His voice sounded like home

Our hearts are stunned and our minds refuse to process: Arik has passed away. The man who for over 50 years made our lives here a little more pleasant, a little more sane, is no longer with us. The man whose music embodied what it meant to be "Israeli" will no longer sing or compose or do what he did so well.

Arik did everything out of love. Over time, he changed and the objects of his love changed as well. But, as in the words of the song, "it was the same love" that propelled him through the years.

Four years ago, in honor of his 70th birthday, I prepared a 12-hour marathon of his songs. I arranged all the songs he recorded starting with his first recordings with the Nahal Band in 1958 to his first solo record White City (1960), and his work in The Yarkon Bridge Trio (1965-1966).

Then there were his recordings with the Einsteins, The High Windows, and The Churchills, his songs for the music festivals of the 1960s, his collaborations with Shmulik Kraus, Shalom Hanoch, Miki Gabrielov, Shem Tov Levy, Yoni Rechter and his more recent collaborations with Arkadi Duchin, Aviv Gefen, Berry Sakharof, Peter Roth, Guy Bukati and others.

Einstein put out a total of 40 solo albums and recorded at least 550 songs. I listen to them over and over and understand why I loved him so much. First, there is his voice, which is the sound of home. Then there is his amazing instinct for choosing collaborators. And of course his brilliant songs, the majority of which don't get old. The words and melodies and the perfect execution. But above all there is his positive energy. There is an optimism inherent in the songs, even the sad and painful ones. Somehow Einstein managed, with almost every song, in every period, to give you a feeling that everything would be alright. That even though things are hard now, they will get better soon. If God didn't invent music for this purpose, then I don't know what it is for.

And he did things his own way, artistically and otherwise. He never stopped searching and reinventing himself as an artist, out of a total dedication to his craft and the understanding that those who don't try don't make mistakes. He also conducted his career in his own way. He never relinquished his independence even when he paid a very high financial price for it.

After more than 20 years on stage, Einstein decided to stop performing live and to continue only with audio and video recordings. He also gave very few interviews to the media. Einstein was put off by gossip and the cult of celebrity. He refused to accept honorary degrees, prizes and honors. It's not that he was alienated. He was one of the most up-to-date people in everything connected to current events, culture and music, especially sports. He simply chose not to take part in that and to focus on what he was really good at: composing and recording songs.

May his memory be a blessing.

Yoav Kutner is an Israeli music editor, radio broadcaster, music journalist, television host and program editor.

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