Idan Reichel – An Israeli Mozart

Since childhood, I was very sensitive to music.  My parent say I was able to carry a tune even before I knew how to pronounce a single word.  Lets assume it’s another way for parents to express pride in their firstborn.  I grew up, learned the words, and at the age of nine, I was part of the synagogue singing group – the choir.  Soon after that, and until my voice changed forever, I actually had a short singing career, with the Shlomo Ravitz choir for the Holidays.  Old ladies would come to me after the service, pinch my cheek, and say to my proud parent that undoubtedly, I will become a famous singer.  But when my voice changed at thirteen, everyone agreed, that unless the local crows start a performing arts class, my singing career was doomed.

My singing career was over, but my listening career started shortly after that.  My father bought me a transistor radio, it was small, flat sounded, with two small batteries.  It became my good friend for quite a few years.  Right after tenth grade, a friend went to a summer camp in the US, and brought some records (yes, those black vinyl, round plates, which needed a needle to playback their small contents – 10-15 songs at most).  Boston, Foreigner, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Doobie Brothers.  It was like a revelation.  Like a religious experience.  We could spend hours in the same room, listening to the same songs over and over again.

It started the “my favorite song” contest.  Every so often, I would hear a song on the radio (or on record, later on a CD, MTV, iTunes, etc.) and I would immediately connect to it.  And then a period would start of taking the CD over to the car, onto the iPod, and just listen to it over and over again.  “More than a Feeling” by Boston, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, “Will You” by Hazel O’Connor, “What I Am” by Eddie Brickel and the New Bohemians, are just a few.  There were many more.  But as it usually is, it came and went.  After a few days or weeks or months (rare), I would move on.  And then I started listening to Idan Reichel.  Idan Reichel, a young Israeli composer and performer, was right away crowned as my “favorite composer”.  His songs, lyrics and tunes, became much more than entertainment.  It became a soul piercing art.

I am not a write or a composer, but I can feel and tell the effect a piece of music has on me.  I can tell that Idan Reichel is simply different than any other artist I have ever listened to before.  His music is so harmonic, that it feels as if he composes with the help of a super computer, and that every single note is precisely placed, absolutely, and in relation to all other notes in the song.  The combination of the lyrics, the notes, the instruments and the vocals, is in my belief, the closest thing to divine.  Idan Reichel has been around for roughly seven years now.  Since 2002 he has released three albums.  Almost every single was an immediate hit.  His performances are sold out months in advance.  He is outstanding.

Recently, I heard his newest album: “Within My Walls”.  And the first song: “Todas Las Palabras”, struck me as the best song I have ever heard, after the first time of listening to it.  Why?  Let me try and describe.

First, I must say, I don’t know a word of Spanish.  Indeed, I can’t understand the song at all.  But somehow, through the music, I was able to conclude that it was a love song.  I couldn’t tell if it was love for a romantic love, a love for a child, a parent.  But I could tell that it was about love.  I could also tell parts in the song which were talking about dilemmas, trouble, difficulty, followed by a brightly optimistic view on life.  I could tell, without understanding the words, the softness, the pleading, the yearning, the expectation.  I do believe that the only other person I know who was able to compose music like that was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Mozart is the only composer who could make me sad and happy with musical notes only.  He could describe disaster, and hope, disappointment and joy.  He knew the language of music.  Idan Reichel speaks the language of music as well.

You can find more about Idan Reichel in the official site: http://www.idanraichelproject.com/en.  The following are the words of Todas Las Palabras (All the Words), beautifully sung by the Colombian singer Marta Gomez (http://www.nme.com/video/id/Y1Cf4tL56Ok/search/idan).  I can’t translate what I don’t understand.  But even reciting the words in Spanish gives me a nice warm feeling…

Todas Las Palabras

Supongo que tú y yo nos encontraremos que
talvez ni nos demos cuenta
tal vez suceda sin prisa y sin viento en algún lugar de ayer
Presiento que tú y yo nos encontraremos y
tal vez nos parezca extraño
con la ilusión sin prisa y sin voz, sin pasos que recorrer

Todas las canciones, todas las palabras vienen y bailan
con el sonido que hace el viento cuando se acerca a tu boca y tu piel
mírame un instante, toca este silencio que ya se apaga
y abraza el aire que se vuelve cielo dentro de tu aliento y mi sed
es el aire el que se vuelve cielo dentro de mi sed

Supongo que tú y yo nos encontraremos que
talvez ni nos demos cuenta
tal vez suceda de prisa y con viento en algún nuevo lugar
Presiento que tú y yo nos encontraremos y
tal vez nos parezca extraño
con la ilusión sin prisa y sin voz, con sueños por empezar