ENTERTAINMENT hi-I--
GREAT FOOD
Is ALWAYS
IN SEASONS.
As part of our multi-million dollar renovation,
we've gone to great pains to make sure that Seasons
Cafe isn't just another restaurant.
We're out to make it the restaurant in Southfield.
So we created a warm, inviting atmosphere. Provided
skilled, attentive service. And, most importantly,
developed a menu of such American favorites as
roast prime rib of beet veal chop Alaska, seafood and
pasta. All beautifully prepared and sensibly priced.
So try us for dinner soon. In the new Sheraton
Southfield Hotel. For reservations, call 559-6500.
16400 J.L. Hudson Drive, Southfield.
SEASONS
C
AF
E
PiStoluake
IN MARKET STREET SHOPPES, 29400 Northwestern Hwy.
Southfield
358-0344
Presents
A Touch of Old Mexico
CINCO de MAYO FIESTA
All-You-Can-Eat Mexican Buffet
Strolling Mariachi Music
Inside and Outside
SUNDAY, MAY 6
5 p.m. til .. .
and
A Special Menu She'll Love
MOTHER'S DAY
SUNDAY, MAY 13
2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Valet Parking $20 per person Reservations Required
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IN SHELTERS.
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Way Torch Drive helps shelter
the homeless. Give, for all the
good you can do.
United Way
for Southeastern Michigan
90
FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1990
Ofra Haza Is Crossing
The Musical Border
DAVID HOLZEL
Special to The Jewish News
E
nglish lyrics melt into
Yemenite dialect in
Ofra Haza's musical
realm. It is a kingdom which
moves to sensuous, ancient
rhythms that also happen to
be the dance-floor beat of
1990 Amsterdam, London
and New York.
Haza, who began her ca-
reer as an Israeli pop singer,
several years ago caught the
rising star of World Beat
dance music — the mingling
of international sounds —
and began to blend her
Yemenite musical heritage
with techno-pop. The fusion
has made her famous in
Europe, but until now
Oframania hadn't reached
American shores.
The 30-year-old singer is
on her first American tour
on the heels of the release of
her third U.S. album, Desert
Wind. Haza said she's look-
ing forward to meeting her
U.S. audience during the 23-
city tour. It's an audience,
she says, not only compris-
ing Israelis and American
Jews, but Americans who
discovered her — unwitting-
ly — on dance floors. That in-
itial encounter was a matter
of chance for her as well.
"I was in Israel and some
friends called me from Lon-
don. They said, 'There's a
big hit (song) here. Every-
body's asking, whose voice is
this?' "
The voice was Haza's. The
song was "Paid in Full" by
rap duo Eric B. and Rakim.
The rappers "sampled"
Haza's song "Im Ninalu,"
electronically lifting her
vocal and stirring it into the
mix of "Paid in Full," which
also became popular in this
country. And so "Im
Ninalu," based on an an-
cient Yemenite melody,
crossed over the boundary of
tradition to join the interna-
tional current of music.
"After the shock it was in-
teresting," Haza says of how
her voice was used. "A re-
ligious Yemenite song with
rap music." While the
rappers neglected to ask for
permission to use the
snippet — "They said they
didn't know where to find
me. I believe they thought I
was from the desert
somewhere." — Haza says it
gave a big push to her ca-
reer.
The lesson she learned was
that a melody that could
Ofra Haza has started a 23-city tour
survive the desert for 2,000
years could also sell albums.
And her record company is
seeing to it Haza profits from
"Paid in Full's" success.
Haza hopes her Yemenite
fusion may be enough to
make her the first Israeli
singer to become a star in
America. Others have tried,
but were unable to break out
of the restrictive Jewish and
Israeli audience barrier.
Israel, it seemed, was just
too foreign and provincial a
place to become the source of
international pop stars.
At Turtles Records, by con-
trast, Haza's Desert Wind is
stacked between Hawkwind
and Head East on the
"pop/soul" shelves, rather
than relegated to the inter-
national singers section.
Ethnic and the exotic were
not in vogue when Haza
began her career in Tel
Aviv's poor Hatikvah
quarter. She was the
youngest child of immi-
grants from Yemen. At age
12 she became involved with
a neighborhood theater,
whose director, Bezalel
Aloni, has been Haza's man-
ager, co-writer and co-
producer throughout her ca-
reer.
After her army service,
Haza established herself as a
popular local singer, record-
ed albums and was selected
as Israel's representative to
the 1984 Eurovision Song
Contest. Her entry "Chai"
took second place. That was
enough to get her inside the
European market, an open-
ing that yawned wider as
musical cross-pollinization
became the rage.
Haza may have had only
soft Israeli pop to offer her
world audience if she and
Aloni hadn't decided to put
together an album of tradi-
tional Yemenite melodies,
poems and prayers, energiz-
ed by electronic technology.
That album, Shirei Teiman
(Songs of Yemen),
known as "50 Gates of
Wisdom" outside Israel, sold
more than a million copies
worldwide.
While Most of Desert
Wind's 10 cuts are suitable
for the dance floor, Haza
says her musical fusion of
Yemenite and high-tech
pyrotechnics is "deeper than
pop."
Imagine shimmying to
"Middle East," whose lyrics
are addressed to the Palesti-
nians: "You and I are
parallel lines/ You and I,
where can we meet?"
Another song, "Mm'mma"
speaks of the plight of
Yemenite and Ethiopian
Jews who are trapped in
their lands and unable to
come to Israel. "I hope one
day the gates will be open,"
Haza says of her persecuted
brothers and sisters. "I'm
not a politician and I'm not a
diplomat. At least I can draw
attention to the problem."