C OMPOSER: YITZY BALD│YEARS: 1990-TODAY
SONGS: “LEGABAY” “TATTE OY TATTE” “HU KLAL GADOL” “AL HASULAM…” AND DOZENS MORE
Catching up with composer/producer/arranger Yitzy Bald is a journey through some of the most popular songs of the past 25 years. He casually mentions one popular song after another dance-floor hits alongside slow songs of faith and chizuk. One by one they’re songs that are hard not to recognize: “Digi Digi Da Dum (Legabay)”; “Hu Klal Gadol BaTorah”; “Samayach Samayach Tesamach”; “Emes Atah Hu Rishon”; “Tzaddik Be’emunaso Yichyeh”; “Ye’erav Nah”; “Vayichan Sham Yisrael”; “Tatte Oy Tatte Avinu Av Harachaman”; and “Smile Again” are just a small selection.
Bald first broke into the frum music scene in 1990 at the first Miami Experience concert. After he had composed “Pischu Li Shaarei Tzedek” and taught it to his friends in Camp Agudah the song was noticed and purchased by Yerachmiel Begun — and a new-old name 21-year-old Shloime Dachs was scheduled to sing it at the concert. Dachs was no stranger to the stage though having sung as a kid in Miami Boys Choir Tzlil V’Zemer and Amudai Shaish.
“As the orchestra began to play the new song Shloime’s microphone was accidentally turned off so no one could hear the vocal — but my friends from camp were in the audience and they spontaneously began to sing ‘Pischu Li.’ Dachs motioned to Yisroel Lamm who stopped the orchestra until a new mike was brought and they began the song again. But those few minutes of the audience singing were pretty memorable ” Bald reminisces.
