Johannesburg, South Africa
February 26How does one take two Israeli guys, dress them in dark gray suits, use minimal lighting and come up with an incredibly colorful show? The answer is easy, really. Make sure the star of the show is Dudu Fisher. Not that his accompanist on piano, Shai Bacher, is any slouch, either.The amazing part is not just Fisher’s wide chromatic scale but also the extensive spectrum of musical styles he covers.Together, this two-man team kept the Johannesburg audience in raptures as they went from straight chazzanut through Elvis, Broadway, Yiddish favorites – interspersed with a light touch of humor that never felt forced.Fisher reminded his South African audience that he was the cantor at the Berea Synagogue in the mid-1970s and asked by a show of hands how many had been “married” by him. A large number of the audience raised their hands, and not surprisingly so. During that period, the Berea shul was the place to get married in Johannesburg. And in those days, Fisher was accompanied by one of the best choirs Jo’burg Jewry ever had.So after nearly two hours of his being on stage, I for one was sorry that the Dudu Fisher concert in Johannesburg had come to an end.After the third standing ovation, it felt like Fisher and Bacher were just warming up.My advice: If you get a chance to hear Dudu Fisher in concert, take it.