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P»*> U THE SOUTHERN ISRAEUTE December 23, 1977 Lunch: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. THE BRASS KEY OINNEA RESERVATIONS RECOMMENOFO 2355 PEACHTREE RD. J5S* 6 p.m -Midnight ^3 AGGRESSIVE! EXCITIRG!' ACTION! Thursday, December 29 The Atlanta Flames vs. The SL Louis Blues Monday, December 26 The Atlanta Flames vs. Chicago Black Hawks OMNI | MONDAY 8:05 Israeli rock rolls on by Walter Ruby Israeli rock and roll has had its first truly creative blossoming in the past few years. After a long period during which Israeli performers gave inept imitations of American styles, a number of top-flight local talents came together in groups like Poogy, well as I can in my music.” Litani, Danny Sanderson of Poogy, and the bad boy of Israeli rock, Ariel Zilber, are all remarkably open, honest, and unaffected by the star complexes one finds in the U.S. The common preoccupation of all three is to get in touch with their musical cores, and not to compromise their artistic integrity, says Litani, “My music has more simplicity now. If I really like a song, I’ll record it. I don’t worry anymore what other people are going to think about it.” Says Sanderson, “I’m taking my time now, and won't rush into anything until I really feel good with it. The whole trip of being a rock and roll star is on a much smaller scale in Israel than it is in the U.S. There isn’t much glory in being a successful musician here; a lot of it is hours of hard work." Litani grew up on Kibbutz Sh’ar Ha'emekim, where he was quickly recognized as a musical wunderkind. He began playing the piano in a conservatory at the age of seven, and took up the guitar as a youth. After completing his military service, he came to Tel Aviv, and tried to make it as a ’ Danny Sanderson night-club musician, but had much greater success as an actor. Litani met Bob Dylan on the last night of the latter’s 1969 visit to Israel. “An old army buddy of mine called me late one night and said that Bob Dylan was at his apartment and wanted to meet some Israeli musicians,” Litani recalls. 1 didn't believe him until he put Dylan on the line. When I got there. Bob looked like a trapped animal. There was a large group of army officers in white shirts, clapping their hands and demanding that he sing. I got out my guitar and played with him to make him less nervous." When Litani went to New York a year later as part of the cast of “There was a Righteous Man” he was surprised one night to find Dylan waiting for him in the lobby. The two became good friends. In the years following his return from the U.S., Litani became one of Israel's best-known and critically acclaimed pop musicians. But he ran into a lot of criticism after his 1976 tour with Yonatan Gefen. “Many people assumed we were just out to knock Israel. We did a song about the riots called “An Arab Remains an Arab,” based on the fact that the soldiers claimed to be firing in the air, but Arabs kept falling down dead. “The next thing we knew, there were angry speeches being made against us in the Knesset. It became a very heavy scene, and the irony was that the Arabs complained too, because they thought the song was against them.” The experience tempered Litdfni’s interest in protest music. Ariel Zilber comes from a family with musical background. His mother sings Yemenite songs, and one of his grandfathers played violin in the Israel Philharmonic. Ariel spent his childhood on Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, but says kibbutz folk music had no influence on his musical development. When he was 16, Ariel left the kibbutz in Tel Aviv. He started playing trumpet, and got involved with jazz groups in small clubs. “I now play rock piano instead of jazz piano. I don't have any message to give or anything to say. I write the music to my songs and then give them to songwriters.” “You live only once, habibi, so make a lot of noise,” says Danny Sanderson, late of Poogy, who has recently been involved in a number of new departures. “I’m involved in the labor pains of creating my new music, and detaching myself from the past. “My music is becoming more personal and introspective.” But Sanderson has lost none of the puckish humor that made Poogy so unique. He has just finished writing “a very funny book,” is working on a musical (“my grandson may get to see it”), and is thinking about going on stage as a comedian. Sanderson is that rare creature: an artist totally at ease in two cultures and two languages. He can be howlingly funny in both English and Hebrew. He spent his teen years in the Bronx, attending the High School of Music and Art, and he played in two rock bands, one of which was featured in Life magazine. He came back to Israel in 1968, and found himself in the Army Entertainment Corps. “What a scene," he recalls, “living three Ariel Zilber years of your life on a bus, and doing a show every day. We were 18 boys and girls having a great time, dancing, doing skits, and singing.” With first-class talents like Litani, Zilber, and Sanderson reaching the peak of their creative powers, Israeli rock and roll may be entering its period of greatest expression. Jewish Digest i Personalized Realty Service I • LEASES . MANAGEMENT BUSINESS BROKERAGE . SYNDICATION ^ « 17 \ J tfwOLDBERG realty exx 44 11th Street, N.K. Atlanta, Georgia 30309 I 892-3005 - ; ! Consult With Us For Your Catering 233-3202 Or taste our excellent cuisine for lunch or dinner at the Brass Key Restaurant conveniently located In the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center. Danny Litani Tamuz, and Shamiyim to create a wide spectrum of rock music forms. The music was vital, if sometimes ragged, and the lyrics were remarkably literate, often full of savage satire about conditions in the country. Then, within a short period last year, all three groups broke up. In each case, there was a feeling that the very different personalities within the groups were pulling in different Erections, and that the musical egos involved were becoming too large and demanding to be contained within one entity. Today with the break-up of the groups, the top Israeli rock artists are recording their own albums. The focus of their music has changed, too; the songs deal less with politics and the state of life in Israel, and more with personal themes. Last year Danny Litani toured the country with poet Yonatan Gefen, singing angry songs attacking the political establish ment. Today he says, “1 don’t think we achieved much by fighting. Now I want to concentrate on my own life and express my feelings as H/4VI€ YOU €M€R D€GH OITGRGD TO BY dn eXGCUTIVie CH€f? (Fornm Exocuttvo CM. Atlanta HUton « NlkoM’a Root) fttoaine ( €ateriny Internationale