Yefe Nof
2022
15 songs
46 min
Yefe Nof is the result of a rare and heartfelt collaboration between soprano Shani Oshri and composer-guitarist Daniel Akiva. Rooted in centuries-old Sephardic traditions, the album breathes new life into sacred piyyutim—liturgical poems passed down orally through generations, never written or officially recorded. Blending refined artistry with deep cultural memory, these melodies accompany the Jewish calendar from Shabbat to the High Holidays, drawing from Psalms, Golden Age Spanish poetry, and Arabic-Jewish musical textures.
Yefe Nof
2022
15 songs
46 min
Sephardic Jewish Piyyutim
Yefe Nof is the result of a rare and heartfelt collaboration between soprano Shani Oshri and composer-guitarist Daniel Akiva. Rooted in centuries-old Sephardic traditions, the album breathes new life into sacred piyyutim—liturgical poems passed down orally through generations, never written or officially recorded. Blending refined artistry with deep cultural memory, these melodies accompany the Jewish calendar from Shabbat to the High Holidays, drawing from Psalms, Golden Age Spanish poetry, and Arabic-Jewish musical textures.
Memory Traces
2023
12 songs
1 hour 9 min
explores the music of Yemenite women from a modern perspective.
The songs featured here were taught to Shani directly by Daniel, who learned them from his father—continuing an unbroken chain of oral tradition that spans thousands of years. With poetic arrangements and intimate performance, Yefe Nof serves not only as a musical experience but also as a living tribute to voices that might have otherwise faded. It is both a preservation and a celebration of heritage.
Jewish Yemenite women sang entirely in Yemenite Arabic. Their songs followed the cycle of life – weddings, henna, childbirth, daily work, love, and laments. These songs were passed down orally in women’s gatherings and are now nearly lost, as the culture that created them no longer exists.
Memory Traces
2023
12 songs
1 hour 9 min
Jewish Yemenite women sang entirely in Yemenite Arabic. Their songs followed the cycle of life – weddings, henna, childbirth, daily work, love, and laments. These songs were passed down orally in women’s gatherings and are now nearly lost, as the culture that created them no longer exists.
The album blends classical, Yemenite folk, modern music, and operatic singing. It’s performed by an ensemble of thirteen musicians, including a percussionist and a vocalist.
Structured as a song cycle, it begins with a birth song and ends with a lament, with instrumental pieces woven throughout. The zahn – a copper platter – creates atmosphere and connects the sections.
A special lament in the album gives voice to mothers whose children disappeared during the early years of Yemenite immigration to Israel. The album ends with a bonus track, a new arrangement of “Yuma VeYaba”, about a girl forced into marriage at a young age.