Yosi Piamenta at GV Studios recording “Yess Legacy,” the Moshe Yess tribute album, with Gershon Veroba, Avraham Rosenblum, and Gal Gershovsky
Yosi Piamenta at GV Studios recording “Yess Legacy,” the Moshe Yess tribute album,  with Gershon Veroba, Avraham Rosenblum, and Gal Gershovsky
Yosi Piamenta at GV Studios recording “Yess Legacy,” the Moshe Yess tribute album,
with Gershon Veroba, Avraham Rosenblum, and Gal Gershovsky

Yosi Piamenta, ל״ז

By Michele Justic

Whether you called him Piamenta or “Shimmy Hendrix,” or, as most did, “best friend,” or “brother,” Yosi Piamenta made a big impression on the hundreds of people he worked with personally and the millions who have enjoyed his music from afar. Knowing that his talented fingers will not be strumming that electric guitar and that his glowing smile will not light up the room anymore is heartbreaking. But his legend, memory, and music will always bring joy and inspiration to his fans in the Jewish community and beyond.

As a 14th-generation Yerushalmi, love for Israel, Hebrew, and the Jewish people was at the core of Piamenta’s heart. When he began his music career at age 13, that love coursed through him and played itself out on his guitar. His electrifying style of music with a strong Sephardi influence changed the Jewish-music scene.

As best friend and longtime collaborator Gershon Veroba shares, “Yosi was the simplest personality yet the most unique ever in the entertainment business that I experienced. He was unbelievably skilled at what he did, and he did it without effort and it was completely intuitive. He didn’t even look at the guitar. His fingers knew where they were supposed to go.”

Larry Gordon met Yosi and his brother Avi a few times and confirms, “Yosi was a very talented guitarist and he knew how to make his guitar cry.” Avi was an accomplished flutist whom Yosi referred to as his “second half” in the beloved and highly successful Piamenta Band.

Shloime Dachs had the honor of working with Piamenta many times and explains, “When I got into the business approximately 27 years ago, there were hardly any electric guitars on the bandstand. There were horns, drums, and keyboard. He revolutionized the business. He was such a talent, and when he came into the room, he lit it up. Many young guitar players came since, and they watched him, idolized him, and learned from him. He would teach people on breaks. You would see him in the corner teaching the other musicians. He had no ego and didn’t mind if more talent came into the business.”

Aaron Appelbaum of Nafshenu Orchestra says, “As musicians, we all knew Yosi Piamenta was not your ordinary musician. Yosi had total command of his instrument; he had the gift of making the instrument work for him.”

Younger musicians relate that Piamenta helped others in the industry. Oneg Shemesh shared a stage with him at a Jewish-music festival and notes that Piamenta complimented him on his set. Cedarhurst resident Zvi Lampert was an aspiring keyboard player when he crossed paths with Yosi. Piamenta taught him music and got him gigs. Lampert describes Piamenta as “a rock-and-roller who did things his own way,” but also as “the nicest guy in the world. He was a unique musician with formidable skill and his music was very raw and honest.”

One Cedarhurst resident had the privilege of having Piamenta perform at her wedding. She remembers that they were warned he might not come because he was a huge star at the time, but he did come and “his music had a tremendous amount of energy. He was very talented. That electric guitar was mesmerizing.”

Veroba recalls an album of his where he needed a short guitar part and none of the soloists could do it right. “Yosi’s stuff was exciting from the first note. To be able to make a solo that fits into four measures and is exciting is remarkable.” Veroba worked with Piamenta on another album for which he recalls Yosi had not prepared, as was his way, but they decided to record all of his takes–and the first ones were the best. “He heard the music and just followed with his heart.”

That heart stayed connected to its source, and many who knew Yosi corroborate the accounts of his special personality.

5TJT columnist Rabbi Yair Hoffman says, “He had an extraordinary neshamah. He was a ba’al chesed who would give you the shirt off his back. He genuinely cared for everyone. He gave that to his children as well. The children are extraordinary neshamos. I taught one of his daughters and she is a genuine giver. He had a love for all people that’s extraordinary. Even when the New York Times called him a Jewish Jimmy Hendrix, and he knew he had talent, he was still an anav. It is a tremendous loss.”

