Four Israeli singers who will blow your mind
Maya Avraham / Eyal Golan / Ofra Haza / Beri Sakharof
“This will make you wet your pants…”
(phrase borrowed from Misi Farkas – pron. Mishi Farkash – Hungarian musician)
It is no easy task trying to pick out four top singers from an Israeli musical scene that is: 1) multi-faceted, highly versatile, and easily combines western pop / rock with Arab/Turkish styles, 2) that reaches back to at least the 60’s, and is hardly known in Europe. They are not listed in any order of preference or musical priority.
No 1: Maya Avraham (מאיה אברהם)
– the beauty of this song will make you cry
This Israel-born artist hit the big stage in her 20’s with her appearances/performance as part of the Idan Raichel Project. She sang some of the formation’s other highly featured songs, e.g. Azini (عزيني, Arabic), ), MiKol haAhavot (מכל האהבות).
She easily blends western pop with oriental singing. Besides her work with the Idan Raichel Project, she released one solo album. She is the mother of four children.
No 2: Eyal Golan (אייל גולן)
He is often called the Lark of Israel and thought by many to possess Israel’s best male voice. Now in his mid-50’s, he has been actively performing for nearly 35 years. The son of Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Jewish parents, he has been the most prominent representative of that musical style in the country. His solo career reached its highest successes in the 2000’s, and he sold 145 000 of his 2008 solo album.
The words of this song: “don’t mess with the heart of a man” falls closely in line with the typical lyrics of this genre (i.e. cheesy):
No 3: Ofra Haza (עפרה חזה)
Quite likely Israel’s greatest singer ever, who was probably closest to becoming an international superstar. She was the daughter of Yemenite parents and, as a result, easily switched between Western musical styles and Arabic traditions. Apart from her obvious beauty and radiance on stage, she should be noted for her beautiful, clear voice and natural approach to singing. She tragically passed away in her early 40’s of an AIDS-related illness.
No 4: Beri Sakharof (ברי סחרוף )
The song begins: „Welcome to the party closing the century. Here everyone is given a gun and a mask.” Both the words and the performance will put him next to the likes of Lour Reed and Visotsky from Russia. Before his rise in Israel in the 90’s, he had founded the punk band Minimal Compact in Belgium, which achieved considerable success. After returning to Israel, he released his most acclaimed album Signs of Weakness (סימנים של חולשה), „a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist and producer Rea Mochiach, was chosen as the 11th best album ever (and the highest ranking for an Israeli album) by a readers' poll on the popular news site Ynet.” (Wikipedia)