Jerusalem – Hassidic singer Avraham Fried is marking the 30th year of his musical career and gave a performance in Rehovot last week.
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After many years in which he made music which relied solely on Jewish sources, Fried recently began collaborating with Israeli songwriters and will soon release a new album based on that collaboration. Arutz Sheva met up with the popular singer to hear about this new experience.
“I’m excited about it because after the success of ‘Aleh Katan’ and ‘Rak Tefila’ (Little Leaf and Just a Prayer, two songs Fried sang which were not based on texts from Jewish sources) it was a no-brainer to do an all Israeli CD,” Fried said.
“I think the Israeli music, especially the songs we chose, is full of soul and prayer,” he added. “For me it was very heartwarming to get a personal phone call from the composers of these songs to tell me that they love my version. I’m comfortable with singing in Hebrew.”
For the new album Fried is working with some of Israel’s top songwriters, including David D’Or, Hanan Yovel (who also wrote the music for ‘Rak Tefila’), Boaz Sharabi and Ariel Zilber.
He is an extradorinarily talented singer and a frum yid who brings joy and comfort to all who hear his music. Hopefully, his new venture with contemporary Israeli songwriters will not trigger some mindless letters from chareidi rabbonim assuring his music and concerts. We’ve had enough of these embarrasing letters in the past and don’t need them to create another chillul hashem by such libelous actions.
Keep adding happiness and continue with the coming of Moshiach bekarov
“Superstar”? Yidden don’t have superstars.
isnt Lipa Schmeltzer also a hasidic super star? he is called the “jewish elvis”…
Avrohom is an exceptional singer with warmth and talent.
It’s a very smart idea to make an all Israeli CD, so he has a much broader audience. He can have many concerts in Israel and will definitely sell more CDs there than he would have if he would have made it for the Heimishe people in NY.
Can’t wait! I just don’t understand why it takes so many years between albums?
THIS is how we beat the Tzioinim. Herzl must be stewing wherever he is – here comes all 55-odd kilo and 155-odd cms of “Avremel,” from Brooklyn, with glasses and a long beard, onto the secular stages of the medine to sing in a very non-Israeli accent for all the descendants of those who considered themselves “Israelis” or “Hebrews” and disdained the “Jews” – symbolized by the diminutive, near-sighted, bearded “Avremels” in Europe of old. And he isn’t just going to sing his new stuff – he knows who he is and people want him to sing who he is, so expect a Chabad nigun or two to get the crowd really rolling.
He’s been on the “charts” at least once (Aleh Katan) and I’m sure he’ll hit them again.
No coercion, no Shabbos narrishkeit rock-throwing – just showing that we are normal and can do everything with kedusha that they were told they must do with klipa.
In 10 years, “Hashem Hu Malkenu” will hit the secular music charts too. It isn’t AF’s style to sing something controversial like that, but by then plenty of singers from EY will end up doing tshuva and one of them will make that a mainstream hit as people see themselves that…Hashem Hu Malkenu.
love this artical, i think Avremala in the only original jewish music star these days! with his unique voice and stage performance talent, he is absolutly the king
wish we would here new albums from him more often, we all grew up on his music