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April 25, 2008
An international debut
Yom Ha'atzmaut marks group milestone.
RON FRIEDMAN
Nearly two decades after breaking up, popular Israeli quartet Hakol Over Habibi is reunited and back on the road, with Vancouver being their first international destination.
The group will be performing at the community's Yom Ha'atzmaut ceremony, which will take place at Queen Elizabeth Theatre this year. Band spokesperson Kiki Rotstein spoke to the Jewish Independent in anticipation of that upcoming performance.
"This is the first time for any of us to visit Vancouver and we're really looking forward to it," said Rotstein in a phone interview. "We had performed together all over the world in our past reincarnation, before we split, but this is the first time performing outside of Israel since our reunion."
Hakol Over Habibi, whose name in Hebrew means "everything passes, my friend," originally formed in 1975 when soloist Shulamit Aharon joined the all-male trio of Rotstein, Yuval Dor and Ami Mendelman. Together, they had a successful, 14-year run, resulting in nine albums and worldwide concert tours. Their hits included favorites such as "Layla b'Krach" ("A Night in the City"), "Haggadah Avuda" ("Lost Legend") and "Halayla" ("Tonight"), which earned them a performance at the 1981 Eurovision song contest.
After a failed album and internal disputes in the late 1980s, the band began losing momentum and Aharon left them in 1989 to embark on a solo career. About a year ago, the band got together again.
"We originally planned on doing a 10-concert tour together, to help Shulamit [Aharon] with her new album, but we found that we really enjoyed working together again and the reunion extended beyond the initial 10 performances," recounted Rotstein. "When it's noncommittal, it's easier to have a good time," he added.
What started as a guest appearance by the men in Aharon's one-woman concert turned into a full- fledged comeback, with audiences lining up to hear their old-time favorites, performed by the sweet, harmonious vocals of the group. Hakol Over Habibi is often compared to the 1970s American group Manhattan Transfer.
"I think we're coming from a much better place this time around," said Rotstein. "We are much more mature, much more prepared.... It's different. At the end of the last run, there was a feeling that we were going through the motions automatically, going from one concert to another by virtue of inertia. Today, we're together because we choose to be and it feels like we're more in control of where we are going. A much better situation, in my opinion."
While enjoying their newfound success, the group isn't planning on creating another album just yet. "What we've done as a first step is to try and adapt our past work, to make it more relevant to today's music scene. Our current program relies on our past material, but in a modernized form, giving it a more contemporary touch and flavor," explained Rotstein.
Although originally drawing from an older audience, those familiar with Hakol Over Habibi from the '70 s and '80s, the band these days is being well received by audiences of all ages. "Our songs are still being played quite frequently on the radio in Israel, so many people know them – even if they don't know that it's us whose singing it," said Rotstein.
The Vancouver concert has been designed with the local audience in mind. "We have included some of our most famous songs and added songs that will be familiar to an audience abroad. We also translated some of our songs into English so that people understand what we're singing about."
As well, Hakol Over Habibi has included popular songs by other Israeli artists to help celebrate the occasion. "We've included songs that we might not choose to perform in a concert in Tel-Aviv but, because it's Yom Ha'atzmaut, we'll perform them in Vancouver," said Rotstein.
The audience can expect to hear a medley of Hebrew folk songs and nostalgic compositions from the birth of the country: "Our aim is to have the audience feel connected, even if they don't understand Hebrew or are unfamiliar with our original material."
The band won't have long to enjoy their visit. They come to town for a total of five days, which includes a performance for Yom Hazikaron the evening before their headline concert, before rushing back to Tel-Aviv. While they won't have much time to take in the views of the city, they will be back in Canada in the near future, with a concert tour visiting Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary scheduled for June.
The Yom Ha'atzmaut concert will take place on Wednesday, May 7, 7:30 p.m., at the Queen E. Tickets are $12 and available through www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling 604-280-3311. For more information, call the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, 604-257-5100.
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