Berry Sakharof
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Berry Sakharof | |
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 Berry Sakharof at Festival HaTamar.
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 7, 1957 Turkey |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Label(s) | Nana Discs, Crammed |
Berry Sakharof (Hebrew: ברי סחרוף) (born July 7, 1957) is an influential Israeli rock guitarist, songwriter and singer, known for his incorporation of techniques from electronic and dance music, and for his eclecticism and virtuosity as a guitarist.
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[edit] Biography
Sakharof was born in Izmir[1], Turkey in 1957. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 3 years old.
[edit] Start of career
Sakharof started his musical career at the young age of 16 as a member of "Cosmic Dream". Another member was his friend, Rami Fortis. Together they performed in rock clubs in Israel.
[edit] The Eighties
Sakharof first came to public attention in the 1980s.
Right after his military service Sakharof flew to the Netherlands where he became a founding member of Minimal Compact, the first and still one of the only Israeli rock bands to achieve significant success outside Israel (the other notable one being Rockfour). The band saw success in Europe and recorded six albums.
In 1988, Minimal Compact broke up after the members did not get work visas for the United States, where they planned a concert tour. Sakharof and fellow former Minimal Compact guitarist Rami Fortis began an extended period of collaboration, eventually returning to Israel and producing many songs now considered to be classics of Israeli rock.
[edit] The Nineties
After leaving Fortis, Sakharof continued producing albums to growing commercial success and critical acclaim. The album Signs of Weakness (סימנים של חולשה), a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist and producer Rea Mochiach, is held in especially high esteem. It was chosen as the 11th best album ever (and the highest ranking for an Israeli album) by a readers' poll on the popular news site ynet.[2]
By the mid-1990s, Sakharof's was one of the highest-grossing live acts in Israel, and he was commonly referred to in the media as the "prince of Israeli rock".
Sakharof's biggest commercial breakthrough came in 1998 with the release of Touches (נגיעות), the sales of which reached platinum within several days.
[edit] The 2000s
In 2001 his album "The Other" (האחר) was released. The album, which was less absorbable than his former album included the song "Lord of World" which was written by Barry Hazak, a soldier who died in the Yom Kippur War and a cover of Ehud Banai's song "City of Refuge". The album's name was taken from the world of philosophy in which Sakharof began to delve, and mainly by the perception of "The Other" (French: 'L'autre') of the French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas, who is also quoted in the album's booklet. "Monsoon" was the only song from the album broadcast on the radio as a single. In the same year Sakharof wrote soundtracks for two Israeli movies.
In 2002, Sakharof collaborated with Erez Aizen and Amit Duvedevani of Infected Mushroom to create the Birthday EP.
During 2005 his album 11 Alef (11א) was released. The album is the result of about two years of mutual work with Rea Mochiach (who moved to the United States after the release of the album 'Signs of Weakness') during Mochiach's occasional visits to Israel. The album was sold in the first week only on the Internet in the MP3 format and later released to the music stores, due to the release of the album Mochiach arrived in Israel and participated in a short concert tour with Sakharof.
In 2006 Sakharof reunited with Fortis for a new album and a successful tour.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site (Hebrew)
