CHAPTER 4

Manny,

Though I was born in Israel, I was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Israeli music was always a part of my life as was Russian music, since both my parents were born in Russia. My musical career began at the age of twelve with the ocarina, or ‘sweet potato’, (an instrument I like to think of as native to Brooklyn), and later went to the mandolin, the guitar, and then, the oud. During my college days, I shared a room with a Greek-American by the name of Bill Bouris. He introduced me to Greek music but also opened up for me the whole world of Middle Eastern music.