Desert Wind (album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Desert Wind
| type = Album
| artist = Ofra Haza
| cover = Ofra_Haza_Desert_Wind_cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = January 16, 1989
| recorded = 1988–1989
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = * World
| length = 49:15
| language = Hebrew, Arabic, English
| label = Sire/Warner Bros. Records (U.S.)
25976
Teldec/WEA Records (international)
Warner Pioneer Records (Japan)
Hed Arzi (Israel)
| producer = Arif Mardin
Joe Mardin
Ofra Haza
Thomas Dolby
Bezalel Aloni
| prev_title = Shaday
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = Kirya
| next_year = 1992
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/desert-wind-middle-east-mw0000202226|title=Desert Wind (Middle East) - Ofra Haza | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
| rev2score = {{rating|3|4}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-02-08-9001110788-story.html|title=Ofra HazaDesert Wind (Sire) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)In some ways,...|first=Chris|last=Heim|website=chicagotribune.com}}
| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=4 |page=200}}
| rev4 = Orlando Sentinel
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}Gettelman, Parry (2 February 1990). "Ofra Haza". Orlando Sentinel.
| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev5score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=313}}
}}
Desert Wind is an album by the Israeli singer Ofra Haza, released in 1989.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ofra-haza-mn0000458759/biography|title=Ofra Haza | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/03/16/riding-the-desert-wind-israeli-singer-brings-the-sound-of-another-world-to-u-s-on-tour/|title=RIDING THE DESERT WIND // Israeli singer brings the sound of another world to U.S. on tour|website=Tampa Bay Times}} Popular in Israel, Haza was unknown in the rest of the world until the previous year, when the song "Im Nin'Alu" and the album Shaday were released. Desert Wind was therefore more oriented toward the international market.
The main language of the album is English, however Haza also sings in Arabic, Hebrew, and the ancient language of Aramaic. The album includes traditional folk Yemenite songs.{{cite news |last1=Willman |first1=Chris |title=OFRA HAZA 'Desert Wind' Sire |work=Los Angeles Times |date=21 Jan 1990 |location=Calendar |page=77}} The sound is a mainstream form of dance music with elements of synthpop and, on track 8, an influence of house music. The album ends with "Kaddish," a Jewish prayer that, as Haza writes, is meant to hold all the world's sorrows on the wings of an angel. The song has a short English introduction; the main part of the prayer is in Aramaic.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
Production
The album was produced by Arif Mardin, Joe Mardin, Haza, Thomas Dolby, and Bezalel Aloni.{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-02-02-9002013255-story.html|title=OFRA HAZA|first=Parry|last=Gettelman|website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}
Critical reception
Trouser Press wrote: "Making a self-conscious effort to maintain a connection to her musical roots while reaching out for mainstream appeal, Haza locates a fascinating midpoint between the Middle East and the Midwest on 'Ya Ba Ye', 'I Want to Fly' and 'Da’Asa'."{{cite web |title=Ofra Haza |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/ofra-haza/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=3 May 2021}} New York wrote that "the novelty of combining religious music with drum programs is interesting only the first few times ... Haza is at her best on the slow, dolorous closing cut, 'Kaddish'."{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecut.com/2020/01/elizabeth-wurtzel-on-sinead-oconnor-ofra-haza.html|title=Fragile Innocence|first=Elizabeth|last=Wurtzel|date=January 8, 2020|work=New York}} Spin thought that the music "teases our Western rock'n'roll longing for strangeness, then satisfies it by giving us soul and personality and cultural context."{{cite journal |title=Spins |journal=Spin |date=May 1990 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=76-77}}
Track listing
- "Wish Me Luck" (Aloni, Haza) - 4:10
- "Ya Ba Ye" (Aloni, Haza) - 5:06
- "Middle East" (Aloni, Haza, Mardin) - 4:37
- "I Want to Fly" (Aloni, Amram, Haza) - 4:26
- "Slave Dream" (Aloni, Haza) - 4:46
- "Taw Shi" (Aloni, Dolby, Haza) - 3:28
- "Mm'mma (My Brothers Are There)" (Aloni, Haza) - 4:23
- "In Ta" (Aloni, Haza) - 5:50
- "Fatamorgana (Mirage)" (Aloni, Haza) - 4:59
- "Da'asa" (Aloni, Haza) - 2:41
- "Kaddish" (Aloni, Haza) - 4:34
Personnel
- Ofra Haza - lead vocals
- Fonzi Thornton - backing vocals track 3
- Lani Groves - backing vocals track 3
- Lisa Fischer - backing vocals track 3
- Mark Stevens - backing vocals track 3
- Rachele Cappelli - backing vocals track 3
- Kadya (Shoshana) Haza - vocals track 9
- Joe Mardin - keyboards, programming, vocoder, conductor strings, drums, backing vocals
- Omar Faruk Tekbilek - baglama, oud (ut)
- Gene Orloff - concertmaster
- Iki Levy - drums and percussion programming, cymbal, loops, goblet drum (darbuka solo),
- Yaron Bachar - keyboards
- Andy Paley - additional guitars
- Paul Pesco - guitar
- Adi Dgani - keyboards
- Dario Malki - keyboards
- Rodrigo Manuel - percussion
- Larry Treadwell - guitar
- Thomas Dolby - keyboards, drum programming, backing vocals
- Nyle Stynner - windsynth
- Joshua Fried - keyboards, drums, programming, musical shoe tree
- Dario Malki - keyboards
=Production=
- Arif Mardin - record producer tracks 1 to 3, 7, 8, musical arranger
- Bezalel Aloni - producer tracks 4, 5, 10, 11, musical arranger
- Joe Mardin - producer tracks 1 to 3, 6, 8, musical arranger
- Ofra Haza - producer tracks 4, 5, 10, 11, musical arranger
- Thomas Dolby - producer tracks 5, 6, musical arranger
- Joshua Fried - musical arranger, additional production
- Scott Canto - sound engineer
- Chris Trevitt - sound engineer
- Metal Dan Wood - sound engineer
- Dave Lebowitz - sound engineer
- Glenn Zimet - sound engineer
- Joe Mardin - sound engineer
- Rich July - sound engineer
- Michael O'Reilly - sound engineer
- Rod Hui - sound engineer
- Peter Robins - sound engineer
- Ziv Sidi - sound engineer
- Brian Malouf - sound engineer
- John Jackson - sound engineer
- Toby Wright - sound engineer
- Ted Jensen - audio mastering
- Recorded at Green Street Recording, NYC, "Z" Sound Studios, NYC and Can Am Studios, Tarzana, CA. Vocals and strings on track 1 recorded at SoundTrack and Clinton Studios, NYC. Mixed at Green Street Studio, NYC. Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC.
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1989) !align="center"|Peak |
| US Billboard 200
|align="center"|156{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/ofra-haza/chart-history/tlp/|title=Ofra Haza|website=Billboard}} |
{{col-end}}