Yemenite Songs
Encyclopedia
Yemenite Songs a.k.a. Shirey Teyman is a 1984 album by Ofra Haza
, in which the Israeli pop star returned to her roots interpreting traditional Yemeni Jewish songs with lyrics coming from the poetry of 16th century Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The album was recorded with both traditional and modern musical instruments; wooden and metal percussion, Yemenite tin and tambala, strings, brass and woodwind as well as drum machines and synthesizers.
The songs are sung in Hebrew with a Yemenite dialect and in Arabic.
The opening song "Im Nin' Alu"'s a cappella
intro would eventually become the starting point of Haza's international career as it was sampled
by a number of European and American rap and dance acts like Eric B. & Rakim
on their "Paid In Full" and M|A|R|R|S on "Pump Up the Volume
" which led to Haza releasing a dance remix of her own recording in 1988 (subtitled Played In Full) which became a pop chart hit in many parts of the world. Remixes of both "Im Nin' Alu" and "Galbi
" were included on the first international album Shaday
.
The Yemenite Songs album has also been released under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom.
Side B:
Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer of Yemeni origin, an actress and international recording artist....
, in which the Israeli pop star returned to her roots interpreting traditional Yemeni Jewish songs with lyrics coming from the poetry of 16th century Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The album was recorded with both traditional and modern musical instruments; wooden and metal percussion, Yemenite tin and tambala, strings, brass and woodwind as well as drum machines and synthesizers.
The songs are sung in Hebrew with a Yemenite dialect and in Arabic.
The opening song "Im Nin' Alu"'s a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
intro would eventually become the starting point of Haza's international career as it was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by a number of European and American rap and dance acts like Eric B. & Rakim
Eric B. & Rakim
Eric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre...
on their "Paid In Full" and M|A|R|R|S on "Pump Up the Volume
Pump up the Volume (song)
"Pump Up the Volume" is a song and the only single by British recording act MARRS. It was a number-one hit in many countries and is generally regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British house music and music sampling....
" which led to Haza releasing a dance remix of her own recording in 1988 (subtitled Played In Full) which became a pop chart hit in many parts of the world. Remixes of both "Im Nin' Alu" and "Galbi
Galbi (song)
"Galbi" is an Arabic poem by the 17th century Yemenite Rabbi Shalom Shabazi which later was set to music, and was sung by Israeli Yemenite singer Ofra Haza and others...
" were included on the first international album Shaday
Shaday
Shaday was a 1988 album by Ofra Haza, released after the international chart success of the single "Im Nin' Alu ." Like the follow-up "Galbi," it was originally included on the 1984 album Yemenite Songs, which consisted of traditional folk songs with lyrics coming from the poetry of 16th century...
.
The Yemenite Songs album has also been released under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom.
Track listing
Side A:- "Im Nin 'Alu" (Shabazi) - 5:18
- "Yachilvi Veyachali" (Shabazi) - 3:27
- "A 'Salk" (Shabazi, Traditional) - 4:45
- "Tzur Mentati"/"Se'i Yona"/"Sapri Tama" (Ben-Amram, Shabazi, Traditional) - 5:44
Side B:
- "Galbi" (Amram, Shabazi) 4:14
- "Ode Le-Eli" (Shabazi, Traditional) - 3:31
- "Lefelach Harimon" (Shabazi, Traditional) 5:08
- "Ayelet Chen" (Shabazi) - 6:30
Personnel
- Ofra HazaOfra HazaOfra Haza was an Israeli singer of Yemeni origin, an actress and international recording artist....
- lead vocals - Lesli Lishinski - bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
- Marvin Feinshmit - bassoon tracks A3, B1
- Ilan School - clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet... - Eli Magen - double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Iki Levy - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, congas, metal and wooden percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, timbalesTimbalesTimbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned... - Abigail Erenheim - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
tracks A1, A2, A4, B2 to B4 - Benny Nagari - flute, piccolo tracks A3, B1
- Shlomo Shochat - french horn
- Meril Grinberg - oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, english horn - Herman Openstein - oboe, English horn tracks A3, B1
- Chaim Gispan - percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(Yemenite tin & tambala) - Avraham Rosenblatt - stringsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
- Elchanan Bregman - strings
- Israel Berkowitch - strings
- Israela Wisser - strings
- Rima Kaminkowski - strings
- Yigal Tuneh - strings
- Yitzchak Markowetzki - strings
- Yuval Kaminkowski - strings
Production
- Bezalel Aloni - record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Benny Nagari - musical arranger
- Yoav Gera - audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Recorded at Triton Studios, Tel Aviv between August and September 1984.
- Aharon Amram - artistic advisor