Guest review by Sharon Geller
Published January 15, 2011, 2:10 PM
The nine-piece international band, Yemen Blues, featuring the raspy, charismatic singer and gimbi musician Ravid Kahalani, played to an extremely satisfied standing-room-only crowd at the Painted Bride Arts Center on the night of Saturday, in Center City Philadelphia.
The master showman Kahalani, who exuded Yemenite warmth with his open arms and constant rhythmic bodily movements, as though he himself was transported by the Bedouin tunes straight to the Sahara Desert, was joined on stage by the talented Omer Avital (oud and bass), Galia Hai (viola), Yoed Nir (cello), Rafi Malkiel (trombone), Hadar Noiberg (Flute), Itamar Borochov (trumpet), Itamar Doari (Middle Eastern percussion) and Rony Iwryn (Latin Percussion).
Combining a musical genre that included Yemenite poetry, soul, blues, funk and American and West African jazz, as well as classical opera singing, Kahalani offered something for everyone. Whether he was dancing impromptu with members of his band or participating in a circular quartet of waving scarves wildly over their heads, it was clear that Kahalani enjoys what he does.
Each member of the ensemble was given the opportunity to shine, but one of the highlights of the evening was the drum duet between Iwryn and Doari who commanded their instruments in a way that this percussion-playing reviewer has never witnessed. Most interesting to watch throughout the evening was the Uruguayan-born Iwryn, who treated the audience to sounds emanating from a variety of unusual percussion instruments. The highly talented Avital was featured in a moving oud solo and, throughout the evening, one could hear shadings of Hebrew, Yemenite, Arabic, Moroccan, and even French Creole.
Kahalani, who grew up in a traditional Yemenite-Jewish family in Israel, learned the language and chants of his origins, but it wasn’t until he joined forces with the well-known bass player and composer from New York, Avital, in 2010 that Yemen Blues was born.
“Yemen Blues is a language you will understand no matter where you come from,” says Kahalani. Judging from the reaction of the audience which often felt compelled to applaud and dance throughout the evening, Kahalani is correct.
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