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t’s hard to choose a favorite song on my own album,” says singer Yoni Z. of his eponymous debut album Yoni — a mix of original English and Hebrew compositions with a few “pesukim” songs thrown in for good measure — “but if I have to, it would have to be ‘Hoshana,’ where I finally got to duet with my father.” Actually, Yoni clarifies that he had been harmonizing with his father, chazzan and performer Moti Zigelboum, since the age of 16, when he first joined in chazzanus pieces at shul. “We got a great reaction, so we kept doing it, and eventually concerts and events followed. But recording this song together was a big deal for me, because it made our joint music official.”

One track which Yoni’s fans will recognize is “Odeh,” which was released as a single two years ago. “I hesitated to put ‘Odeh’ on the album, since it didn’t feel so fresh. But this past Pesach I performed at five Chol Hamoed concerts, and as I finished the show and completed my encore, the audience was cheering and requesting ‘Odeh.’ That made me realize how popular the song had become, and as it was the song that put me on the professional music map, I knew fans would be happy to see it included on the album. What’s interesting, of course, is that newer listeners are discovering it for the first time, so this composition for the words ‘Odeh Hashem meod befi’ is kind of riding a second wave.” With 14 songs on the new album, there’s plenty of brand-new material alongside it.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 730)