Ori Naftaly (born 1987) is an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i-born guitarist, composer and music producer. After founding the Ori Naftaly Band in Israel, he moved to
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and established the
Southern Avenue band.
Biography
Ori Naftaly grew up in the small town of
Even Yehuda
Even Yehuda ( he, אֶבֶן יְהוּדָה) is a town in the central Sharon region of Israel east of Netanya. In it had a population of .
History
The area of Even Yehuda has been inhabited intermittently since the Middle Paleolithic age, wit ...
,
east of
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
. At the age of 5, Ori began taking music lessons and learned to play guitar. Until graduating from Hadassim High School at the age of 17, he studied guitar with different teachers from a wide range of music genres (Spanish, Classical, Jazz and Funk). After graduation he was accepted to
Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music
Rimon School of Music is a contemporary music school in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.
It is Israel's largest independent professional school for advanced study of jazz, R&B, bebop, rock, and pop music. Many of its graduates have become well-known music ...
where he enrolled in Arrangement and Composition studies. After two years at Rimon (and studying Classical Guitar with Israeli musician Shlomo Yidov),
he recorded with musicians all over Israel while pursuing a day job as a Microsoft systems engineer.
Music career
In 2011, Naftaly recorded his debut album with the Ori Naftaly Band. ''A True Friend (Is Hard to Find)'', was picked as the Best Blues Album in 2012 by Jan Marius Franzen from bluesmagazine.nl and syndicated radio show "Purple Haze." In the German magazine ''Wasser Prawda'' the album was picked #2 as Best Blues Debut and named Best Debut in Israel on 88FM by Tomer Molvidzon.
In October 2012 he won the Israeli Blues Society competition,
and the band was voted the Best Israeli Blues Band of 2013, earning them an invitation to the 29th
International Blues Challenge
The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation.
Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. The band made it to the semi-finals, selling the largest amount of CDs in the competition and becoming the first Israeli group to reach the semi-finals in this global event. Their second album, ''Happy For Good'', was released in May 2013 (again, by Naftaly himself) and featured eight new original songs; Naftaly produced the album and composed most of the music. A month after its release, ''Happy For Good'' reached number 2 on the International Blues Radio Charts, and stayed in the Top 5 for eight weeks. After touring the US and Europe, Naftaly relocated to Memphis. Upon moving to the United States in October 2013, Naftaly enlisted a new core of Memphis musicians, and played over 200 shows in over 40 states.
In Memphis, he met Tierinii Jackson who began her career singing in church, before performing in a series of cover bands and theatrical projects. Tierinii's sister, a drummer and vocalist, joined the pair in September 2015 to form
Southern Avenue. With Jeremy Powell on keys and Daniel McKee on bass, the band entered the International Blues Challenge in 2016 representing Memphis. Southern Avenue made the finals.
In the summer of 2016, Southern Avenue signed with
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Stax was ...
, part of the
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord R ...
.
They recorded their debut album with producer Kevin Houston and it was released in February 2017. The album charted at number 1 on the iTunes Blues charts, reached #6 on the Billboard Blues Chart and was in the Top 40 in Americana radio for three months. In 2019, they released ''Keep On'', produced by Johnny Black.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naftaly, Ori
Memphis blues
Israeli musicians
Israeli guitarists
1987 births
Living people
Israeli emigrants to the United States
21st-century guitarists