After 30 Years, Erez Netaf Fulfills His Father's Legacy: A Musical Interview

Erez Netaf, a musician and creator, was a young man when his father entrusted him with a tape of rare *piyyutim*. At the time, he didn't know that his father's humble request to "take care of the tape" was essentially his father's last testament. This testament, he shares, changed his life.

"28 years ago, my father approached me with a cassette and said: "Here are *piyyutim*, tunes, and songs by your grandfather and great-grandfather, sung in a Tunisian melody. I'm giving it to you, trusting you'll know what to do with it," he recalls. "I was surprised then that he gave the tape to me specifically, but when I asked why he chose me, he simply replied that he trusts me."

The cassette, recorded in 1948, 70 years ago, contained valuable material—rare *piyyutim* originating from Tunisia, sung by his great-grandfather and grandfather, the latter a cantor in a synagogue of Tunisian Jews. The existence of this tape, with its rare and unfamiliar tunes, was significant. Yet, what turned his father's request into a dramatic testament was his passing in a car accident shortly after giving it to Erez.

"Two months after he gave me the tape, my father visited me in the army," Erez recalls. "On the way back, he was killed in a car accident." His father's last gift to his son, before passing, was this tape of ancient *piyyutim*. Erez recounts understanding that this was, in essence, an unwritten will. "Beyond the great loss and difficulty, I realized it was my father's last request, to take care of this tape, to do something with it. In retrospect, looking back, this tape guided my entire musical life."

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The decision matured in me 12 years ago

Netaf shares that the *piyyutim* on the tape were very complex. They were rich, incredibly beautiful, and irresistibly enchanting, yet very different from the music Netaf had listened to until that time. He spent a long time studying them, contemplating how to handle them. "Only after ten years, when I was 28 and started playing the oud, did I begin to understand how to approach them and how to make them accessible to the public. Over the years, I integrated them into songs and albums I released, but I always waited and dreamed of the moment I would fully realize my father's will."

Netaf is a diverse musician influenced by folk and world music. Playing the oud, he shares, impacted all his musical endeavors. This was also the approach he brought when deciding to adapt the *piyyutim* sung by his grandfather in a new album.

"I decided to integrate eastern music with a connection to western music, which is essentially my world. This is my personal expression and interpretation of the *piyyutim*," he says. "During the album's production, I noticed those involved in the process connected deeply to the *piyyutim* that underwent this transformation. These *piyyutim* did not stay in Tunisia but became a bit westernized and received influences from Western music."

Over the years, Netaf incorporated some of these *piyyutim* into his previous projects. Only recently did he begin to record them with new arrangements, with the Jerusalem Ensemble he established. The product is the album 'From Tunisia to Jerusalem,' where he presents his unique interpretation of the rare and ancient *piyyutim* infused with world music, contemporary Israeli music, and even touches of alternative music.

When did the decision come, after all these years, to focus specifically on this project and fulfill your father's will?

"The decision matured in me 12 years ago. Around the same time, I uploaded the cassette in its entirety, as is, to the *piyyut* website. I thought the tape revealing rare and unfamiliar tunes to the public would be appreciated and that by uploading it to the site, many people would be exposed to it. It was indeed important to let the audience know the tape, and for a time, I was sure I did the right thing with it. But then I realized it was a bit of a miss. Family members didn't come to the tape and listen to it as is, nor did the general public. I felt I needed to distribute the tape more widely. The decision itself grew in me when I sang one of the *piyyutim* at a Shabbat table, and my wife asked, "What about it? How is it that this *piyyut* isn't known?" Then I slowly realized there's something here. Not just Tunisian descendants can connect to these melodies, but people from other communities as well."

Then you decided to release an album.

"At about this stage, I realized it was bigger than me, and it wasn't just my project. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, I started working on the album. I began the work on the album shortly before my firstborn was born, and then a magical process began that involved fatherhood and parenthood, finishing only after four years of work."

How different was the work on this album compared to your previous albums?

"There were times I worked on an album for several consecutive months, but here there was something special in the intensity of combining parenthood with creation. It took a long time to reach this album, with many prayers. I was blessed with the blessings of rabbis who blessed the project. I felt *siata d'shmaya* throughout the recording and work afterward, with the involvement of all those involved, from the musicians who played to those who participated in the album. Ilan Damari from HaMadregot also sings on this album, adding greatly with his vocal qualities and touch."

This whole project is a longing for my father

The first single from the project, the *piyyut* 'Azamer Bishvachin' sung to this melody on Shabbat evenings in Tunisian Jewish communities, is performed by Erez in a duet with singer Ilan Damari, who knows this and other Tunisian melodies from his parents' home. "What touched my heart, I want to pass on. There is much more to it than just music," he says.

The responses he's received since the album's release, Netaf shares, are emotional and amazed. "I prayed to be a messenger for this, to pass on these tunes, which were not even known in the homes of Tunisian descendants, and to bring them back home. At one of the performances, someone approached me and said he simply cried throughout the show from longing for home and the Tunisian tradition. For me, it is a closure because this entire project is a longing for me and my father. Nothing is more moving than these *piyyutim* touching people's hearts, that my personal testament touches so many people.

"There's much more to this than music. It's my personal connection to the wonderful Tunisian *piyyut* tradition. Let's all have something to long for. This isn't my first album. I have done solo albums before, but never with all my might. I did it each time and moved on. I didn't ensure it reached all ears maximally. This is a very serious closure, a lot of release on one side, and on the other, a musical and family closure. I've had many musical projects, written music, but this is definitely the project of my life. I've waited a long time to carve in the rock and present this album."