She may be a local talent, but Chava Mirel is aspiring toward an international music career that will share her Northwest and Jewish roots with the world.
Mirel is celebrating the release of her first solo acoustic album, Journey, recorded and mastered at Glenn Sound in Seattle. The mix of original music, pop and jazz standards, Latin tunes and Hebrew prayers sung to her original music is dedicated to Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue and the students at the Jewish Day School in Bellevue where she once taught.
Mirel sees it as an opportunity to thank all the people who have made it possible for her to pursue her dreams.
“I really made the CD for the congregants of B’nai Torah, because those people have been so supportive of me,” said Mirel in an interview with JTNews from her home in Westchester County, N.Y. Mirel was living in Manhattan for the last two-and-a-half-years.
“I extracted myself from the communities that have supported me so much,” she said. “This is a way that I can communicate with them in my own way so they can see what I’m doing with my life.”
Mirel is a born singer, according to her parents, Rabbi James Mirel, head rabbi at Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue and Julie Mirel, a mezzo-soprano whose national career includes opera, symphony, cabaret, musical theatre and Jewish music.
She calls her style eclectic, warm, enveloping, calming, spiritual and rhythmic. Her vocal style is reminiscent of Lauryn Hill, Ricky Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell and Billie Holliday. A cover of “The Girl From Ipanema” is delivered in impeccable Portuguese, and a traditional Sephardic song, “Adio Queirida,” is sung with all the depth intended in its beautiful Ladino lyric.
“My mission in life is to soothe and relax people,” said Mirel.
In addition to Jewish and pop music, Mirel also performs and records reggae-style material for Caribbean audiences in Jamaica and in the U.S. Her newly released single just started getting radio play on a Caribbean station in New York.
“I’ve really gotten involved in the reggae music scene,” she said. “I have a Jamaican producer and I’ve released a single in Jamaica called “Eyes of Jah” on the Freedom Sounds label. It’s also being played in England and Japan.”
Mirel has already done two European tours and she says she would like to do more touring. She also wants to do more recording with her Jamaican producer and eventually produce a full album of reggae material.
The singer/songwriter can be seen performing live on the Internet by going to Punkcast.com to view a video of one of her shows. Just type in Chava Mirel or Dr. Ava.
“Those are the songs that I’ve been performing in New York,” said Mirel. “It’s really hard to write a song without getting an audience reaction.”
This album has been a long time in coming. Mirel wrote the music for two songs on the CD nearly 11 years ago. “Fading,” a soulful take on loneliness, was written when she was 17. “Looking For Love,” a “facing the world out on your own” sort of lyric, was written when she was in Israel.
|
 |
When TBT needed a new melody to the Hebrew prayer, Ma’ariv Aravim, Mirel wrote it for them. She also wrote the music for the Hebrew prayer Vayivra Elohim. Both are included on the album.
“The recording industry doesn’t really produce albums like this anymore — direct into the tape recorder, no dubs and when it’s done it’s done,” said Mirel’s Seattle producer, studio engineer and owner of Glenn Sound, Glenn Lorbecki.
“When I heard her original songs and the way she put it together, I thought, ‘this is really unique. She draws you in. These are really an engaging songs.’”
Mirel has been performing since she was one-and-a-half years old. The now 28-year-old studied classical piano at the age of six, began writing songs on the piano at the age of 11 and learned to play the guitar at 13.
After attending the California Institute of the Arts, where she studied jazz piano, Latin jazz and composition, Mirel decided to trade in the West Coast for the East.
Nevertheless, the memories of the family playing music together throughout her childhood are imprinted deeply in her soul. Whether it was with her father’s klezmer band in the living room or her mother singing her an aria at bedtime, Mirel soon realized how special that was once she struck out on her own.
“It was obvious from the very beginning that music was a huge part of her life,” said Julie Mirel, who is not only Chava’s mother, but her executive producer and art director as well. “I knew something was up when she was three years old, in the car, and a song came on and she said, ‘Mom, do you want me to sing harmony or melody?’”
That was the first time she realized her daughter might follow her example and become an artist and performer.
“I think I would be very proud of her,” said Julie Mirel, “but I see the dangers of being on the road and losing yourself in performing everyday. But when people are driven to perform they’re unstoppable.”
In New York, Chava also works as a movement and music teacher at Temple Israel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She offers her songwriting talents to families who are having a special event and want a to capture the memory in music.
“The Jewish part of her life has always been nicely intertwined,” said her father, Rabbi Mirel. “She loved music from day one. She just came out singing and people should always follow their heart.”
Chava Mirel’s Journey can be found exclusively at the Temple B’nai Torah Sisterhood Judaica Shop. |
