Shlomi Shaban visits
'Unique music that doesn't try to imitate anyone, smart, intelligent and sensitive.'
Acclaimed Israel singer-songwriter Shlomi Shaban, who will appear in Australia this month, says touring Down Under fills him with “passion and curiosity”.
Shaban, who blends insightful lyrics, a sense of humour and fine piano playing, is one of the most respected artists in Israel today.
Zionism Victoria (ZV) is hosting the Israeli artist for a special Melbourne performance on November 24, at which he will appear with artist Shaya Avitan.
Asked about the upcoming visit, his first to Australia, Shaban told The AJN, “I am super excited to come to play in Australia. I have never visited there, and it has always been a dream of mine. As an Israeli artist who writes and sings in Hebrew, most of the time, except for very special appearances, I perform within the borders of my country – playing in the same cities over and over for my entire life.
“There is something almost poetic about this endless return to those places. Poetic and maybe also Sisyphean.”
As to performing in Australia, he said, “I come full of passion and curiosity to make music and meeting the locals.”
Born in Tel Aviv in 1976, Shaban was trained from an early age as a classical pianist. Likened to Leonard Cohen, he is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musicians in Israel, drawing praise for his diverse talent and original approach. His love and knowledge of a wide range of genres, such as rock, pop, jazz, blues, Jewish traditional music and classical music, as well as his connection to poetry and prose, results in rich and intelligent songs.
Ir (City), Shaban’s second album, was highly rated by the critics. In 2009, Shaban released his third album (recorded in Sweden), Migdal Hapizmon (Tower of Song), which included cover versions of some of his favourites, Israeli songs from all genres and original Hebrew translations to songs by Randy Newman and Leonard Cohen. (Shaban is one of the only authorised translators to Hebrew of Cohen’s songs.)
In 2014 Shaban released his fourth album, Targil Behitorerut (Drill in Awakening), a collaboration with a collective band, Tamir Muskat (Balkan Beat Box) and Israel’s top folk singer of over 50 years and 60 albums, Chava Alberstein, who collaborated with Shaban in a duet of the album’s theme song.
Hallely Kimchi, director of Habayit, ZV’s support organisation for local Israelis, who has clinched Shaban for the Australian visit, related, “My dream of bringing Shlomi Shaban to Australia started sometime after I heard the genial song, Exercise in Awakening, he wrote and performed with the one and only Chava Alberstein.
“Everything in that song just grabbed me: unique music that doesn’t try to imitate anyone, smart, intelligent and sensitive.”
In a message to the community, Kimchi offered, “I hope that my dream will somehow become yours and that you will come and be a part of this extraordinary evening, even if you don’t know his music.”
Shlomi Shaban and Shaya Avitan will perform in Melbourne on Sunday, November 24, 7pm at a venue to be announced. For tickets, visit fingertip.com/shlomi-shaban-liveinmelbourne
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