Jo Amar

Yosef "Jo" Amar (, ) (1 June 1930 – 26 June 2009 ) was a Moroccan-Israeli singer and hazzan, notable for his pioneering of the Mizrahi genre and his influence on many artists such as Zohar Argov (who would cover one of Amar’s songs "Barcelona"), Eyal Golan, Ishai Levi and Oren Hen.

Biography Joseph (Jo) Amar was born in Settat, and began his singing career in the late 1940s in Morocco. In 1956, Amar emigrated from Morocco to Israel where he lived on Moshav Yad Rambam.

Jo Amar performed with Lilith Nagar in the 1960 Israel Song Festival, winning third place with the song "Leil HaChag." The first verse of the song was sung in Arabic.

He was a pioneer in the introduction of Moroccan Jewish liturgical music to Israel. He became associated with mizrahi music, mixing the melodies of traditional Sephardic Jewish music with Arabic music and Western music.

Amar tried to introduce Mizrahi music originating in Middle Eastern or North African countries to mainstream Israeli culture. He then moved to New York City in 1970,

In 2008, a musical evening of tribute was held in his honor in Jerusalem. Mayor Uri Lupoliansky presented Amar with a certificate of appreciation, and selections from a movie on his life, beginning with his childhood in Morocco, were screened. He was buried at Moshav Yad Rambam, in central Israel.