''Kirya'' (an ancient Hebrew nickname for Jerusalem) is a 1992 album by Israeli singer Ofra Haza. Intended as the follow-up to Haza’s internationally successful ''

Shaday ''Shaday'' is an album by Israeli singer Ofra Haza, released in 1988. ''Shaday'', recorded in both Tel Aviv and England, became Haza's international breakthrough album and includes the Hebrew-English language remix singles "Im Nin'alu" and "Galbi, ...

'' (1988) and ''

Desert Wind The ''Desert Wind'' was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran from 1979 to 1997. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles as a section of the ''California Zephyr'', serving Los Angeles via Salt Lake City; Ogden, Utah; and Las Vegas. ...

'' (1989) albums, it built on her successful blend of Electronic dance music and traditional Middle Eastern sounds, being a logical next step for Haza. Musically, it applied the sensibilities of pop producer

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

to traditional song writing and instrumentation; lyrically, it delivered powerful themes of longing, joy, and the plight of the downtrodden in several languages, much like Haza's earlier work. Along with producer Was, Haza was joined by other Western musicians, including a featured duet with

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

on "Daw Da Hiya", a song about a girl sentenced to death for becoming pregnant out of wedlock while the man responsible remains free. Music videos were made for two of the album's tracks, "Daw Da Hiya" and "Innocent" - "A Requiem for Refugees". In 1993, the album was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in the "Best World Music Album" category, an achievement which to this day has not been matched by any other Israeli singer.

Track listing

#"Kirya" (Traditional, Haza, Aloni) - 6:11 #"Horashoot – ''The Bridge''" (Traditional, Ben Amram, Haza, Aloni) - 3:46 #"Innocent" – ''A Requiem for Refugees'' (Haza, Aloni) - 4:46 #"Trains of No Return" (Haza, Aloni) - 4:15 #"Mystery Faith and Love" (Haza, Aloni) - 5:24 #"Daw Da Hiya" (featuring

) (Haza, Aloni, Morriss) - 4:55 #"Don't Forsake Me" (Traditional, Shabazi, Haza, Aloni) - 4:35 #"Barefoot" (Haza, Aloni) - 5:14 #"Take 7/8" (Amram, Haza, Aloni) - 4:35 #"Today I'll Pray" (Bonus track certain editions) (Haza, Aloni) - 4:33

Charts

Personnel

Ofra Haza Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza ( he, בת-שבע עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000), known as Ofra Haza (), was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actress, and Grammy Award-nominated recording artist commonly known in the Western world as ...

–

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 ...

– vocals/narration * Harry Hyman Vento –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* John Belezikjian – violin * Tzur Ben-Zelev –

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

* David McMurray –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

* Professor Ali Jihad Racy –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Rodrigo Manuel – percussion * Ed Cherney –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

* Mortonette Jenkins – background vocals * Natalie Jackson – background vocals * Marlena Jetter – background vocals *

Valerie Carter Valerie Gail Zakian Carter (February 5, 1953 – March 4, 2017) was an American singer. Biography Carter began her career singing in coffeehouses as a teenager, and eventually became one-third of the country-folk band Howdy Moon. Though they de ...

– background vocals *

Mark Goldenberg Mark Goldenberg (born April 10, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others. Biography Early career Raised in Chicago, Illin ...

– background vocals, electric guitar, accordion, harmonium

Production

–

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

* Ofra Haza – producer * Bezalel Aloni – producer * Recorded at Microplant, Conway, Devonshire, England; Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California; Bee Studio, Bahia, Brazil.

References

{{Authority control 1992 albums Ofra Haza albums Albums produced by Don Was East West Records albums