- David Broza
-
David Broza 
Background information Born September 4, 1955 Origin Haifa, Israel Genres Pop rock
Rock
Folk rock
BluesOccupations Singer-songwriter, musician Instruments Vocals, guitar Years active 1977— Labels NMC, Hed Arzi, RGB Website davidbroza.net David Broza (דויד ברוזה, born September 4, 1955) is a multi-platinum Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Contents
Personal life
The son of an Israeli–British businessman and a folk singer, Broza was born in Haifa, Israel. He was raised and educated in England and Spain, where he was schooled at Runnymede College, in Madrid. Broza's grandfather, Wellesley Aron, co-founded the Arab-Israeli peace settlement, Neve Shalom – Wāħat as-Salām (The Oasis of Peace)[1] and the Habonim youth movement. Young David Broza originally planned to become a graphic artist, and by age 17 he was selling his paintings in the Rastro, Madrid's Sunday flea market. However, after high school graduation he was conscripted into a three-year term in the Israeli military. Stationed away from family and friends, he began playing guitar in cafes to earn extra money. Eventually he was offered a record deal, but as he still hoped to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, he declined. He later recorded a tape to promote his live shows.
Broza was married to Ruti, from whom he is divorced. He has three children. He lived in Cresskill, New Jersey, US for 17 years.[2] He resides in Tel Aviv and is a member of Kehilat Sinai, a conservative synagogue, where he celebrated his son's bar mitzvah.[3]
Musical career
Critics have labelled Broza as "a post-modern Leonard Cohen" and the "Stevie Ray Vaughan of folk rock".[4] He has also been compared to Bruce Springsteen[1] as well as Gordon Lightfoot and Jackson Browne.[5] Broza's American debut album, Away From Home, was praised by The New York Times as one of the best pop albums of the year.[4] Time of Trains, his second American release, gained him recognition as one of the most important[citation needed] artists on the international music scene.
Broza's concert tours included Belgium, Spain, Argentina, Ecuador, Germany, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil and the United States. As an artist-in-residence at Bennington College in Vermont, he gained respect in American literary circles.[4] Broza has made a mission of studying the work of American writers for the past several years, haunting libraries and bookstores, "always reading with a melody in my head." He continues to record albums in Hebrew for his Israeli fans. He travels frequently all over the world. His popularity achieved new heights with the success of his 5x platinum album The Woman By My Side. His live albums recorded at the top of Masada in 1994 and 1999 went platinum. His Spanish language release, Isla Mujeres (Woman Island, named after a song written by Javier Ruibal), was released in Spain. His Hebrew recording, "All or Nothing" was released in 2002 and went gold within one week, as well as its Spanish version, "Todo o Nada". David Broza at Masada, a special concert featuring Broza, Jackson Browne and Shawn Colvin, aired in America on September 6, 2007 on PBS.[6] In 2009, Broza recorded the song "V'ulai" for the organization Pioneers For A Cure, with the proceeds benefiting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Peace activism
An activist who is committed to several humanitarian causes, Broza was appointed a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. His song "Together" (co-written with Ramsey McLean) was the theme song for the UNICEF 50th anniversary celebration in more than 148 countries.[1]
He toured the Middle East with Jordanian musician Hani Naser to promote peace through music. They were invited by the Israeli and Jordanian governments to perform in concert during the peace signing between the two countries.[citation needed]
Discography
- Third Language (Hebrew, 2011)
- Night Dawn: The Unpublished Poetry Of Townes Van Zandt (English, 2010)
- Broza 5 (Live at Zappa Tel Aviv, 2007)
- Parking Completo (Spanish and Hebrew, 2006)
- Hameitav (Best Of in Hebrew, 2004)
- Parking Completo (Spanish, 2004)
- Todo O Nada (Spanish version of All or Nothing, 2002)
- All Or Nothing (Hebrew, 2002)
- Painted Postcard (English & Hebrew, 2002)
- Spanish Heart (English, 2001)
- Isla Mujeres (The Women's Island), DRO East West/Warner Records Spain (Spanish, 2000)
- Matchil Linshom (Starting to Breathe), Hed Artzi/RGB Records Gold (Hebrew, 1999)
- Sodot Gdolim (Big Secrets), RGB Records (Hebrew, 1995)
- Stone Door, RGB Records (English, 1994)
- Second Stree , RGB Records (English, 1994)
- Elements of Love, RGB Records (Hebrew, 1994)
- Masada Live, RGB Records Platinum (Hebrew, 1994)
- Time of Trains, RGB Records (English, 1993)
- Neshika Gnuv (Stolen Kiss), NMC Music (Hebrew, 1992)
- First Collection, NMC Music (Hebrew, 1990)
- Away From Home, RGB Records (English, 1989)
- A Poet In New York, Sony (English, 1987)
- Broza, NMC Music (Hebrew, 1984)
- Haisha Sheiti (The Woman By My Side), NMC Music Quadruple Platinum (Hebrew, 1983)
- Klaf (ACE), NMC Music (Hebrew, 1981)
- David Broza, NMC Music (Hebrew, 1979)
- Hakeves Ha Shisha Asar (The Sixteenth Sheep), NMC Music (Hebrew, 1978)
- Sikhot Salon (Small Talk), Phohokol (Hebrew, 1977)
References
- ^ a b c David Broza profile, Jewish Music Group (archived webpage)
- ^ Leichman, Joseph. "A Chava Alberstein and David Broza experience: Israeli Megastars head for Englewood", Jewish Standard, March 1, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2007. "Broza lived in Cresskill for 17 years, and he will return to New Jersey when he plays with Alberstein at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood tomorrow night."
- ^ "Like in America", Ha'aretz
- ^ a b c David Broza at Aviv Productions, Ltd
- ^ Berns, Suzan. 'Israeli Springsteen' wields flamenco and blues at festival, j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California, San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc., 31 May 1996.
- ^ Davis, Barry. Israel's David Broza brings Masada to American TV viewers, Israel21c, 5 December 2007.
External links
Categories:- 1955 births
- Living people
- Israeli male singers
- Israeli guitarists
- Folk rock musicians
- Flamenco
- Sephardi Jews
- Israeli Jews
- Musicians from New Jersey
- People from Cresskill, New Jersey
- Hebrew-language singers
- Spanish-language singers
- People from Haifa
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