New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Missing Piece Group) When Israeli singer-songwriter
David Broza set out to record in East Jerusalem, his goal wasn't just to complete his new album, but to symbolically connect adversaries through the power of art. The result of those sessions is East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem, to be released on S-Curve Records on January 14, 2014. The record is a collection of thirteen songs that blends cultures and languages into a powerful statement about collaboration and coexistence. The album gathers a first-rate ensemble of international and local talent that includes American musicians and Grammy-winners Steve Earle, Steve Greenberg and Wyclef Jean, Israeli musicians Gadi Seri and Yossi Sassi, Palestinian hip-hop duo "G-Town" and Arab/Israeli singer Mira Awad.
Produced by Earle and Greenberg, East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem features covers of songs by Earle, Elvis Costello,
Cat Stevens and Pink Floyd. It also includes Broza's first songs written in English in his forty-year career.
The cover songs on the album all have themes of goodwill and collaboration interwoven into their lyrics. Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together", Cat Stevens' "Where Do The Children Play" and
Roger Waters' "
Mother" (from Pink Floyd's The Wall) speak of breaking down barriers, while Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write The Book" and Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" talks broadly about the need for communication to achieve connection.
USA TODAY premiered the "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" video today, viewable HERE: https://usat.ly/1gQw82U
A highlight of the album, "The Lions Den" is adapted from a heart-wrenching poem written by Judea Pearl, the father of slain Wall Street Journal writer
Daniel Pearl. In words almost too forthright to bear, Judea recounts the loss of his son with the powerful line, "never in the history of humanity there has been such pain."
East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem will not bring peace to the Middle East, but the creation of the album and perhaps its mere existence proves that collaboration between peoples can bring us closer to beauty and truth. "It goes beyond the politics," Broza concludes. "The music still has to win the heart, whatever and whoever you are."
Tracklist:
1) One to Three
2) East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem
3) Key To The Memory
4) Why Can't We Live Together
5) Ramallah - Tel Aviv
6) Wild Carnations
7) The Lion's Den
8) (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, And Understanding
9) Jerusalem
10) Mother
11) Every Day I Write The Book
12) Where Do The Children Play
13) Peace (Ain't Nothing But a Word)
