Israeli music

[Jack Falk \(E-mail\) <jackfalk...>]

Has anyone mentioned Zohar Argov?  He was the king of
'em all, the ultimate Mizrahi soul singer, dead far
too young.  (Locked up for drugs, hanged himself in
prison.)  Some of Zohar's stuff is overproduced
shlock, really ugly arrangements, but he did some
excellent work with a small Mediterranean ensemble -
guitar, keyboard, bouzouki, bass, drums.  The guy
could sing. 

I'm also partial to Tea Packs (also spelled Tippex). 
The leader, Kobi Oz, writes some very intelligent pop
that does a great job of blending Western and Mizrahi
influences.  They're an ethnically mixed (Ashk./Seph.)
group from a pretty poor development town in southern
Israel.  My favorite album:  Neshika L'Dod. 

Another favorite:  the quartet Esta, who spent a
number of years in NY before moving back to Israel a
year or two ago.  First-rate musicianship, with a
great variety of instrumental settings.  Who else has
used cumbus/jumbush in Jewish music?

Also worth a listen:  the young Mizrahi singers Sarit
Hadad and Zahava Ben.  As with other Mizrahi pop
favorites, their recordings alternate between Hebrew
and Arabic lyrics.  Zahava Ben was quite popular in
neighboring countries before things turned ugly last
year. 

Yankl

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