After 20 years of authentic Yemenite singing, singer Sharona Gerish-Jarafi (43) is releasing her debut Jewish-Israeli album: The Meaning of Life.
The Shabbat singers at her parents' house were a magnet for her, but despite this at a young age, she was less connected to Yemenite singing. The transformation began at the age of 19 when she learned to play the organ and tried her hand at Yemenite singing for the first time. Later, there was a small performance at a family wedding, and finally a friend from college asked her to perform a henna ceremony, and from there everything took off.
""I didn't choose to do this, but singing chose me," says Sharona, who, in parallel with Yemenite singing, taught physical education, aerobics, and Pilates. Over the years, Sharona grew stronger and narrowed her target audience even further, following the decision to perform for women only.
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Music producer Udi Damari (Yaakov Shweki, Haim Israel and more) has been Sharona's musical partner for 16 years. So when the decision was made to release an album, it was natural that Udi would produce it. Despite requests for a Yemenite album, the desire for development and the exploitation of abilities in different directions led to the recording of an album in a Jewish-Israeli style.
The Meaning of Life – is the name of the new album that is being released these days, intended for women and girls only.
The album's twelve songs contain a personal and feminine journey of longing, gratitude, joy and faith, in which she shares with her audience. One of the songs on the album is dedicated to her mother, who passed away 12 years ago, and although she is no longer present, she still continues to draw from her figure. "The album's title song speaks of a self-search that belongs to everyone and the desire to find the path of life that is most right for me and most right for me as a Jew," says Sharona.
