Ehud Banai (; born March 31, 1953) is an Israeli musician, songwriter, author, and a member of the prominent Banai family in Israel.

Early life

Ehud Banai was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. His father was the actor Yaakov Banai, one of the Banai siblings. The family moved to Givatayim when Banai was four. At the age of ten, he learned to play the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. In 1971 he was drafted to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

and served in the

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

infantry brigade. After his discharge, he moved to London, where he busked in the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

for six months.

Music career

In 1982, Banai formed a band with singer Avi Matos. He made several other attempts at a breakthrough during the following years. He auditioned for Shlomo Bar's band, ''Habreira Hativ'it'', but wasn't accepted. In 1986, Ehud and his band ''Haplitim'' ("The Refugees") broke through, with the hit single ''Ir Miklat'' (City of Refuge) and the

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

" Mami". In 1987, Banai and the Refugees released their self-titled debut, which is considered by many to be one of the best and most important albums of Israeli rock, with original mix of new wave guitar rock with some

oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

rhythms and sounds. Most of the album consisted of

protest songs A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

. The songs also included many

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

subjects and allusions, such as the

golden calf According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, the golden calf () was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai (bible), Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (). It is first mentio ...

and

cities of refuge The cities of refuge ( ''‘ārê ha-miqlāṭ'') were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. Maimonides, invoking talmudic ...

. Their follow-up, ''Karov'' ("Near"), released in 1989, had influences ranging from Banai's early childhood in Jerusalem, traveling in Europe,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, the Banai family's

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

/ Persian-Jewish background, to

Jewish prayer Jewish prayer (, ; plural ; , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the ' ...

and piyutim, among others. He also released "Under the Jasmine Tree", an album of Persian folk tales as told by his father. During the 1990s, Banai released three albums (''The Third'' was released in 1992, ''In a Little While'' in 1996, and ''Tip Tipa'' in 1998). ''Ane' Li'' was released in 2004. The song "Blues Kna'ani" (Canaanite Blues) was written in memory of Meir Ariel, and "Hayom" (Today) was written for Banai's wife. Banai sang a duet with David D'Or on D'Or's album ''Kmo HaRuach'' ("Like the Wind"), which was released on March 27, 2006. A triple live album, ''Mamshich Linso'a'' ("Keeps On Moving"), was released in October 2006. Banai writes the lyrics and composes the music for almost all of his own songs. For the greater part of his musical career, he has observed

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

traditions, and essentially “returned” to Orthodox Jewish religious observance over the course of the early 2000s. Banai habitually scatters references to his connection to

subjects throughout many of his songs. Ehud Banai performing at Zappa

In 2008, " On the Move", a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Avida Livny and produced by Gidi Avivi, Yael Biron and Dror Nahum, about Banai and the Refugees, participated in the official competition of the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

, in EPOS -the international art & culture film festival in Israel and has been screened in cinemateques around

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The film traces Banai's early years on the music scene, through the struggle, musical passion, and deeply rooted friendship he shared with members of his first band, "The Refugees" – Yossi Elephant, Jean Jacques Goldeberg, Noam Halevi, and Gil Smetana. In September 2008, Banai released ''Shir Chadash'', an album of traditional Jewish songs (

zemirot Zemirot or Z'miros ( ''zǝmîrôt'', singular: zimrah but often called by the masculine zemer) are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino during Shabbat and to some extent the Jewis ...

), including several melodies composed by Shlomo Carlebach. Banai's album ''Resisei Laila'' ("Shards of the Night") was released in 2011.

Personal life

Throughout most of his musical career, Banai was a traditional observer, and in the early 2000s he became a "

Baal teshuva In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...

" following his older brother Eliyahu. Banai is married to Odelia and they have three daughters together. He has served as a

gabbai A ''gabbai'' (), sometimes spelled ''gabay'', also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes transcribed ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden), is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some w ...

in the Ashkenazi synagogue "Ohel Yosef" in the Kiryat Borochov neighborhood of

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

Partial discography

*''Ehud Banai and the Refugees'' (1987) *''Mitachat Siach HaYasmin'' (''Under the Jasmine Tree''), with Yaakov Banai (1989) *''Karov'' ("Close") (1989) *''Hashlishi'' ("The Third) (1992) *''Od Me'at'' ("Soon") (1996) *''Tip Tipa'' (1998) *''Ane Li'' ("Answer Me") (2004) *''Mamshich Linsoa'' (''Keeps on Driving'') (2006) *''Shir Chadash'' (''New Song'') (2008) *''Resisei Laila'' (''Shards of Night'') (2011) *''Beofek Acher'' (2012) *''EB=MC2'' (2017), with Michael Chapman

Published works

* ''Remembering Almost Everything'' (Keter 2001) A genre unto himself

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

* ''Ze HaMakom''

References

External links

"On the Move" - official film website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banai, Ehud 1953 births Living people 20th-century Israeli male singers 21st-century Israeli male singers Ehud Banai Jewish Israeli singers Israeli male guitarists Israeli harmonica players Israeli Orthodox Jews Ophir Award winners Baalei teshuva Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Musicians from Jerusalem