Rishon Rishon

Shlomo Bar

There’s a concert going on down the street from me. It’s a time of celebration – Sukot. I walked over with my kids, to tire them out before putting them to sleep, and was just about to leave when to my great surprise and delight, the bandleader invited Shlomo Bar onto the stage.

Shlomo Bar is one of the pioneers of Israeli East-West fusion. It’s really a very interesting fusion of western popular music and Middle Eastern music. The closest thing to it is Greek music, which is also an East-West fusion, but to my ears it sounds very different. Shlomo Bar is a musician’s musician, and a more popular fusion is now the most popular style of music in Israel today.

Here’s his website. Try listening to אהבתה של תרזה די מון (The love of Theresa Dimon), or ריצתו של העולה דנינו (The run of the immigrant Danino), or את אצבעותיך (Your fingers), and see if you can hear the hets and `ayins. (The first words of the last song are: et esb`otekha et yadeykha et paneykha et `eyneykha – your fingers, your hands, your face, your eyes. The word: et is an object marker.)