Shirat Ha-Lev (Heartsong) has released their first CD of Jewish music, entitled Ha'l'luyah. Many of the excellent musicians featured on the album appear with them on stage.

or several years Barbara Taft and Abraham Davidson (Shirat Ha-Lev) have been providing music for the services of Congregation Shalom Rav, formerly the Heart of Texas Havurah, in Austin, Texas. Indeed, they helped to organize the congregation's first High Holy Days services.

Shirat Ha-Lev released their first Jewish CD, Ha'l'luyah, at their April benefit concert for Congregation Shalom Rav.

Performing as Barbara and Abraham, this singing team was a steady presence in the Houston Jewish community before moving to Austin. Since then they have appeared at many Austin events including:

, who never fails to garner kudos for the quality and soulful magic of her voice, is certainly the only African-American singer in Austin regularly performing a Hebrew and Yiddish repertory. A native of Detroit, Barbara recalls growing up in a mixed Jewish and African-American neighborhood where she learned her first Hebrew song in grade school. But Barbara's real appreciation of Jewish music began when she moved to Texas, met and married Abraham, and began performing with him at JCC functions in Houston.

While in Houston, she also met 95 year old Frieda Weiner, a mover and shaker in the elder community, who took Barbara under her wing and taught her Yiddish songs. "She was a remarkable woman," Barbara recalls. "At age 104, with the aid of a walker, she was still leading the dancing when we sang Hava Nagila."

, arranger and producer of most of the songs on Ha'l'luyah, was a singer and songwriter long before he met the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach in San Francisco in the early seventies. After meeting Shlomo and spending time with him in his House of Love and Prayer, he was inspired to move to Israel, enter an ulpan, and begin writing songs in Hebrew as well as in English. Inspired by The Holy Land, two of the English-language songs, "The Swallow" and "Children of Creation" are featured on the album.

Barbara and Abraham have appeared on stage with legends such as Kinky Friedman, David Amram, and others. For more information about their itinerary, or to contact them, click here.

Site design: imageData