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Thinking Of A Master Plan...
There was no other way to describe it—the sound was simply hypnotic. Way back in the fall of 1987, if you happened to be crossing at a red light in New York, London or L.A., or better yet, whiling away the wee hours in the basement of the trendiest night spot in the ’hood, chances are you got your ears on a slice of particularly steamy hip-hop that seemed to induce everyone in the general vicinity to fl ood the nearest dancefl oor as soon as it came on. It started with a simple loping beat, followed by a steadily throbbing bass line and the keening voice of an unknown female singer whose otherwordly timbre seemed to conjure something ancient and mythic. The song: Coldcut’s “Seven Minutes Of Madness” remix of Eric B. & Rakim’s “Paid In Full.” The singer: Ofra Haza.
Haza was virtually unknown in the West at that point, even though she’d been recording and performing in Israel (and parts of Europe) since the early ’70s. The daughter of Yemenite Jews who had been persecuted in Yemen and fled to Israel shortly before it became a state, Haza was born in the poor section of Tel Aviv called Hetikvah (“hope”) in 1957, and grew up listening to her mother sing the traditional Yemenite songs that would later inspire her to pick up a microphone. By the age of 14, she had already made her fi rst recording with a local theater group founded by her neighbor Bezalel Azoni, who eventually became her producer, manager, mentor and close friend.
Her first solo album Al Ahavot Shelanu (Our Love) was released in 1980, and contained the hit song “Shir Ha’frecha” (“The Tart Song”), which caused some controversy among Israeli disc jockeys, some of whom refused to spin the single because of its racy lyrics. The song had been written especially for the 1979 film Shlager (directed by Assi Dayan)—one of two star vehicles for Haza that showed in Israeli theaters that year. Na’arat Haparvarim (a.k.a. West Side Girl, directed by George Obadiah), in which she plays a blind singer who regains her sight, quickly became a cult favorite, with Haza’s natural beauty sending hordes of adolescentmales on a collective hormonal bender.
Her film career was short-lived, however, as she concentrated on devoting herself full-time to music. Modeling her singing style after such Israeli legends as Shoshana Damari and Esther Ofarim, Haza soon developed a pristine sound of her own that was firmly rooted in the Yemenite tradition, which she wore like a badge of protest in a society that still treated Jews from Arab countries with some suspicion. She sang not only in Hebrew, but also Arabic, Aramaic and English—a versatility that would serve her well in crossing over to audiences throughout the Middle East and Europe.
“Im Nin’alu” was the song that sealed her success. Recorded in 1984 for the album Shirey Teyman (Yemenite Songs), it opens with a brief but powerful a cappella invocation that was striking for its time—the perfect showcase for Haza’s arresting voice, and one that caught the attention of British radio jock Charlie Gillet (now with the BBC), who played it for a young club DJ named Jonathan More.
“I used to play that vocal over beats during my live sets,” More recalls. “This was just before I met Matt [Black]—before Coldcut. Eventually we got asked to do the ‘Paid In Full’ remix, and in going through all the different samples, I remembered that one. I pulled it out, and it was really strange because Matt put it on the turntable, slowed it down to lower the pitch, and it was perfectly in time and in tune with the track. That was it—in it went.” Almost immediately, major record labels began scrambling to sign Haza for the U.S., and Sire won the bidding war, releasing Shaday (with a newly disco-fied “worldbeat” version of “Im Nin’alu”) and Desert Wind in rapid succession. Haza was soon rubbing shoulders with the likes of Johnny Carson and Bryant Gumbel on the talk show circuit, and in the ensuing years shared the stage (and studio) with everyone from Thomas Dolby to Paula Abdul. Her 1992 album Kirya—this time with producer Don Was at the controls—was tapped for a Grammy nomination in the Best World Music Album category.
Although her celebrity had grown exponentially by the early ’90s, Haza never engaged in the erratic “diva” behavior that had made headlines for such contemporaries as Whitney Houston and Madonna. “We were very fortunate to meet Ofra later on, after ‘Paid In Full’ was a big success,” More says. “We went to see her perform in London, and we had dinner with her afterwards. The first thing I remember about her is that she was stunningly beautiful [laughs], but she was also very good company and just a lovely woman, really—very warm and open. And she was a fantastic performer on stage. That warmth and that energy and that beauty came through fully.”
Haza made one more solo album in 1997 (the self-titled Ofra Haza, with Enigma’s Frank Peterson), and the following year she sang the theme song (“Deliver Us”) to the Disney animated film The Prince Of Egypt. She also made numerous guest appearances in the late ’90s, most notably on “Babylon” (with the London-based electronic act Black Dog), and on composer Jonathan Elias’ ensemble project The Prayer Cycle, which paired Haza with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on “Forgiveness.” The haunting orchestral piece proved to be among the last sessions recorded by either singer.
In early February 2000, Haza was hospitalized in Tel Aviv for what was rumored to be the early onset of an AIDS-related illness, but these reports were never confirmed. She died on February 23, still loved and respected by Israeli and Arab audiences alike—a universal appeal that was never lost on her while she was alive.
“I meet them all over,” Haza said of her Arab fanbase during a 1993 interview with KCRW’s Tom Schnabel. “It’s really wonderful to see that music actually has nothing to do with politics. People just like music, and they like human beings, and it’s wonderful to see everybody together and no difference of race or color. It’s a great thing that happens. We don’t have the power of politics, but we definitely have our power, to unite people and to do something together.”
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