He just keeps rolling along. Old Man River, that is. Rock ‘n rolling along, with some pop inflections, folk influences, Indian sitar magic, psychedelia, and the occasional world beat groove – don’t try to put this man in a box, just listen to the music. Old Man River (Ohad Rein) has traveled (India, Japan, Italy), performed for the famous and the ordinary, recorded several albums, and is now – lucky us – performing in Israel.
I heard him at The Zone in Tel Aviv, a venue whose relaxed space and eco-music-friendly vibe is well suited to Ohad Rein’s easy and direct rapport with the audience. Onstage, he has an incredibly charming, playful, exuberance that shines out. Sun is a recurring motif in his songs, and sunny is probably one of the best words I can use to describe this singer-songwriter, although the quiet songs are lovely as well. This began as a sit-down concert, but very happily evolved into a dance happening. Just listen to the first song on the playlist – Sunshine, a track from his album Good Morning – and it’s easy to understand why I really wanted to dance:
Ohad was not alone out there, he has a really terrific band of musicians: Keren Tannenbaum on violin, Simon Starr on bass, and Noam David on drums.
The mix of musical genres may be a bit disconcerting at times, but every time Ohad Rein sings, smiles, jumps up and plays his guitar it’s like getting a hit of sunshine and it really doesn’t matter if it’s rock or whatever, like to 50s infused Liz Taylor (video courtesy of my colleague and friend Yuval Erel).
Keren opened on a beautiful cover of Something (George Harrison), followed by a lovely quiet song Time (yeah, lots of songs from Good Morning, it’s a good album!) and then Ohad went solo for a song called Urban and here’s where we all had a chance to “woa woo” along. A good time was had by all, including yours truly. It’s a pleasure to share the video of One Step, I’ve actually been singing it to myself as I walk down the Tel Aviv streets these days) a good song for our times, reminding us to take it slow:
Old Man River links: website, facebook, YouTube
Upcoming concerts: Saturday, March 28th, Syncopa Bar, Haifa
