Tsvia Abarbanel

In the late sixties, Israel had a large Yemenite community in which original folk artists started blending western instrument into traditional songs. The biggest name of the time was the innovative Aharon Amram, who was the first to introduce electric guitars, bass, farfisa organs, and drum kits to traditional Yemeni rhythms, conventionally played by tapping fingers on an olive-oil tin can. Tsvia Abarbanel and 'Piamenta's Guys' took a few steps ahead into the unexplored territory of Yemenite jazz.