I woke up in Tel Aviv, Israel depressed and not wanting to get off the sofa. I was on day 3 of a 3 month trek in the Middle East and something odd was hitting me. My mind was all over the place and I couldn’t shake the sadness. As I looked outside through the patio doors from my prone position and saw a bright sunny day, I could not feel any joy. For me, this sunny day was gloomy and full of self-loathing. I stayed on the sofa till noon. Then it hit me that no matter how much I was self-loathing, nothing was going to magically get better. Feeling a wee bit disgusted with myself, I finally got up and decided to head out on the patio in the sun and do some stretching and yoga. Thought this would lift my spirits. I put on some Brandon Flowers, his ‘Flamingo’ album. All was going well, concentrating on my breathing, and then I heard some lyrics to part of a song and I preceded to have a complete meltdown. Tears were streaming and my body was shaking uncontrollably. I just let it all go.
After sometime, feeling better, I decided to get dressed and go out for a stroll down King George Street to Carmel Market. Figured a walk would clear my head and do me some good. I grabbed my camera and headed out. I had to go out or else I was going to just be caught up in myself and I was definitely over myself. As I was heading to Carmel Marke I decided to take a detour to Cafelix (corner of Zamenoff St. and Shlomo HaMelekh St. off of King George) for a double cappuccino and a pastry. I knew the energy at Cafelix would do wonders for me. The vibe here is always uplifting and chill. This is my favorite café for coffee and treats. Great place to relax, meet people, and just take in some good energy. I sat a spell, enjoyed the cappuccino and did some people watching (one of my favorite things to do). Also, being a huge extrovert, chatted with quite a few people!! Once I felt refreshed, I started to make my way to Carmel Market. It’s not a far walk, just a klick or two and as I got closer to the market I could make out the faint sound of music. Music has always been a huge part of my life. It has saved me in some of my darkest of hours. As I continued to walk, I quickly found myself drawn to this unknown music. The beats were different and the lyrics were in Hebrew. I do not speak a lick of Hebrew but yet I found them very soothing to the soul. As I got closer, the voice I was hearing was hitting my core. I was resonating with this voice, the rhythms, the guitar, just slowly walking and being happy. Carmel Market was packed. It was Thursday, their big shopping and going out to eat and socializing day. Thursday is the start of their weekend. The music was getting louder but I could not locate the artist as the crowd was huge. I began looking in every direction for the source. Spinning my head constantly, standing up on my tippy toes, so many people on this bright sunny day. Then, after almost giving up, I spied the source, the sun, the gift, the jewel of Israel was before my eyes.
Immediately I was completely drawn in by his energy. His soothing voice, his lyrics, and his guitar all seemed peacefully/spiritually natural. I stood for a moment to listen with my eyes and ears. My soul was pleased and enlightened. As I was listening, my camera began to twitch “take some photos Drew.” I am a good listener and started to photograph this amazing artist. Uriel David noticed me right away and his smile of gratitude won me over. His music became more and more paradisaical and his smile more infectious as moments in time passed. I could not stop shooting, my lens was drawn to every move of his fingers on the strings of his guitar, every expression on his face, and every smile he gave while singing. Truly a gifted musician who loved making people feel happy with his music. Uriel is a treasure and I had to capture. Carmel Market may be a busy section of Tel Aviv but I blocked out all the distractions as Uriel’s energy connected with mine. I was experiencing my own little slice of natural euphoria.
As all of this was taking place, I was in the moment, but I thought of a statement by a very good friend of mine, Bradley Odice, “This is very serendipitous Drew.” A statement made on a train in Denver when the two of use met out of the blue on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I have always wondered about this statement by Bradley and today the statement hit me. Everything had to fall into place this day. Depressed, self-loathing, a meltdown, going to Cafelix, and then walking along King George to Carmel Market. This all led me to Uriel David. The source of the sound, the sun, the peace, energy, serendipity!
After taking a slew of pictures, I was able to put my camera away and just sit for a few hours chilling and listening to Uriel. After he finished playing, the two of us were able to chat and do some laughing. He is a very genuine soul with a plan for his music. Before departing, I encouraged him to release some music on ‘SoundCloud’ for the rest of the world to enjoy. He told me he would think about it and boy do I ever hope he does post some music online. I can listen to his voice, his lyrics, his music all day long!! I have photographed 100’s of musicians and bands, but Uriel hit me right in my core, my being on this eventful day in Tel Aviv. Uriel David is ‘REAL’. A pure, unadulterated, happy, loving soul who has a gift. The gift of touching people with his music, his energy.
I am looking forward to more music from Uriel David in the future. I know my being will be lifted for a lifetime when he finally releases an album. Till this time comes, memories will keep me smiling. Cheers Uriel David and thank you for helping me “Make My Own Sun” today!! Happiness comes from within.
Side Note: I originally made this post back in 2017 and I am revisiting my article on this particular Thursday in Tel Aviv with Uriel David now in 2023. No particular reason why. I was just scrolling through old posts and saw this one. I decided to take another look and do some rewriting. I then looked on SoundCloud and just about lost my balance. Looks like Uriel took some advice and he posted some of his music online with SoundCloud shortly after we met!! You can use this link to listen to some of his music, https://soundcloud.com/uriel-david You will also see a familiar picture he has used as his profile pic. Enjoy!!!! Serendipity – revisited!!!
Cheers, Drew Frederic