Re: from yesterday's Yediot Ahronot

[Shirona <shirona...>]

Hi Lenka,

Good to see you on the list!...

You describe an age-old cultural phenomenon.  Culture is not political. It
answers to a different set of rules. I've experienced growing up in Israel
the slow transformation, or rather the blending of European and Mizrahi
cultures.  After hearing "Arabic" music during my childhood and consistently
hating it - at some point, it's hard to say exactly when, but all of a
sudden it started to sound "cool", blending a few Mizrahi riffs into a song.
I think that the group "Kaveret" (Poogy) were one of the first (cool,
sophisticated, upscale) groups to experiment with that blend.  Once
something achieves "cool" status - well then the floodgates are wide open.
It seems to me that this "eastward" direction is still accelerating, and as
for myself - I can't get enough of that "Arabic" sounding music.  I've even
listened to Oum Kolthoum - the famous Egyptian singer, while remembering how
much I was disgusted by it as a child.  Go figure!

Shirona

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Singer, Songwriter and Teacher of Jewish Music
 Visit my website at    www.shirona.com
Listen to my music at www.mp3.com/shirona
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----- Original Message -----
From: "lenka lichtenberg" <lenkal (at) attcanada(dot)ca>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 2:36 AM
Subject: Re: from yesterday's Yediot Ahronot


> 13 years ago, it came as a great shock to me to find out that, having
> married a sabra of Iraqi Jewish origin, i also married family parties of
my
> in-laws enlivened by Arab music groups  (very loud). i happen to enjoy the
> music greatly, but had a problem reconciling the fact of the family having
> barely escaped an Iraqi pogrom (1941 i think), and them being so stuck on
> Arabic - anything ( music, language, food, clothes...) . i learned,
whatever
> it is you grew up with is stronger than most later influences ( in their
> case, anyway, while i'm the opposite). they don't perceive the Arab
culture
> as at all tainted by politics.
>               lenka
> www.lenkalichtenberg.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sandra Layman <sandralayman (at) earthlink(dot)net>
> To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 10:54 AM
> Subject: Re: from yesterday's Yediot Ahronot
>
>
> > A somewhat related topic: it's my understanding that performers of
> > traditional Iraqi music used to include many Jewish musicians.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <NESKATAN (at) aol(dot)com>
> > To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 8:09 AM
> > Subject: from yesterday's Yediot Ahronot
> >
> >
> > > Ovadia Orders Shas Pupils to Study Arab Music
> > >
> > > Acting under the express instructions of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi
> > Ovadia Yosef, teachers in Shas&#8217;s El Hamaayan schools have begun
> giving
> > pupils lessons on the subject of Arab musicology. Ovadia Yosef is known
to
> > be an avid fan of Arabic music, and many prayers in Sephardi synagogues
> are
> > sung in Arabic tunes. The change occurred in the wake of a report that
> > appeared in the Shas newspaper, Yom Leyom, that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
ruled:
> > &#8220;One should give preference to Arab melodies over secular Israeli
> > tunes... in the quiet Arab melodies, the soul sits better with the
melody.
> > That is not the case with the secular melodies and all the more so in
the
> > foreign material, where the rhythm and the tonal jumps are relatively
> > wild.&#8221;
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>


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