Oi-Va-Voi - Digital Folklore (2002)

After a long period of turmoil, the London-based “Klezmer meets drum’n’bass” band Oi-Va-Voi are back with a new cd, already released in mainland Europe, and a European tour that very soon will bring them also to Italy. Waiting to listen live to their new songs, I went back to their first self-produced album, Digital Folklore (now very hard to find) and still found it fresh and full of promises as the day I heard it for the first time. Even if its much better known follow-up, Laughter Through Tears, is undoubtedly more refined and polished (for better and for worse), Digital Folklore still retains its own peculiar aura, much like the first Gotan Project effort, to which it’s comparable in intent.

«London has long been home to a thriving Jewish community but until Oi-Va-Voi formed it was amongst the quietest of the capital's ethnic communities. With their debut album Digital Folklore, Oi-Va-Voi have put Jewish London music on the international map. Oi-Va-Voi are a six-piece band featuring trumpet, guitar, drums, bass, clarinet and violin. On first listen they are a klezmer outfit. Don’t get too comfortable and start reaching for Fiddler On The Roof comparisons: Oi-Va-Voi have a taste for garage and drum and bass rhythms.
Oi-Va-Voi formed in 1999 when six disparate London musicians became united by a desire to mix traditional Eastern European musics (klezmer and Gypsy) and contemporary dance rhythms. Klezmer was the music of Eastern Europe's Jewish communities and, to a large extent, it was murdered with its creators by Hitler's insane thugs. Only in the US had immigrant Jewish musicians kept the music alive and in New York klezmer enjoyed a revival across the 1990s.
Oi-Va-Voi's savvy sound found them quickly securing gigs across Europe at dance, rock and world music festivals. The response from the diverse crowds was overwhelming, making it clear to the Voi that, by mixing the soulfulness of traditional Eastern European music with break-beats, they had discovered a powerfully contagious new sound.
Digital Folklore's subtle mix of contemporary rhythms with Eastern European inspired melodic style has proved a hit: tracks were featured on compilation albums including Futuro Flamenco, Phat Global 2 and the new Buddha Bar album. There's even a forthcoming remix from The So Solid Crew! “Because of historical reasons Jewish London has kept its head down musically,” says Lemez. “When we started playing klezmer it was the rediscovery of our own roots. We see the band as a way to emphasise the relationship, not the differences, between the Jewish community and other communities. 'Salaam Sholom' is a track we recorded with MoMo, the London based Moroccan band, to emphasise what the North African and Jewish communities have in common. People too often allow politics to get in the way when we share so much.” Oi-Va-Voi is a Yiddish colloquialism that stands for 'Oh my God!' Lemez suggests it fits the klezmer tradition of not taking things too seriously. On the strength of Digital Folklore Oi-Va-Voi are certainly worth listening to seriously. (Garth Cartwright, BBC Radio3 World Awards, 2003)

Lemez Lovas (tromba), Sophie Solomon (violino), Josh Breslaw (batteria), Leo Bryant (basso), Stephen Levi (clarinetto) e Nik Ammar (chitarra) sono sei ragazzi londinesi accomunati dalle origini ebree ma di disparato background musicale (hip hop, elettronica, dance, rock, drum’n’bass, folk, musica tradizionale klezmer). A fine anni ’90 formano gli Oi-Va-Voi (espressione che, in dialetto yiddish, corrisponde più o meno al nostro “Oh, mio Dio”) con l’intenzione di unire in un progetto coerente le loro influenze molteplici e multietniche. Con la cantautrice scozzese KT Tunstall impegnata part time nel ruolo di vocalist, diventano un’attrazione del circuito live britannico e internazionale (suonando al festival di Glastonbury ma anche a Mosca e in altre città dell’Est europeo) e, dopo la partecipazione ad alcune compilation (compreso un volume della collana “Buddha Bar”) si procurano un contratto con la Outcaste, l’etichetta che già pubblica i dischi di un altro cantore della Londra multietnica di oggi, Nitin Sawhney. Dopo il primo e ormai quasi introvabile Digital Folklore, il boom di popolarità arriva nel 2003 con il singolo “Refugee” (cantato dalla Tunstall) e l’album Laughter Through Tears, che vede alternarsi al microfono anche Earl Zinger, la cantante yiddish Majer Bogdanski e l’uzbeka Sevara Nazarkhan. I problemi però sono dietro l’angolo: la Tunstall azzecca un hit internazionale col singolo “Black horse and the cherry tree” e si concentra sulla carriera solista; altrettanto fa la Solomon, che incide un album per la Sony e lascia un vuoto ancora più importante nel gruppo. Non bastasse, gli Oi-Va-Voi devono fare i conti con la grave malattia (poi fortunatamente risolta) di uno dei membri della band e con il progressivo deteriorarsi dei rapporti con l’etichetta per divergenze di vedute artistiche. Un primo tentativo di registrare un nuovo album naufraga nel 2005; l’anno successivo però Lemez e compagni vanno a Tel Aviv e lì iniziano a gettare le basi del nuovo disco, traendo ispirazione dal vivace ambiente circostante e registrando con musicisti locali prima di trasferirsi a Londra e concludere il lavoro sotto la guida del produttore Mike Spencer, noto per i suoi successi pop (Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai) ma esperto anche di musiche tradizionali. Dopo la registrazione del disco, intitolato semplicemente Oi Va Voi e pubblicato nella primavera del 2007 dalla V2, entra nel gruppo anche la violinista australiana Haylie Ecker, proveniente dalle Bond. (Rockol)

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