Avner Strauss ( he, אבנר שטראוס) (born 1954 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

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 ...

) is an Israeli

music 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 ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted t ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

. He has also written books and music for children.

Biography

Strauss picked up the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

at age 14, and began playing in rock bands in the late 1960s. In 1971 he formed the first Israeli Blues band, and wrote one of the first Israeli

Twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

; " I got a Telephone, Ain't got no one to call ". Drawn to jazz guitar, Avner went to Boston in 1975 to study at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

(Composition, graduated in 1978). Upon returning to Israel in 1978, he began recording and teaching music, and received an appointment as a guitar professor at the

Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance ( he, האקדמיה למוסיקה ולמחול בירושלים), is a school for the music and the performing arts in Jerusalem. It is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerus ...

. For few years after he was the advisor of the Israeli guitar company "Yuval" and endorsed their guitars giving concerts (1980–1984) in the frankfurt trade fair "Musikmesse". Avner Strauss' musical instrument store in Jerusalem ("Effect") in the 1980s was the first Israeli store dedicated solely to guitars. Although he started out as an Avant Garde guitarist in Jerusalem in the late 1960s, today Strauss plays

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura an ...

, classical,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, bluegrass and blues guitar. Avner has published two illustrated story books for young children ("The Porcupine", "Mr. Frog") and one book of poetry for adults ("Distance and Other Measures"). He has produced three audio CDs of original Hebrew songs, including a live CD of Blues in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and a CD and animated DVD of his original children's songs. Avner also produced an instrumental guitar album ("Courtyard", MCI records 1990) that highlights his many different musical facets and playing styles. During the years Strauss devoted many years to the research of catalogs and collecting

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

s, he published hundreds of articles about the subject and about the History of whistle manufacturers in the 19th century and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the subject of collecting whistles, some of his articles and samples of his collection which might be the largest known, can be found on the Whistle Museum. Avner Strauss is the founder of ''"Strauss Mifaaley Tarbut"'' and Sal Tarbut Strauss (Hebrew:"סל תרבות שטראוס") that were involved with education for the arts in the educational system in Israel since 1986, producing music, dance, theatre, cinema, literature and plastic arts shows and activities for schools.

Discography

Heavens-nearer-in-jerusalem-avner-strauss

* ''On A Slow Flame'' 1987 vinyl album, 11 tracks (Eastronics) * ''On A Slow Flame'' 2nd edition 1995 CD, with 5 Bonus tracks (Hed Artzi) * ''Courtyard'' (Instrumental guitar) 1990 (M.C.I Records) * ''In Jerusalem, the Heavens Are Nearer'' 1990 (Phonokol) * ''1/2% Blues'' 1995 (Hed Artzi) * ''Friends of The Rhino'' 2004 (CD and DVD) (Strauss Ltd.) * ''Equator'' 2013 (double CD, Fingerstyle guitar-Eastern and Western Hemispheres) * ''Blues Haor Haganuz'' 13 June 2014, Buber's death year date (double CD 23 songs 6 English titles) * ''Tel Aviv's Blues'' 1 December 2016, * ''Tesha'' 9 June 2018

Poetry

Avner Strauss poems have been published in various magazines among these are; Mantis 1976, April 2010, February 2011 issues o
Moznaim
and in the Jewish poetry anthology "Voices Within the Ark" along with poems by his grandfather :de:Ludwig Strauss and great grandfather

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

. * ''Birds of the Mind'' * ''Chameleons of the Heart''. * ''Distance and Other Measures. Poems 1976-1992'', Hebrew, (Yaron Golan publications).The National Library of Israel
/ref>

Children

''The Hedgehog Who Fell in Love with a Hairbrush'' 2005

''Mr. Frog'' 2005 (Strauss Books).

Notes

External links