Ever true to the music
Barry Davis
2.11.05
Press
Ever true to the music
Ireland, Upper Galilee
Evergreen “Riding Towards Life”
To the grey meadows, from the grey turned green, a flute player beneath a tree, a fiddler on the hill; his face turns toward the setting sun, his back caressed by the hovering winds of night. As it is in Ireland, so it is here in the Galilee. The disc “Riding Towards Life” smiles on us in good heartedness and with a belly full of bear.
Evergreen, a foursome ensemble, “one of ours,” perform musical pieces of Irish folklore in exhilarating perfection, seasoned with Hebrew words, with a quietness, pleasant to the touch, with Israeli arrangements, soft as silk, hearty as a lively drunken dance. With an awe inspiring attention to detail, from a deep appreciation of a heritage rich with folklore and tales, Michal and Gal, Eitan and Abe, weave an intoxicating vocal harmony, adorned with images that carry within a longing, a sense of falling in love, prayer and a strong connection to the land. Tell me, please, is there another disc that was recorded in a place called Ma’ale Tzvia? Clean, Human. Beautiful. Brilliant.
Avishai Matia
The City Mouse
Evergreen “Riding Towards Life”
To the grey meadows, from the grey turned green, a flute player beneath a tree, a fiddler on the hill; his face turns toward the setting sun, his back caressed by the hovering winds of night. As it is in Ireland, so it is here in the Galilee. The disc “Riding Towards Life” smiles on us in good heartedness and with a belly full of bear.
Evergreen, a foursome ensemble, “one of ours,” perform musical pieces of Irish folklore in exhilarating perfection, seasoned with Hebrew words, with a quietness, pleasant to the touch, with Israeli arrangements, soft as silk, hearty as a lively drunken dance. With an awe inspiring attention to detail, from a deep appreciation of a heritage rich with folklore and tales, Michal and Gal, Eitan and Abe, weave an intoxicating vocal harmony, adorned with images that carry within a longing, a sense of falling in love, prayer and a strong connection to the land. Tell me, please, is there another disc that was recorded in a place called Ma’ale Tzvia? Clean, Human. Beautiful. Brilliant.
Avishai Matia
The City Mouse
Not at all ‘Green’
World music review, Evergreen “The Unseen Dance”
… I was so moved and elated to hear “The Unseen Dance”, Evergreen’s new album. The members of the ensemble do not hesitate to conquer the green open spaces of Ireland, armed with a joie de vivre and the lyricism of early baroque music on which they were raised. Their delightful and rich musical arrangements present Celtic folk music with a simplicity and a charm that we have not been fortunate to hear here for a long time. And course, it is important to mention Michal Shahar and her refreshing and youthful voice.
Simona Wasserman
“Time Out” Magazine
World music review, Evergreen “The Unseen Dance”
… I was so moved and elated to hear “The Unseen Dance”, Evergreen’s new album. The members of the ensemble do not hesitate to conquer the green open spaces of Ireland, armed with a joie de vivre and the lyricism of early baroque music on which they were raised. Their delightful and rich musical arrangements present Celtic folk music with a simplicity and a charm that we have not been fortunate to hear here for a long time. And course, it is important to mention Michal Shahar and her refreshing and youthful voice.
Simona Wasserman
“Time Out” Magazine
In Israel, when we speak of ‘world music’ the association is always with music that comes from the third world - from Africa or from the East. But the East is not the only ‘world’: Ireland and her green landscapes, they too are the world. “Evergreen” is an ensemble that approaches traditional Irish music with love, yet knows how to create something new from within, and are vibrantly dedicated. The ensemble has been together now for six years and this is their second album.
The first pieces are mostly instrumental; some are traditional reels and jigs. The magic begins there, but when listening to ‘Sunbeam’ and ‘Returning Home,’ two original songs in Hebrew, one is filled with the appreciation of how music is truly an international language that knows no borders. Michal Shahar graces the listener with her crystal- clear voice and sings of Willy and Nancy with abundant beauty; when she creates her own song in the Irish tradition, and the text is deeply influenced from those folk songs, it is even more beautiful.
The originality of the album, as in ‘The Unseen Dance’ is not found in the style, for that is defined and known, but in the ability to extract from it something unique that impresses the listener and shows him that this is not a one time occurrence. It can be compared to a poet who writes according to the rules of rhyme and rhythm. It is not from the work of rhyming that praise is given; it is from the quality of rising up from within those rules into a personal expression.
Evergreen are poets whose shackles of form and style cannot hinder their achieving a spectacular expression, and whose sound has no link - and perhaps needs none - with of its members geographical location
. By Ami Brand
“Makor Rishon” Israel daily newspaper
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The first pieces are mostly instrumental; some are traditional reels and jigs. The magic begins there, but when listening to ‘Sunbeam’ and ‘Returning Home,’ two original songs in Hebrew, one is filled with the appreciation of how music is truly an international language that knows no borders. Michal Shahar graces the listener with her crystal- clear voice and sings of Willy and Nancy with abundant beauty; when she creates her own song in the Irish tradition, and the text is deeply influenced from those folk songs, it is even more beautiful.
The originality of the album, as in ‘The Unseen Dance’ is not found in the style, for that is defined and known, but in the ability to extract from it something unique that impresses the listener and shows him that this is not a one time occurrence. It can be compared to a poet who writes according to the rules of rhyme and rhythm. It is not from the work of rhyming that praise is given; it is from the quality of rising up from within those rules into a personal expression.
Evergreen are poets whose shackles of form and style cannot hinder their achieving a spectacular expression, and whose sound has no link - and perhaps needs none - with of its members geographical location
. By Ami Brand
“Makor Rishon” Israel daily newspaper