Fifty Gates of Wisdom: Yemenite Songs

Haza, Ofra

album cover

A Trailblazing Rethinking of Devotional Music

Israel-born Ofra Haza (1957–2000) began this project knowing that the material she'd chosen—traditional Yemenite diwan songs that Haza, the youngest of nine children, heard growing up—would, given ongoing Israeli-Palestine tensions, be considered radical for a Jew to sing. So why stop there? To the devotional poetry, much of it written by sixteenth-century rabbi Shalom Shabazi, she added electronic percussion used as part of diwan celebrations and loops similar to those found in techno and other dance music.

It was a mash-up made in heaven, a confluence of ancient wisdom and dance floor escapism that singlehandedly triggered the genre sometimes called "ethno-techno." Among those who owe Haza and producer Bezalel Aloni a debt: Afro Celt Sound System, Sheila Chandra, Banco de Gaia, Bebel Gilberto (that's not including the pop artists who sampled Haza's voice and textures, among them Eric B. and Rakim and the dance collective M.A.R.R.S.).

While many have followed the Fifty Gates idea in pursuit of similarly unlikely fusions, the original has several distinctive—that is, uncopyable—traits: The texts, which are published in English in the accompanying liner notes, are rhapsodic expressions of love ("no bandages will heal the wounds inflicted upon my longing heart") that are conducive to singing. Then there's Haza's silky siren of a voice. She delivers long, mazelike trails of melody with an almost noble air—all alone, just through her demeanor, she makes clear that the textures swirling around her are as righteous as anything traditional ever was.

Genre: World, Middle East
Released: 1985, Shanachie
Key Tracks: "Galbi," "Im nin'alu," "Ash'alech."
Catalog Choice: Shaday.
Next Stop: Ekova: Heaven's Dust
After That: Márta Sebestyén: Muzsikás (see p. 686).
Book Pages: 352–353