I cannot recall a Radio Ping Pong encounter in which the other party’s taste and criteria were so clearly identified and articulated. For the Israeli vocalist Yasmin Levy, the only point in singing is to reach deep into yourself and get it all out. In terms of genre, race and religion, she is as open-minded as anybody could be, but woe betide the person who presents her with a singer who sounds hemmed in by convention or inhibition. I made the misjudgement twice and didn’t like the discomfort at all. By the end, I felt like I had been in duel with only a short pencil to deal with Yasmin’s slashing sword. Next time, I’ll be ready.
In the past I have sometimes wished that I could hear Yasmin holding back on some songs, because a whole album of her unrestrained intensity can be difficult to take. But as the session unfolded before my eyes and ears, I began to understand that this is how she is, a force of nature not likely to be tamed. Her new album Sentir was recorded under the direction of Javier Limón in Spain, where the passion of Flamenco is parallel with Yasmin’s style. Javier’s approach is gentle, sometimes on the edge of cocktail lounge piano, and it takes a little while to adjust to the combination. The pivotal track is ‘Hallelujah,’ the Leonard Cohen song which has become almost too familiar in the past year through the success of several other recordings. But Yasmin really does claim it and make it her own, not only on the album but in this session performance where she extemporised an extra verse.
The session was fascinating for several reasons, beginning with Yasmin’s request for a particular kind of reverb echo to be set up on the studio monitors. It is unusual for such effects to be made available in this way, because it can lead to feedback. “I’m addicted to reverb,â€