"One of Boston's most original world-music acts." Boston Herald
"The glory of what [Mendilow] does is finding a common ground among different
cultures. And thats what makes his music so exciting." Jewish Advocate
Blurring boundaries and connecting sounds, syncopations, rhythms and roots is central to the mission inspiring the Guy Mendilow Band’s latest CD, “Skyland.” Israeli peace songs and Sephardi canticas meet Bahian street beats and blues. Drawing from a life lived in Israel, South Africa and Brazil, where musical collaboration cuts through ancient conflict, Israeli born musician Guy Mendilow is sowing the seeds of peace with music.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Guy Mendilow Band includes world class musicians from Israel, Argentina, Japan and the United States. Or to find the group now partnering with international peacemaking organizations, such as Seeds of Peace, whose work with Palestinian and Israeli youth and adult educators helps forge the personal relationships so critical to communication and reconciliation. The band’s ongoing work with Seeds of Peace will be highlighted in their upcoming CD release celebration in Boston on May 27th and at the Chicago World Music Festival in September.
On a personal level, Guy’s musical mission is to explore the connection between places he’s called home. Out in the world, he has oriented his band around the premise that music, and music making, can play a unique role in the effort to transform “the other” into a fellow human being to whom one can at least listen, if not necessarily agree.
“It was the height of Apartheid and my family, though secular and Israeli, was invited to participate in one of the only integrated church services in Johannesburg,” Mendilow recalls about the sparks of this passion. “We were sitting in my elementary school gym after-hours, a large gathering. The service was almost entirely singing: blacks and whites together, in beautiful harmonies. It lit something strong in me.” Throughout his childhood, Mendilow and his family played continental hop-scotch, with community singing in the living room as an important way of connecting with others.
“Skyland” challenges your concept of borders as you listen to Sala’am, an Israeli anthem used during the peace marches, that subtly introduces Brazilian elements in its arrangement and whose warm harmonies nod to CSN. Or take the tastefully modern setting of the ancient Sephardic song Durme Durme, sung in that melting pot language of Spanish, Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew, created from the wanderings of the ancient Jews from Spain to the Mediterranean and Middle East. Mendilow pushes the sonic envelope by taking ancient instruments in new directions, though the band does this whimsically, with an almost adamant refusal to take itself too seriously. For instance, Whistler’s Brother, is a track in which Mendilow’s award-winning overtone singing playfully duels with a flute. Or Blues for Dino, a tongue-in-cheek slide berimbau (musical bow and arrow) blues number — a tip of the hat to Brazilian berimbau hero Dino Nascimento. The fusion that occurs on Skyland stems from a life-long cultural mix infusing most aspects of Mendilow’s life.
To Guy Mendilow the music cannot be separated from the message, whether you are part of the audience at Bethlehem Musikfest, New York’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in a master workshop with government education ministers from Palestine, Israel, Jordan or Lebanon, or swapping songs between Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the 26 diverse young people in the American Boychoir — Mendilow’s first touring experience. The Guy Mendilow Band continues to blur musical boundaries with “Skyland” and offers its modest contributions to today’s larger peace puzzle: by creating person to person connections, one song at a time.
salut Guy! je voulais te remercier d avoir accepter mon request! merci pour ta musique, c est une bonne rencontre! viens visiter mon univers si tu as un moment, laisse moi un commentaire! merci pour ton soutien sevan
