What fun! Take a beautiful Bialik poem, an old oriental melody, a South American styled jazz quartet, and Broadway and TV legend Tova Feldshuh, and you've got our new version of "Ben N'har Prat"!
The melody is ancient, and the words were composed by Chaim Bialik (1873-1934), Israel's first national poet.
The song, of unrequited love, mentions a golden bird called a 'duchifat', or Hoopoe bird ( the national bird of Israel):
Tova was backed up by the great Paul Meyers on nylon stringed guitar, the ubiquitous Steve Laspina on bass, Brazilian wonderkind Nanny Assis on hand percussion, and yours truly on tenor saxophone.
Any reference to the classic Getz/Gilberto recordings is purely intentional.....
The song was made famous by the iconclastic Yemenite vocalist Bracha Zephira in the early thirties, and has been infrequently recorded since. Tova really brings the words to life. Watch for a clip, coming soon.
Here's a translation:
Between the river Euphrates and the river Tigris,
On the mountain stands a palm,
And on the palm, amidst its leaves,
Perches a golden hoopoe.
Bird of gold, fly and circle.
Go out and find me a husband,
And when you find him,
Tie him and bring him to me.
But if you do not have a purple cord,
Say hello to my fiancé.
What will you tell him? Tell him
My soul goes out to my darling.
Morning, Evening, and Twilight,
I raise my eyes to the skies above,
Oh clouds, pure, and everlasting,
Why you,still, and not my beloved?
Between the river Euphrates and the river Tigris,
On the mountain stands a palm,
And on the palm, amidst its leaves,
Perches a golden hoopoe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tovah_Feldshuh
