Loving the Voice

In passing, I heard a wailing Arab sounding voice in an album I copied into Molly recently. I realised after listening closely that this wailing Arab woman wasn't wailing Arab at all, but Hebrew - one of the few words I recognised from synagogue scenes you see in movies was in her song.

The song was entitled "What Will Be", by Zehava Ben, an Israeli singer of Moroccan descent. Perhaps I have this thing for beautiful yet painful tunes, but this song moved me to find more. And what I found was interesting, to say the least...

"In the complex tangle of Sephardi-Ashkenazi relationships, Zehava Ben comes off as something of a unique figure.

Ben is arguably the most popular female vocalist in the Mizrahi genre, one of the main practitioners of the "Turkish" style of singing which has come to dominate Oriental music in the '90s. At the same time, she has begun to win over substantial audiences among Ashkenazi music lovers, a phenomenon which one might trace back to the last elections when Ben and Dana Berger performed for Meretz campaign spots.

The Mizrahi sound comes out most clearly with Ben's singing style. Her voice is, to put it mildly, a bit of an acquired taste. New listeners may initially be put off by her trilling and ululating. Her vocals, however, are quite soulful and add a new dimension to these tunes."

Despite her identity (she is an Israeli Jew), she has performed in Palestinian cities and in some Arab countries, including those that do not have peace treaties with Israel. Interesting.

1. About Zehava Ben.
2. Samples here.
3. News of her appearance on Al-Jazeera here.