Malka Marom

One-woman concerts, college tours, clubs, coffee houses, radio and TV and representing Israel - mostly in North and South America and Israel. Accompanied by Knellman

And what, exactly, is that? "A girl with an ancient biblicalbackground living in a very modern world." Says Malka: "To prepare a song I always start from my own resources, but I now want to bring others in too. I think most performers lack the guts, the imagination - maybe we are just too unaware -- to expand ourselves."

Malka Marom

TRACK LISTING
Song Title	Language	Time	Sound Clip
1. *Mon Pays*		3:07
2. Jerusalem		2:45
3. Recuerdo		4:15
4. Moishe'le	Yiddish	2:43
5. *Tora Pu Pastin*		3:40
6. Matnat Yedidut		1:52
7. Amanguanee	African	2:54
8. Lu Ye'hi		2:44
9. Viva - Malka & A. Zelkin		2:20
10. Yatzanu A'at		2:54
11. Evening of Roses - Malka & Joso		2:26
12. Doce Cascabeles		2:13
13. Tamo Daleco	Croatian	3:06
14. *Moleindo Cafe*		3:38
Total Track Time		40:36

Black hair swept back from smoking eyes, dressed in a brilliant yellow blouse, black trousers and those boxy shoes that are all the rage in women's footwear, she let her voice smoke through the microphone over the too-loud bass.

It was the brand new, dazzling new, with-it new Malka of Malka Joso fame, delivering her first public performance before an Ottawa audience at Le Hibou.

With an updated repertoire that is 75 per cent new and with a brillian young guitarist - Kevin Knelman - to replace television partner Joso, a new bassist, and a new manager, Malka has all but kicked the ethnic bag into her past.

Monday at Le Hibou, the music was slick and professional. The gesture was a half slouch before thethe microphone.

Despite all the pizzaz, the sleek, sveldt new Malka is still the Malka of old. No lighting tricks or changes of repertoire will alter the fact that she is an artist and not simply another popular entertainer capitalizing on the publics desire for distraction.

Malka, distaff side of what was one of the better-known singing teams in the Continental-Israeli genre (Malka & Joso) brunet, dark-eyed and purveying the dynamic image of the sabra, she is now going it alone, and proved that she could more than make it by drawing a good house at the McGill University.

Inasmuch as Malka's McGill's date took place in almost subzero weather, it's significant that the college crowd not only turned out in such respectable numbers, but enthusiastically took part in the audience participation numbers.

What Malka's appearance can do, of course, is create a new showcase in Canadian colleges for established names, where virtually none existed before.

The gimmick, natch, is that the performer must bring to its young audience a fairly wide array of material, which Malka does effectively. She sings in 14 languages, including Hebrew and Yiddish, and also makes good use of English pop material.

It's also necessary for the performer to show up with plenty of show biz savvy since the young people spot amateurish and bush league performances in a snap. Malka has done many concerts, appeared at Expo 67, and has four appearances on the Johnny Carson show to her credit.

She's now concentrating on recording for Capitol; the tape of her McGill performance will probably become a Cap release.

For Malka - the singer, the presence, the beauty - next Tuesday is .. well, important.

The temptation is to say something like "the most Tuesday of her life," but with Malka one must learn, ascetically, to face the temptation of exaggeration; and resist them, as we have done.

Ascetially speaking, then, Tuesday is important in her life because it marks the opening of a two-week stand at the Riverboat - her first big home performance alone, re-worked, re-repertoired, re-groomed, since her singing break-up last year with Joso.

Malka and Joso, as all Canada might have known via TV, were ethnic as all get-out and self-contained team. Joso ably picked a guitar and had an operatic voice; the personality, the dressing was Malka.

Now all that has changed. Joso, who has little liking for travel, stays close to home...

"...I am enjoying very much to discover that there are still untapped sources," Malka said, "and I want to expend that on the stage."

Malka captured the heart of Expo audiences this month and has been invited back for return enagements.

The raven-haired Israeli beauty climaxed her first engagement series Saturday by co-starring with folk singer-actor Theodore Bikel in front of a cheering crowd of more than 10,000 at Place des Nations.

After the 90-minute show sponsored by the Israeli pavilion, thousands crammed the stage door looking for autographs from both artists.

Bikel invited Malka to join him when he learned how she had been singing to capacity audiences of 1500 every afternoon for a week at the Canadian pavalion.

