Bracha Zfirah on Columbia

 Bracha Zfirah (or Zfira, Zefira, or Tzfira, depending on which transliteration from the Hebrew you choose) was a remarkable Israeli singer. Without going too much into the various ethnic branches of Judaism, she was of Yemenite heritage, but was raised in a Sephardic neighborhood in Jerusalem, and is often considered one of the greatest singers of Sephardic songs. Born in 1910, she met composer/pianist Nahum Nardi in 1929, and found an immediate musical connection. Nardi became her accompanist, and the couple was married in 1931. They parted, legally and musically, in 1939.

Zfirah continued to perform until shortly before her death in 1990. Although she was considered a cultural icon, her popularity waned over the years, as her style came to be considered old-fashioned. 

To inject a personal note - I began searching for klezmer and other Jewish 78s when I began a 12-year stint playing in Atlanta's 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, which combined klezmer with jazz and Afro-pop. I found a green-label Columbia record by Bracha Zfirah in an antique store in Chattanooga, and was blown away when I got home and placed the record on the turntable. "Yesh Li Gan" was a striking song, and what a beautiful performance! I arranged the song for the 4WAKO, and it can be found on our Abdul the Rabbi album.

Here are three Bracha Zfirah 78s on the U.S. Columbia label. There are only five selections here because one is duplicated on two of the records - "Yesh Li Gan" is on the original blue-label issue and a later green-label issue from Columbia foreign series. I'm not sure whether or not any of these have been reissued, but they're all well worth hearing, in my opinion. The first thee selection were recorded in 1937; the last two in 1949.

Yesh Li Gan (I Have a Garden)

Shir Haavodah (Hymn of Praise to Labor)

Bein Nehar Prath (Between the Tigris and the Euprhates)

El-Hanegev (Toward the Negev)

Im Ein Ani Li (Who is For Me, If Not Myself?)

Nikos Relias, Greek Clarinet Master

Today I present a 12" Columbia record in their "E" series of ethnic recordings. I'm not sure when this disc was recorded, but based on the label style, it was probably issued in the United States in 1925. It was likely recorded in New York, where the great clarinetist Nikos Relias (1892-1969) lived from 1907 to 1925. Relias is accompanied by Kostas (Gus) Papagika on cymbalon (hammered dulcimer) and Markos Sifneos on cello. Note that Papagika's last name is misspelled on the label.

Papagika was the husband and accompanist of his more-famous wife, the singer Marika Papagika. Cellist Sifneos frequently played and recorded with Mrs. Papagika as well. Relias had a long and colorful career, and was known as quite the entertainer in Greece. He composed the theme music for the national radio station that is still used today.

I don't know enough about traditional Greek music to say much about these pieces, except that they are complex and impressively played. Unfortunately, Sifneos' cello is practically inaudible. I tried to correct this with some EQ, but there was barely any low-frequency signal to boost.

Aryiticos Horos

O Loulios, Tsamicos

James McCool - The Low Back'd Car

For St. Patrick's Day, here's an early hit record of an Irish song.  James McCool  recorded "The Low Back'd Car" for Victor on April 20, 1905, and it sold well enough to stay in print until 1919, when he recorded a new version.  That recording, in turn, stayed in print until 1926.

"The Low Back'd Car" was composed by Samuel Lover, who also wrote "The Girl I Left Behind Me," in 1851 or so.  It's old enough to have been given "traditional" status among Irish musicians, who still sometimes perform it.  It almost immediately inspired Irish composer William Vincent Wallace to write a Fantasie on "The Low Back'd Car" for piano.  James Joyce quotes the song in both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.  The success of McCool's record spurred many other recordings of the song, including a 1913 Victor Red Seal issue by John McCormack.

McCool recorded 15 or so sides for Victor, but "The Low Back'd Car" remains his best-known record.  My copy is an original one-sided pressing; based on the label style, it dates from 1905 or 1906.  A later pressing would probably sound better, since Victor's surfaces improved steadily throughout the first decade of the 20th century, but I love having an original.  Here it is:


The Low Back'd Car