and claims to be a "social network where millions of fans and artists discover new music, videos, and photos, and share their tastes with friends." One nice feature of Imeem is playlists, user defined song collections. I haven't played around with creating any yet, but I spent a week in the office listing to a variety of different Jewish music themed playlists including this great one featuring musicians from the Six Points Fellowship.

About a year ago I mentioned the Six Points Fellowship when writing about Jeremiah Lockwood's Sway Machinery and David Griffin's Hebrew School, two good musicians and good guys who have gotten some grant funding through the Six Points fellowship. A year later, I'm still waiting patiently. As far as I'm aware, none of the Six Pointers have released the albums that they've been working on. Ah well. I'll tide myself over listening to these tracks. They're the same ones features on the Six Points website, but it's a lot more fun to kick off the playlist and dig back into the telemetry control system design tool I've been working on. (Yes, I consider that fun.) I get a bit of whiplash going from Burson's throaty barstool Americana to Griffan's understated tickity Casio keyboard pop to Lockwood's deep mystical funk to Divahn's whirling, growling, Mizrachi chanting, but it's a good whiplash. It'll have to do until the albums come out.



Hat Tip to Imeem user Lila Dobs for compiling the playlist.

Zohar: World Fusion Beat Scientists

About two years ago I stumbled onto one of the bands that, for my ears, would define my musical interests for years to come. That band is the Argentinian-born, Paris based, Gotan Project. (In fact, you can say my current favorite area of music is a triangle defined by Gotan Project, the New York band Firewater, and the SF combo Davka.) Gotan Project isn't a Jewish project, but it's fine music. The combo made the observation that their beloved Argentinian Tango, with it's slow lush romanticism, would blend perfectly with the emerging electronica style called 'downtempo.' And they were powerfully right. The electronica context lets them deconstruct and reassemble Tango, widening it's compositional space while remaining true to it's defining musical motifs and ornamentations.

Ever since I was exposed to the Gotan Project, I've been convinced that someone should take on a similar project with Jewish music. I felt that the minor key edginess of Klezmer could be unwound and played out against a broader background and that the open desert keening of Misrachi (Middle Eastern / "Oriental") could be heightened by placing it into a contemporary context. Now, I'm clearly not the guy to try making the music, but Erran Baron Cohen might is. Cohen, and his combo, draw well-researched and precise influences from a range of Jewish, Arab, and Mediterranean sources. Their two albums, "one.three.seven" and "Do You Have Any Faith?" are pretty amazing explorations and are in currently in pretty heavy rotation. Check them out in this YouTube video posted by "thecrimesyndicate":

Zohar - Live


You can find out more about Zohar at their website, MySpace page, and this Spinner article by Steve Hochman.

Unlike, Gotan Project, which has pretty much defined and mastered a genre, I feel that Zohar has uncovered a rich area of exploration. There's so much more that can be done here.