June 26, 2000
The Duet
Jerusalem All Stars / Noam Productions
Many top-flight Jewish acts have come out of Toronto in the past twenty years or so. It all began with Toronto Pirchei and Shma Kolenu, and was followed by what is perhaps Toronto's most well-known Jewish musical product, D'veykus. In later years, quite a few smaller acts have also come from Toronto, and a central source has been the Nafshenu orchestra, Toronto's top wedding band of the past 20 years. Band member Yehuda Gilden led a revival of Toronto Pirchei called the Eitz Chaim Boys Choir at the beginning of the 1990's, and the band itself released an album in 1996, called One Soul.
Now, another top-notch album has been released, featuring two of the leading band members. Veteran harmonist Dovid Kerzner has been joined by relative newcomer Dovid Ifrah as lead vocalist. Ifrah only joined Nafshenu in the mid 1990's, but his arrival has revolutionized Nafshenu's sound, giving it a crisp, polished quality that makes its recordings resonate with a fresh, yet professional sound. The band's live performances have always been good, and now that quality comes through in their recordings as well.
The new Duet album features four songs by Baruch Levine, a young composer who is one of Toronto Jewish Music's hottest commodities. At the age of 14, Levine composed D'veykus's smash hit, Hamalach Hago'el which is still de rigeur on the kumzitz circuit ten years after its release. Since then, Levine has grown and developed his talent to the point where he is one of the most sought after composers around, and with good reason. His songs are what gives this album its quality.
Levine is joined on this album by other composers, including Gilden, whose Hinay Lo Yanum is much more polished on this album than on the Eitz Chaim tape. Newcomer Ari Seidenfeld's Mehaira is easily the best song on the album, and rivals the famous version of the same song from the Miami Boys Choir in its romance and its eloquence. For a first-time composer such as Seidenfeld, that is truly quite an accomplishment.
But of course, as good as the compositions on this album are, the seamless vocal combinations of Ifrah and Kerzner are what gives this album its genius. They have previously combined to perform on the One Soul album, and The Duet is a fitting sequel. The biggest problem with One Soul was that it was poorly marketed outside of Toronto. It is easily the most underrated and under-known album of the 1990's. Here's hoping that DoviDovid and The Duet are better received. This album certainly deserves it.
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