Yehuda Poliker
| Yehuda Poliker | |
|---|---|
 Yehuda Poliker with bouzouki, 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
December 25, 1950 Kiryat Haim, Israel |
| Genres | Combines rock with Greek and other Mediterranean musical styles |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, musician, and painter |
Yehuda Poliker (Hebrew: יהודה פוליקר, Greek: Λεωνίδας Πολικάρης; born December 25, 1950) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, musician, and painter.
Early life
Poliker was born in Kiryat Haim, a suburb of Haifa, Israel to a Greek Jewish family. Poliker is the son of Holocaust survivors deported to Auschwitz from Thessaloniki, Greece.[1]
Music career
Poliker's music combines rock with Greek and other Mediterranean musical styles. He plays guitar, bouzouki, and bağlama and was a member of the 1980s Israeli rock band Benzeen. In 2002 he was nominated for the Tammuz Award of Israel's Best Male Artist, but lost out to David D'or.[2] Poliker has composed songs for some of Israel's leading vocalists, among them Arik Einstein, Gidi Gov, Rita, Chava Alberstein, Dana International and more.[3]
In 1988, Poliker recorded Efer Ve'avak (Ashes and Dust) together with Ya'akov Gilad. It was the first Israeli pop music album on the theme of the Holocaust, in this case, a blend of Greek music, pop, and rock.[4]
Poliker reached the top of the album charts in Israel with his 1990 CD, Pachot Aval Koev (Hurts but Less). He has put out several successful albums since then, for example a 1995 2-CD set, Ha Yeled She b'Cha (The Child Inside of You), a 1997 2 CD live set recorded in Caesaria, 2001 CD Eich Korim l'Ahava Sheli (What is the Name of my Love), and 2010 CD Ahava Al Tnai (Conditional love).
In 2005, he was voted the 95th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.[5]
Film
Poliker's father, Jacko, tells the story of his escape from Auschwitz in the 1988 film "Because of That War" (Biglal Hamilhamah Hahi), which features music by his son. The film includes interviews with Yehuda Poliker and Ya'akov Gilad, whose Polish Jewish parents also survived Auschwitz concentration camp.[6]
References
- ↑ About the art of Yehuda Poliker
- ↑ Poliker sweeps up Tammuz nominations
- ↑ The composer does it best, Haaretz
- ↑ Identity politics on the Israeli screen, Yosefa Loshitzky
- ↑ גיא בניוביץ' (June 20, 1995). "הישראלי מספר 1: יצחק רבין – תרבות ובידור". Ynet. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
- ↑ Identity politics on the Israeli screen, Yosefa Loshitzky
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yehuda Poliker. |
- A Page about Yehuda Poliker (French)
- Because of That War (1988). Directed by Orna Ben-Dor Niv
- Watch Yehuda Poliker singing with Haris Alexiou at a concert in Israel (1991)