Eviatar Banai is an
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i musician, singer and songwriter.
Biography
Banai was born in 1973 in Beer Sheva. The extended Banai family is notable as an outstanding family of Israeli artists; Eviatar is the younger brother of the actress
Orna BanaiOrna Banai is an Israeli actress, comedian and entertainer.Banai was born in Beersheba, Israel. Her father was a local judge, and her mother was an education executive for the City of Beer Sheva. Many of her relatives are successful Israeli actors and singers. The next generation of the Banai...
and the singer and songwriter
Meir BanaiMeir Banai is a well known and respected Israeli musician, singer, and songwriter, who has been called a "veteran star" and "one of the perennial big guns of Israeli music".- Biography :...
, although their father, Yitzhak Banai, was a judge.
Banai studied cinema in highschool. He also studied piano for eight years. While serving in the
Israel Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
he directed and wrote the screenplay and the music for a
comedyComedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film called
Six, that was shown on Israel's
Channel 1Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...
.
After his military service in the
IDFThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
Banai lived and worked in a kibbutz in the
Golan Heights. There he wrote a play, which he hoped to stage in
Tel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. He moved to Tel Aviv to do that, and although the play was never staged, he stayed to live there and started writing songs. He played intimate concerts in small clubs in Tel Aviv and after some time the music producer
Chaim ShemeshChaim Shemesh is an Israeli music producer and manager.Shemesh was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He started his way in the music business as a lighting and sound engineer. After three years of studying sound in New York, Shemesh started working as Yair Nitzani's personal assistant...
, who worked at Hed Arzi Music, proposed him to record an album.
Some songs on the album were produced by notable Israeli musicians - Korin Allal and
Assaf Amdursky-Music career:Amdursky began his career in Israel with the band "Taarovet Escot", and together they released one album in 1991. In 1994, he wrote and composed most of the songs in his first solo album, titled "Assaf Amdusrky", which was released in 1994. In it he played guitar, keyboards,...
, and the rest were produced by Banai's friends Tzakh Drori and Ami Ayali. Most of the album was based on Banai's unique melodic singing voice accompanied by a piano, some songs had strings arrangements and a few had simpler rock guitar-and-drums arrangements. The eponymous debut album was released in 1997 and the combination of traditionalist chamber pop sound with modern sounds, emotional lyrics and intricate melodies was well-received: The reviews were uniformly positive, many songs became major radio hits and the album sold over 50,000 copies.
Overwhelmed by the success of the album, Banai, like many young Israelis, traveled to
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and upon his return to Israel, settled in the desert town of
Mitzpe RamonMitzpe Ramon is a town in the Negev desert of southern Israel. It is situated on the northern ridge at an elevation of 860 meters overlooking a sizable erosion cirque known as the Ramon Crater.-History:...
, where he started working on his second album,
Shir Tiyul (שיר טיול, Trip Song). The album was released in 1999. Its sound was completely different - it had very little of the piano sound that characterized the first album and was mostly based on experimental electronic music. The reviews praised Banai's boldness and innovation, but the sales were poor and Banai retreated from the public attention.
In 2004 Banai, like his cousin
Ehud Banai-Early life:Banai, of Persian Jewish and Afghan Jewish descent, was born in Jerusalem to the actor Yaakov Banai, the eldest of the Banai siblings, and moved to Givataim at the age of four.-Music career:...
, returned to his Jewish religious roots and became a
baal teshuvaBaal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
. He moved back to Tel Aviv, married and had a son.
On
PurimPurim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
day of 5765 (2005) he released his new album
`Omed Al Neyar (עומד על נייר, Standing on Paper), produced by Gil Smetana. Most of the music was written by Banai. One song was an adaptation of a poem by
Rachel Sela was a Hebrew poet who immigrated to Palestine in 1909. She is known by her first name, Rachel, or as Rachel the poetess .-Biography:...
, some others were contributed by
Etgar KeretEtgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.-Personal Life:Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survived the Holocaust. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife, Shira Geffen, and...
, Amir Lev and Gilad Kahana and rest were written by Banai. The music on the album was again a departure from his earlier albums - it was mostly played by a basic rock band of guitar, bass and drums. The album received critical praise, produced several radio hits and returned Banai to the public attention. It was certified gold in November of the same year.
Banai released his fourth album
Layla Kayom Yair (לילה כיום יאיר, Night as the Day Does Shine; taken from ) on November 22, 2009. It was similar in musical style to
`Omed Al Neyar, while the lyrics showed Banai's deeper involvement with Judaism. The albums was produced by Amir Tzoref. The jazz musician
Daniel ZamirDaniel Zamir is an Israeli religious Jewish saxophonist. Having started on alto saxophone, Zamir is mainly known for his soprano playing.-Background:...
contributed saxophone to three songs and Eviatar's father Yitzhak Banai sang on one song.
External links