Nini is a singer who tries to enjoy both the worlds of
popular and classical music.
But as Nini (or Noa, as
she is known outside Israel) puts it, "there is an
intrinsic connection between the music of Gil [Dor,
her ongoing musical partner] and myself in our pop
activities and classical music. We didn't have to bend
our songs. It is a most natural extension."
Is this extension indeed that natural? Does it make sense to hear Nini sing with a full
symphony orchestra? Does it makes sense for her to perform this way? As a matter of
fact, nothing could be more natural. And those who attended the special Sasha Argov
concert organized by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra several years ago, have already
seen that Nini can be at her most natural with a full symphony orchestra backing her up.
Extracted from The Jerusalem Post May 1, 1997
Check out the full article by Michael Ajzenstadt
Napoli-Tel-Aviv (2006)
The text below is an English translation of the introduction to "Napoli-Tel-Aviv" written originally in Hebrew by Noa and Gil, as it appears on the first page of the booklet.
Dearest Friends,
Our romance with Napoli began at the end of the last century when we began to travel throughout the south of Italy with our Sicilian friend and promoter Pompeo Benincasa. We sang "Boi Kala", "Mismor Lilah" and Leah Goldberg's "Marionot" and in return we received buckets of love (and great mozzarella). In Napoli itself we received discs and arrangements of local traditional music. Through this we learnt that the famous "Return to Sorrento" is actually a political love song in which the residents of Sorrento are asking their leader not to leave their city. We sang it in concert to the immense surprise of the overjoyed crowd at hearing perfect Neapolitan dialect coming from the mouth of an Israeli singer. After winning over the South we dared to move up North and 'invade' the rest of Europe. Much wine has been spilt since but we still have a special love for the South of Italy. In recent years, due to our numerous performances with the great Solis String Quartet from Naples (with whom we also recorded and album and DVD at a live concert in Holon) we learnt many Neapolitan songs and made a special project of these songs as a type of gesture in gratitude to our Italian audience that has for years been accepting and embracing our music and ourselves with much love.
We performed this project in Caserta near Naples. The audience loved it and we fell in love…with the songs, their beautiful melodies and magical harmonies, their tender humanity. We felt such a deep connection to these songs, to the scent of the sea and the yearning coming from them, to the “chutzpah” and the love for life, to the wandering and tears… that we just had to translate them into Hebrew. Gili started and Dan Almagor joined him. When the results arrived we understood that the songs had just been waiting to convert to Judaism and to make Aliyah to Israel, and now they are ours … and yours.
We hope that you too will fall in love as we did.
From the depths of our hearts, Achinoam (Noa) and Gil
Check out the MP3 Sound Samples(coming soon):
 Security Enabled Browsers |
 Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
Check out the MP3 Sound Samples:Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
 |
 |
|---|
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
Check out the Real Audio Sound Samples:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
Check out the Real Audio Sound Samples:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
With her Mercury label album, Blue Touches Blue, Israeli singer/songwriter Achinoam Nini alias Noa feels like she has ‘arrived’ somewhere. “It’s not somewhere I can describe” she says, “it’s just that with this album, I feel I’ve arrived at a very particular destination, a place I could only imagine before. It’s as if I’ve traveled a great distance, most of the mileage within myself."
Song Listing:
Check out the Real Audio Sound Sample
All Real Audio clips courtesy of Universal Music Netherlands
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
Song Listing:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
After two English albums Noa and Calling this 1997 Israeli release is a return to an all Hebrew composition.
Check out the Real Audio Sound Samples:
Song Listing:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
This all Hebrew album was released in 1993 and showcases works by Leah Goldberg and Rachel, two well know Israeli poets.
The compositions were arranged and choreographed by by Gil Dor and Noa. This record sold platinum and
vaulted Noa and Dor to celebrity status in Israel. The success of this album opened the doors for this musical duo
to test the waters of Europe and the US and eventually sign with Geffen Records.
Song Listing:
Check out the Real Audio Sound Samples:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
(Top of Listing)
Achinoam Nini Gil Dor Live (nmc20009)
Gil Dor and Noa released this collection of Jazz standards and pop covers sung in Hebrew in 1991.
Dor was co-founder of Rimon School of
Jazz and Contemporary Music and He and Noa have been musical collaborators since they met in 1990.
Song Listing:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
(Top of Listing)
Calling(gef24965)
Noa heard her calling early. "At 18, I got this mortality thing," she
says, reflecting on her years in the army, "this perspective on how
short life is, how there is absolutely no time to waste. You better do
what you love in life because if you don't, that's it -- you don't get a
second chance. I love performing. It is my greatest strength." Noa is
not shy about expressing her passion for this calling, or for
Calling
her second album on Geffen Records.
Song Listing:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
(Top of Listing)
Noa (1993gef24619)
Dor had introduced the project to his friend and former instructor at
Boston's Berklee School of Music, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Metheny brought Noa and
Dor to Geffen and, with bassist Steve Rodby, co-produced their first English-language
release (it includes three Hebrew songs).
Noa, also released in 1993, bears the sonic
stamp of Metheny's sidemen; acoustic bass, guitar and piano combine to produce a
mellow, rolling pop soundscape dotted with classical and folk textures.
Noa and Dor then set off to play the world. Noa quickly went gold in Israel, a pleasant
surprise as Israelis often give a chilly reception to foreign-language records from
homegrown artists. The true shocker, though, was Japan, where the record immediately
sold 17,000 copies.
----From the Geffen Records Biography
Song Listing:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
Song Listing:
Check out the Real Audio Sound Sample:
Security Enabled Browsers |
Non-Secure Browsers |
|---|
![[Home]](../graphics/ridgebut.jpg)