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34
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1988
MARLENE GOLDMAN
Special to The Jewish News
N
ew York — Take 16th
Century Yemenite po-
etry, add 20th Cen-
tury dance-club synthesizers
and blend in a generous por-
tion of the dulcet quiver of an
Israeli soprano. The result: an
international pop star with a
hit album.
Ofra Haza recorded "Fifty
Gates of Wisdom" four years
ago, but only recently has it
scored big in European and
American clubs. Considering
the entire album is sung in
Hebrew and draws from Ye-
menite poetry that is cen-
turies old, the surprise is not
how long the popularity took,
said Haza, but that it has
happened in America at all.
"My dream was always just
to be a singer and bring
something from myself to the
audience," the 29-year-old
vocalist of Yemenite ancestry
said while in New York. The
visit was one of the stops on
her six-date American en-
gagement to celebrate Israel's
40th anniversary. "But the
story is so fantastic. I was so
surprised."
Her album, released on Ace
Records in England in 1984,
only reached North America
when a Canadian label,
Shanachie, reissued the LP.
Segments from her single
"Galbi" (My Heart) have been
cut up and used in rap hits by
the groups M/A/R/R/S and
Erik B. and Rakim.
Both "Galbi" and her other
dance club hit, "Im Nin'alu
(Doors of Heaven)," utilize the
synthetic drum machine. But
like all the cuts on the album,
they retain the Yemenite
authenticity with an array of
orchestral strings, horns,
woodwinds and the per-
cussive rhythms of genuine
Yemenite instruments.
Even in her portrait on the
album cover, Haza is enwrap-
ped in an extravagant golden
robe and headdress, bedecked
with traditional-looking
stacks of jewelry.
While "Fifty Gates of
Wisdom" has opened the in-
ternational market doors,
Haza is hardly a newcomer in
Israel. Since age 12, when she
was a member of the Hatik-
vah theater troupe, she has
released 20 albums, six of
which have gone platinum
and 12 gold.
She also received two na-
tional equivalents to the
Grammy Award and has been
voted Israel's female singer of
Ofra Haza: Mixing traditions
the year five times in dif-
ferent media.
But Haza remembers the
days before stardom, when
even Israeli disc jockeys could
not pronounce her name.
"I was so excited," Haza
said of the first time hearing
herself on the radio when she
was 13. "I waited for my
name. But the announcer
said `Chazeh' (a pig or glut-
ton) and I cried so much.
"But my manager said,
don't worry, they will know
how to say your name," she
continued. "They" now en-
compasses a broad spectrum.
What's so significant to
Haza is that her popularity
stems from personal roots.
Though a native of Israel, her
parents emigrated there on
foot from Yemen, taking little
with them. Consequently,
Haza was raised in a finan-
cially depressed neighbor-
hood of Tel Aviv.
The youngest of nine child-
ren, Haza mirrors the tradi-
tional Yemenite, with long
coal-black hair, excited deep-
brown eyes and an exotically
delicate build.
She recalls that her mother
often sang Yemenite songs, an
inspiration for the Yemenite
"Fifty Gates of Wisdom."
Both Haza and her mana-
ger of about 17 years, Bezalel
Aloni, also a Yemenite Israeli,
chose to steep the album in
their ancient heritage as a
tribute to their parents.
"We wanted to mix the
Yemenite words with English
rhythm for the kids in the
discos and clubs," Haza said.
"I've kept the Yemenite at-
mosphere," she continued, "so
my parents like what I'm do-
ing. I mean I don't sing like a
rock and roller."
The injection of Western
pop into ethnic tradition, a
category Shanachie calls
World Beat/Ethno pop, is a
growing trend, spreading to
such areas as India, Africa,
the Orient and Europe.
Haza's music continues to
infiltrate new territory, as her
LP has recently been releas-
ed in Japan. In April, she also
will represent Israel at an in-
ternational music celebration
at London's Queen Elizabeth
Hall.
But wherever Haza brings
her music, she smiled,
"everybody is so warm, I feel
like I'm in a little Israel."
Part of that comfort stems
from her longtime partner-
ship with manager Aloni.
"We're like a team," Haza
said.
A large part Haza at-
tributes to her genuine love of
the Yemenite spirit. "It's my
roots, my soul," Haza said in
a bubble of sincere
enthusiasm.
"Pop songs are pop songs,
but when I sing the Yemenite
songs, I'm in heaven," she
added.
Lyrics to five of seven songs
on the album are written by
Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, a
16th Century Yemenite poet,
as are two of the three parts
of a medley on the LP.
Shabazi, a Diaspora Jew,
dominated the genre of
Yemenite poetry, which tradi-
tionally covers religious and
secular subjects and is per-
formed on festive occasions.
His lyrics express deep ap-
preciation for God, the Pro-
mised Land and love.
Haza wrote none of the
material on this album,
although she has on past
works. "Most of what I write
comes from inside," using
observation of personal ex-
perience, she said.
Haza refrains from political
songs. "I trust my govern-
ment," she expained. "I'm not
going to be a politician. I'm
comfortable in Israel. There's
fighting, but I don't feel like
it's so strong. I do want to
bring peace with my music
and see just happy faces all
the times'
Her popularity has spread
to the Arab world as well, as
she receives fan mail even
from the University of Cairo.
"Music is the international
language and Yemenite songs
have a lot of love and the
words hope for good," she said
in accounting for the cross-
over audience.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency