I have written a lot and not once about the musical phenomenon named Uzi Navon, the mysterious figure of a singer, performer and musical creator who emerges from the psychedelic haze of somewhere in the seventies of the last century from the Haifa of Mount Carmel and manages to conquer the spoiled Tel Aviv scene a few decades later with soundtracks that preserve the The spirit of the seventies.
Interview and idea
A dozen years ago, while many of the media are trying to solve the mystery of Uzi Navon, I managed to get an exclusive interview with him in honor of his appearance at Ozan Bar to mark the end of the civil year, it went like this –
What is the secret of your charming charm that brings girls from all over the country to your feet?
Uzi – thank you.
As the runner who guards the flame of the special seventies, the years in which a host of bands popped up in our country like mushrooms after the rain, what is the future for us as listeners waiting for new and old hits alike?
Uzi – the acquaintances and myself are here to keep the embers burning and to bring to the Israeli audience who love it groovy, rhythmic, surprising and strange the last word in music today. Those who listen carefully can hear in our songs the new sounds we found through new games with the coil and specialization in the synthesizer keyboards. I will always be here to say the last word in music, whether from my personal development or from the developments of technology.
Many rumors have been spread about prolonged struggles between the members of the original band who wanted to join the concert tour planned now, can this be refuted? Or is it true…
Uzi – our band went through upheavals from head to toe, so today there are a few acquaintances who were with me from the beginning. There is a yearning on the part of those past friends to return to the ranks of our acquaintances and play with us like in the old days, and I too, I have to admit, miss playing alongside many good musicians from those times – Zion Tsanani, Eitan Wex and Yossi Katz are just a few of the names that come to mind. But times change, acquaintances come and go, and not everyone has the energy to be diligent, available and accurate, which are critical ingredients to stay in this profession. Those who are with us today are a talented and tight-knit group of musicians of their rank and above, and those who left – did so at their own risk.
The nostalgia revolution and the comeback chain of some of the best artists in our country bring back to the minds of both adults and young people the same pristine glamor of the shows of the seventies, do you have any refreshing news for this field ahead of the planned concert tour, are viewers expected to see extraordinary extravaganzas?
Uzi – I’m not interested in ruining the surprises. In the meantime, you should watch the information broadcast we prepared for the trip…
And so the cosmic fog surrounding the character of Uzi Navon remains to this day. Unless you have a keen eye, ear and insight to recognize that Uzi Navon is actually a fictional stage name consisting of the bread between Uzi Fox, the star of the style group that flourished in the seventies with huge hits such as “The Morning Train” and “Chaverim”, later after the Yom Kippur War also with a hit The giant as an independent singer – “underpants and tank tops” and the singer from the band of the command and training team during the flourishing of the musical ensembles in the Israel Defense Forces Ruthi Navon who was the pioneer of Israeli R&B and even starred in the musical of that time “Don’t call me black”…
Yoni “Shuzin” Levin
So who is the very talented musician standing behind the figure surrounded by the aura of mystery? This is Yonatan “Yoni” Levin, a musician born in Haifa, who founded together with other friends a series of experimental and challenging bands including “3421” whose full album, “GESHEM” was released only last year, and even took part in the band “Layerz” after they broke up with the singer Marina Maximilian and went on the road. Independently, another musical project of his is the electronic composition “Makot” about the ten plagues that Moses brought down with God on Pharaoh and his people. Yoni, who is also known for the fictional stage title “Shozin” even collaborated with the musician creator Shlomi Shaban when both of them worked together on the creation of soundtrack songs for the television series “Hed Kolach” which completely coincidentally dealt with the character of a singer and musician from the seventies… a surprising connection to the fact that the center of his creation is behind The same figure of the seventies, Uzi Navon.
Uzi Navon, acquaintances, friends and experiences
After the great breakthrough of Navon and the Acquaintances band in the middle of the first decade of the current century and what led to the production of the yellow album “Uzi Navon and Acquaintances” which included nine songs that managed to capture the spirit of the seventies with a lot of groove fueled by the influences of the Afro-American soul bands that flourished at that time alongside local characteristics of pop The Israeli in the beginning walked in the gap between the military bands and the influence of the British hacking phenomenon…
With the success came the artistic appetite and another album was launched ten years later, a very reasonable period of time considering the workload and creation that fell on Yoni Levin’s shoulders all that time. The album “At the time” on the label of the record company “Noiva” which continued the musical line we have already woven, from this album came out and blossomed into a huge hit in every sense and concept called “Princess”, a kind of love song supported by a musical envelope of rocking blues.
Two years ago, an organizational and management change was made in the band, which led to the arrival of the “Talisman” record company and the release of the third album through it – “For Life” which sizzles and stirs sounds influenced by the time when heavy rock bands began to establish themselves around the world more and more alongside the familiar psychedelia.
However, for me and I tend to think that for you too, one of the most important steps that Uzi Navon took in his musical work is the gesture! Not just a tribute, but a tribute to the anxiety of the Holy of Holies, a path that truly began many years ago when Navon took it upon himself to re-perform in a live and moving manner the wonderful songs of the late singer and composer Eric Einstein. I had the privilege of seeing this composition live as part of the performances that Radio Hadar produced as part of a series of events even before it settled in the Beit Romano building, It was in the square of the Arab Jewish theater in old Jaffa, a show that marked a milestone in the musical world in Tel Aviv. Another show in which Uzi Navon starred with his band members in tribute to Eric Einstein was in tribute to Eric Einstein’s truly mythical album “Capricorn“The album that put them on the map as a very important artist in the world of Israeli songwriting and singing, so Navon appeared alongside many important artists including Shlomi Shaban, Shalom Hanoch and more… In the future, the album’s songs will be material from the Holy of Holies for Navon in his next album.
As mentioned, the connection between Uzi Navon and the songs of Eric Einstein is not only a tribute, admiration and respect, it is the most correct connection for the period, for the melody and especially for the texts that shaped generations in Israel, today there is not a single band, singer or singer that reaches the end of Uzi Navon’s ankles in the musical respect that he shares with anyone That he truly was the singer, creator, star, actor, the most Israeli, the most Tel Avivian, the most genuine present here.
In the last year, Uzi Navon released from time to time Exciting and new performance To Einstein’s immortal songs as he makes his way Towards the launch of a whole album and full This weekend he released the full album to the streaming service networks – “Why not now” – the name borrowed from the line “Why not, why not now, what will surely come only tomorrow” from the song “Abshalom”, which includes ten songs from Eric Einstein’s selection in the arrangement and a musical production that gives full respect to the original and beyond. Quite a few of the songs on the new album are exact versions of some of the songs from Eric’s “Bemzal Gedi” album. In one of the album’s songs – “Ma Itay” which was originally performed by the late Eric Einstein and Gozi Katz Tibdla, Uzi Navon hosts the singer Annette Francis or her real name Anat Moskovski, Anat or Annette according to the stage title, collaborated with Navon in the early materials as well His.
And here is also the YouTube version for better listening quality…
And here you can purchase a real copy that you can touch with your fingers, smell and read all the informative information while it rotates on the dial.
And now that I have removed the lot from the acting characters, at least in part, it can be said that the release of the album will be accompanied, as has been customary in Israel for many years, with a festive “launch” show, not one but two as for the first one the tickets are sold out. The celebrations will take place at the Barbie Club in the Port of Jaffa on May 8 and May 9. Here are tickets. Please hurry and remember! You have to enter the experience even before the show begins, Uzi Navon is the man, the artist and the creator who presents the most genuine gesture.
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