Music legend Sheya Mendlowitz relates, “I produced three albums for him and countless concerts since 1981. He was one of my best friends. He was a very special Yid. There is a major void in Klal Yisrael now. Rest well, my friend. You earned it and you deserve a first-class seat in Gan Eden.”

Aaron Appelbaum confirms, “Yosi Piamenta was a person that personified the word simcha. Many times as musicians and bandleaders we find ourselves in difficult or tense situations, yet Yosi always performed with total simcha, smiling and at peace with life. When performing, he always gave off the vibe of ‘life is great.’ Many times he would tell me, ‘Al tid’ag (don’t worry); it will all work out’–and it always did.”

Appelbaum says that many people knew Yosi as the super-talented musician he was, but not everyone knew his spiritual side: “I remember traveling with Piamenta to perform at a wedding in Cleveland, Ohio. I had the privilege to share a room overnight with Yosi. We returned to the room after midnight, exhausted from traveling and performing a six-hour wedding. I went to sleep. I awoke at about 4 a.m. to see an empty bed next to mine. I looked around the room, seeing a small nightlight in the corner of the room with Yosi sitting at the desk. I asked, ‘Yosi, why are you up? It’s 4 a.m. Aren’t you so tired? Besides, we need to catch a flight in a couple of hours; why don’t you go to sleep?’ Yosi laughed, ‘Aaron, I never went to sleep. I was so busy today and I never had a chance to complete my Tehillim. I must finish Sefer Tehillim for today.’”

Aaron says, “I was blown away by his response. I realized this is not your run-of-the-mill musician.” Appelbaum concludes, “Yosi was an exceptionally warm person who always made you feel welcome. Yosi Piamenta, you will truly be missed on so many levels. We will all miss your warm smile; we will all miss the simcha you brought to so many thousands of Jews around the world. What a loss to the music world, what a loss to Klal Yisrael!

In a 2012 interview with Arutz Sheva, Piamenta spoke of the intricately woven relationship between the Jewish religion and music. “When you read the Torah in the shul, you read it with the notes, with ta’amim,” said Piamenta. “That’s the notes of the Bible. It’s all being sung. And when there’s prayer, the chazzan never talks, he always sings. In the Beit HaMikdash when they do the korbanot, then it has to come from the heart. It can’t be done as just an act, because you have to mean what you do. The Levi’im used to sing and play on the stages above the Mizbeiach. The people who would perform the korbanot would hear the music and cry. And since they cried, their korbanot would be accepted because it came with tears.”

Shloime Dachs fondly remembers Yosi’s personality as “extremely warm, always smiling and hugging everyone. I don’t remember him not smiling. He enjoyed what he did. Although he made a living, he knew he had a higher calling getting a mitzvah every night and bringing smiles to people.”

More than that, Yosi’s unique humor attracted much admiration. Gershon Veroba admits he finds it hard to encapsulate such a personality into only a few words but remembers how Yosi’s strong relationship with coffee and smoking was the basis for many jokes. For example, when offered a limited menu on a trip, Yosi liked that “smoked cheese” was an option, as anything smoked is good. True to his modest approach to life, Yosi exclaimed that the absolute best way to make his favorite Turkish coffee is with Kirkland coffee. Lampert remembers Yosi bringing a tin coffee cup and percolating the coffee while doing his set.

Yosi passed on at the age of 64. The levayah was held at the Shomrei Hachomos Chapels in Boro Park, and the procession passed by World Lubavitch Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway–where Yosi had received many blessings from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory–on its way to JFK Airport, where it was met by many of his beloved musician friends and family. The burial took place in Israel.

Gershon Veroba fondly concludes, “He was loved by everybody. It is hard to draw the line between love and admiration. Yossi was a big, beautiful mess but there was nothing negative, just raw. He opened himself up completely.”

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