''Yemenite Songs'' ( he, שירי תימן) 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 Rabbi Shalom ben Yosef ben Avigad Shabazi of the family of Mashtā (1619 – c. 1720), also Abba Sholem Shabazi or Saalem al-Shabazi ( he, שלום שבזי; ar, سالم الشبزي), was a Jewish poet who lived in 17th century Yemen. He is n ...

. 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 accent and in Arabic. In US, the album has been released under the title ''Fifty Gates of Wisdom (Yemenite Songs)'' having a slightly different track order.

Composition

The opening song "

Im Nin' Alu "Im Nin'alu" () (English: ''If the gates are locked'') is a Hebrew poem by 17th-century Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. It has been placed to music and sung by Israeli singer Ofra Haza and others. Haza first performed this song with the Shechunat Hatikva Wor ...

"'s

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

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''.

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 In the Book of Exodus, Amram (; ) is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. In the Bible In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to th ...

, Shabazi) 4:14 #"Ode Le-Eli" (Shabazi, Traditional) - 3:31 #"Lefelach Harimon" (Shabazi, Traditional) 5:08 #"Ayelet Chen" (Shabazi) - 6:30

Personnel

* Ofra Haza -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Benny Nagari - arranger, conductor, music producer * Lesli Lishinski, Marvin Feinshmit -

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

* Ilan School -

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

* Eli Magen - double bass * Iki Levy -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

, metal and wooden percussion, timbales * Abigail Erenheim, Benny Nagari -

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

* Shlomo Shochat - French horn * Meril Grinberg, Herman Openstein - oboe,

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

* Chaim Gispan - percussion (Yemenite tin &

tambala The kwacha (; ISO 4217: MWK, official name Malawi Kwacha) is the currency of Malawi as of 1971, replacing the Malawian pound. It is divided into 100 tambala. The kwacha replaced other types of currency, namely the British pound sterling, the Sou ...

) *

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

: Avraham Rosenblatt, Elchanan Bregman, Israel Berkowitch, Israela Wisser, Rima Kaminkowski, Yigal Tuneh, Yitzchak Markowetzki, Yuval Kaminkowski

Production

* Bezalel Aloni - record producer * Benny Nagari - music producer/arranger * Yoav Gera - Audio recording and mixing * Recorded at Triton Studios, Tel Aviv between August and September 1984. * Aharon Amram - artistic advisor

References

{{Authority control 1984 albums Ofra Haza albums Yemeni music