Album Notes

Nitzan Peri (Jerusalem 1968) - music, musical production, guitars, singing and baglama
Yousif Hbeisch (Yarka 1967) - percussion
Eran Horwitz (Jerusalem 1972) - bass and vocals
Nitsan-Khen Raz’el - violin and vocals
Gergie Baraza (Budapest 1974) - soprano saxophone and nai
Avi Yishai (Jerusalem 1967) - percussion
Nizar Rohana – (Ussefiya 1975) - oud and vocals

“Joseph and One” was established in 1996 by Nitzan Peri. After a year of intensive preparations the ensemble began performing and hasn't stopped since. This group of virtuoso musicians has so much experience playing together that they've learned to communicate without words. Joseph and One in concert demonstrates how a group of people can work together to achive a common goal. The Ensemble has played various venues, such as The Hebrew University, Habama Theatre, Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem, The Suzanne Dallal Center in Tel-Aviv and at the Haifa Municipal Theatre. During 1998 the ensemble was invited to several international festivals, such as: “Tivoli Gardens” in Copenhagen (April ‘98), a special premier at the Israeli festival (Jerusalem, June ‘98) and to the Andria Festival (September ‘98).

“Joseph and One” is a humorous view of the figure of Joseph (Youssef), an imaginary but realistic figure of a son of this land. The name “Joseph and One” is derived tongue-in-cheek from the Hebrew “Joseph and his brothers”. The ensemble is known as “Yussif ve-Ehad” (“Youssef and One”), with the Arabic and the Hebrew placed side by side in order to emphasize the forgotten connection between us all. Whether Joseph is Jewish or Arab, native born or an immigrant - his personality is an intricate mosaic of all the cultures, societies and landscapes living here side by side. At times these components engage in dialogue with each other and exchange experiences, but too frequently they quarrel, fighting over the birthright and feeling that one component wishes to take control of the whole picture and dispossess the others.

In the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 33-50) the solution was a tragic one. Joseph, who aroused his brothers’ envy, was sold into slavery and forcibly exiled from the Holy Land. He rose to greatness in Egypt, but all his life lived in longing for his family and homeland, whilst being a stranger wandering between prison and palace.

The musical Joseph (Youssef) lives in the landscapes of the desert and the city, the hills of Jerusalem and the Galilee, the coastal plain, the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The winds carry to him the sounds of Arabia mingled with the voices of the Balkans, Turkey, Spain, India and even Western Europe and America. This wealth of nuances has engendered a Joseph of broad horizons but torn, bewildered and in conflict. Each of the components takes him to another place, and each of the other places in the end brings him back here.

This complexity has no solution. Joseph does not wish to impose one part of the puzzle at the expense of the other parts, but any balance that is achieved between them is ephemeral. For a few moments the balance holds, moments of completeness, which are at once followed by disintegration. Joseph, who aspires to being like Joseph, one, whole and with no leftovers, repeatedly finds himself as Joseph and One.

The album was conceived at the time of the Oslo Agreement, whose signing was supposed to herald the end of the wars over the Holy Land. Ever since the signing the smooth-tongued leaders continue prattling in flamboyant ceremonies in a distant land, and Joseph still does not receive the answer to the question of how to live without being torn into pieces.

Born in the 60’s and 70’s, we grew up in the harsh reality of tension between the people living in Israel and its neighboring countries. Our music is about different ideas, which hopes for a better future of mutual respect and peace.