David Broza divides his time between New York and Tel Aviv,shuttling back and forth almost on a weekly basis. As he always flies economy,the airline staff knows him by face. I end up playing and singing during the flight, said the 56-year-old musician,also known as the post-modern Leonard Cohen the world over. In 35 years of his music career,Broza has played all over Europe and the Americas but this is his first trip east of Jerusalem. His performance at Blue Frog last week was his first-ever performance in this part of the world. Brozas repertoire is exhaustive. Hes released albums in Spanish,English and Hebrew,some of which have received platinum certificates (over a million copies sold). As a teenager though,Broza had other plans in life. He said,Between the age of 12 and 18,I lived and studied in Madrid. I wanted to be an artist and by 15,I had started selling my paintings. But that was also the time of the Franco regime in Spain and there was a lot of revolutionary activity all around. Dissenters would recite their poems to the sound of guitars on the radio,preaching freedom. This experience was to have a major influence on Brozas musical style and career. I give music to poetry. I find poems I can compose music to,whether theyre in English,Spanish or Hebrew. For example,Ive been working with a New York-based dance company to give music to Pablo Nerudas The Captains Verses, he explained. All this voraciousness has led to about 32 albums,including anthologies and jam sessions. It was completely impromptu. I was coming with my wife (New York-based fashion designer Nili Lotan) and I called the guys at the embassy here and they said if youre getting your guitar,why dont you play one night? And I said sure, he said. Little advertised,his performance nonetheless led to a packed crowd. After his one-hour power-packed performance,it was easy to see why Brozas an international superstar. With his speckled flamenco guitar,hes a one-man band. He coaxes out the most complex melodies even as he drums on the guitars body and fret board,providing percussion to his relentless strumming. Perhaps due to his experiences in Spain,Broza is a committed peace activist,and a strong believer in the power of music in conflict resolution. He was the first Israeli musician to play in Palestine and has featured on radio stations as disparate as Al-Jazeera and Radio Hamas,besides of course,channels in Israel where hes considered a national treasure. You have to condition the society towards co-existence. And I think music is one of the best ways to convey that message, he said and signed off.
