Mizrachi Music presented by Jason Hecht

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Israeli & Jewish Music Affinity Group

Mizrachi Music
presented by Jason Hecht

Monday, November 18, 2024

8pm Eastern | 7pm Central | 5pm Pacific

Want to learn about and hear Mizrachi Music?  This presentation will include some interactive audience participation with questions and answers (Not requiring people to be shown on the zoom don’t worry).

Music featured by artists Eyal Golan, Dudu Aharon, and many more.

There will also be a part 2 to this presentation with a special guest video in the upcoming weeks.

Mizrachi Jews who immigrated from the Arab countries have, over the last 50 years, created a unique musical style that combines elements of Arabic, Turkish, and Greek music. The Muzika Mizrachit movement started in the 1950s with homegrown performers in neighborhoods with a high concentration of Jews from Arab countries who would play at weddings and other events. They performed songs in Hebrew, but in an Arabic style, on traditional Arabic instruments—the oud, kanun, and the darbuka. In the 1960s, they added acoustic and electric guitar to their sound and so their sound became more eclectic. Vocalists usually decorated their singing with trills, and delivery was often nasal or guttural in sound. Intonation was typically Western, however; singers did not use the quartertone scales typical of Arabic music. Into the 1980s synthesizers and electronic instruments made their debut in Mizrachi music.

The first Mizrachi artist of this era was the Moroccan-born Jo Amar, who through the 1950s and 1960s made several albums and songs contributing to the genre, mostly influenced by Moroccan music. Another notable if foreign artist that helped contribute to the young genre was Aris San, who helped popularize Greek music in Israel in the 1960s and 1970s with his distinct rock style on traditional Greek songs.

Lyrics were originally texts taken from classic Hebrew literature, including poems by medieval Hebrew poets. Later they added texts by Israeli poets, and began writing original lyrics as well. Singers also translated childhood favorites from Arabic to Hebrew and added electronics and a faster tempo.

For more info contact: Jason Hecht