Re: misirlou

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

At 03:49 PM 1/6/00 -0500, you wrote:
>
>In a message dated 1/6/00 11:09:17 AM, winklerh (at) hotmail(dot)com writes:
>
><< I do know that Israeli folk dancing went through a Greek Phase for some 
>reason. >>
>
>Come to think of it, I have heard some Yiddish music enthusiasts (commonly 
>known as Klezmer Geeks) criticize Israeli music as being unauthentic and too 
>Western sounding. I wonder if some Israelis have been attracted to Greek folk 
>music because it has more of the Eastern folk music to it, compared to what 
>some people call Israeli "fakelore."

Folk music enthusiasts who criticize Israeli music for being too
"Western" are trying to judge Israeli folk music by listening to
Israeli Top 40, with results not so different from what you would
hear in this country, just less homogenous. Israel is very much a 
part of the western world, and much of its popular music sounds 
like American pop and/or European pop.

On the other hand, there are rich and diverse folk streams that
are part of the Israeli "folk" culture, ranging from Yemenite 
to European, and certainly including a healthy influx of Greek
and Turkish sounds. The Israeli rock star, Yehuda Poliker, is
the son of Greek Holocaust survivors, and you can hear a lot of
Greek influences in his music. He's probably the most obvious
case; as might the delightful Miki Gavrielov be a great example
of Turkish influence. And, of course, once you leave top 40, 
both the recorded diversity and authenticity are as expected--
quite remarkable.

Israeli klezmer, on the other hand....

ari



Ari Davidow
ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/

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