Miss Malka Himel has now been signed for a week's performance at the Ontario pavilion Aug 14-21, and the Israeli pavalion on Aug 22.

A native of Israel, she appeared on Canadian stage and television and is the mother of two sons.

Saturday's triumph ended a night-long celebration at Montrael home with Malka and Theodore once again sending their fellow guests into a series of tow-tapping sessions and spellbound silences.

This week Malka is off to rest at a cottage, Rest means a briefcase full of books to read and songs to learn.

It's not an entirely new, but it is a breathlessly sexy and casually ellegant Malka who opened last night for two weeks in the Royal York Imperial Room.

She is a gorgeous woman with Oriental features, high cheek bones, facial skin tightly pressed against the bone framed by long flowing jet-black hair.

Her speaking voice is thickly accented. Her singing voice is husky rich and sultry.

In Yorkville, she was stunning wearing a dirndl and sandals, her hair tightly bunned. At the Royal York, she is equally eye riveting in a black crepe cocktail dress with a black bodice and a jewel halter effect. Her hair is loose, flowing below the shoulders.

In Yorkville with the guitar as accompaniment, she joyously incanted melodies of numerous folk cultures, Israel, Spain, Russia, Greece and Yugoslavia, to name a few.

In the Imperial Room, she sings chiefly in English, from Broadway (If I Had A Rich Man), from off-broadway (Try to Remember), from movies (A Man And A Woman, in both French and English) and from the pop charts (You Just Keep Me Hanging On.)

Still retained is the Yorkville Malka who lights up over a Hassidic number Cheery, Berry Bim, a Russian comedy song In the Desert, and a modern Israeli song, Jerusalem, done in Hebrew.

And still for the latter half of her 45-minute performance (twice nightly) is the guitar accompaniment by Kevin Knelman, added to the eight-piece Wally Wicken Orchestra.

Musical conductor and at the piano is Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, temporarily borrowed from his regular employer Barbara McNair, who assembled the supper club act for Malka. This is its big city premiere.

Malka herself is a delight to Try To Remember, If I Had A Rich Man, an Hassidic medley and A Man And A Woman. Alternately, she is an interpreter, a gold digger, a traditionalist and a woman burning with love.

Israeli-born singer Malka, a stunning brunnet with high cheek-bones and shoulder-length black hair, formerly partnered with guitar player Joso, a successful Canadian ethnic-language folk pair, has bridged the gap and is now embarked on a solo supper club career.

Her 45-minute act at the Royal York's Imperial Room is wide-ranging, from "Try To Remember" to medleys of Hassidic songs sung in Yiddish.

A a svelte songstress, Malka, has an arresting voice and a husky, sultry manner that will generate appeal.

Once offered a seven year film contract, she admits she wouldn't turn another like opportunity down. "I was in my teens then and an idealist and I was determined to work on a kibbutz. My parents unfortunately listened to me and let me do what I wanted," she said. "I don't really regret it, either, except that I did miss a chance to learn something new..."

....Malka makes the most immediate impact on her audience. She is a strikingly beautiful young woman with a cat-like grace and a flashing good humor....

Clubs
THE RIVERBOAT - Opening Tuesday, the all-new Malka, appearing alone for the first time on a public stage in Toronto.
TV Choice
The second of two musical specials spotlighting Canada's ethnic performers is on CBC at 10 pm. Hosted by the Isreali-born folksinger Malka.

Malka, the internationally famous folk singer, will be at Grand Canyon College with her accompanist, Kevin Knelman.

Malka has appeared in a Carnegie Hall concert; a command performance in England;the Mariposa Folk Festival; over 200 concerts; on four Johnny Carson shows; hosted the World of Music (CBS-TV) recorded for Capital Records...

Malka, an Israeli singer from Toronto, will head the list of stars appearing at this year's grandstand show July1,2, and 3.

Born in Tel Aviv, she made her first stage appearance at the age of 7 and at 12 starred in an Israeli movie. She has appeared in concert all over North America, including the O'Keefe Centre, the Royal Alexandra, Carnegie Hall, and at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Teamed for a time with a young Yugoslavian folk singer, named Joso Spralja, as Malka and Joso, she made many night club and television appearances, climaxed by her own CBC network TV series, "World of Music".

Malka has now returned to the concert stage as a soloist, Recently she appeared with noted folk singer Theodore Bikel in concert at Expo at Place Des Nations and as a soloist at the Ontario pavalion.

MALKA MAROM