“…Noam Blat is something else again, with roots reaching deep into Middle Eastern culture at large, his performance starts with a group hug with his band. A piercingly blue-eyed bloke with a winning smile, he seems genuinely imbued with some kind of spirit. He sings like he hails from heaven: in the register and with the calibre of Rufus Wainwright. He sings in Hebrew as well as English; a seamless fusion of the ancient, traditional and contemporary, while paying witting or unwitting homage to an even wider, wilder world of influences, from flamenco to Yiddish folk, klezmer and gypsy. Prayerful, sad, tender and touching, but with a primal rhythmic undertow that almost compels one to dance. There’s magic here: in his anecdotes, imbued with disarming sense of humour (like the one about his brother hankering to get back to a wartorn part of Israel after a week or so with their mother), songs and charismatic capacity to connect with an audience. Could this be the long-awaited Moshiach, at last?
As is so often and refreshingly the case, these days, Blatt defies classification. Suffice to say, if you like hearing the old songs, from the ghetto, you’ll probably like NB. If you hanker for your younger days, on the kibbutz, you’ll probably like NB. If you love Latin, you’ll probably like NB. And so it goes. There’s an intergenerational, non-denominational, secular and religious, multilingual universality about this young bloke. He has a way with an acoustic guitar too.”
- lloyd bradford