‘I’m not afraid of new initiatives,” says Eduard Shyfrin, “I am a man of action. If I decide to do something, I do it.” Well known as the inventor of the Kabbalah of Information, the prolific author of articles on Kabbalah and science and the best-selling book From Infinity to Man: The Fundamental Ideas of Kabbalah Within the Framework of Information Theory and Quantum Physics, Shyfrin has begun a new initiative: sending a personal message to the world of love and peace through Shyfrin Alliance (www.shyfrinalliance.com), a new musical group that features his original music, compositions, songwriting, and vocals.
As a child in Ukraine, Shyfrin received a well-rounded music education and spent seven years studying music theory, while learning to play the guitar and piano. His parents were partial to jazz, and the sounds of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and other jazz greats resonated throughout the family’s small apartment.Shyfrin’s musical skills remained dormant for many years, as he was focused on the worlds of science and business, earning a PhD in physical chemistry and gaining a deep knowledge of physics. In 2002, he began his studies of Kabbalah, together with a new appreciation and interest in Judaism.
The COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 enabled Shyfrin to rekindle his interest in music. “I realized that I had time, and I decided to restart,” he says. “I hired a piano teacher, a guitar teacher, and a vocal teacher and started to play without any particular goal – it was just for myself.”
Reverting to his scientific self, he cites Curie’s Principle, which posits that symmetry must be broken in order to initiate a physical process. “When a system is in balance,” explains Shyfrin, “there are no processes. In order for something to happen in the physical system, the symmetry and balance must be broken. It’s the same with people. Nothing creative can happen when we are in a state of balance and symmetry. To create something, one should break the balance and be in a state of non-equilibrium.”
The war between Russia and Ukraine and the toll it took on him as a native of Ukraine created a state of non-equilibrium within Shyfrin, who sent a letter of protest to the Russian embassy in London opposing the Russian aggression, wrote articles opposing the war in The Jerusalem Post, and provided financial assistance to Ukrainian aid organizations.
Initially, Shyfrin, who was then playing the guitar, assembled a group of musicians to perform at family summer events. He penned lyrics in English but did not think he was capable of composing music on his own. He honed his musical skills by listening to hundreds of tracks on Spotify. “I listened to rock blues, soul blues, jazz blues, and acoustic blues. I don’t think there are any blues songs on Spotify that I didn’t listen to. It was a very intense charge of information.” He then studied jazz chords, where his mathematical skills helped him learn the complex chords of that musical style.
Shyfrin's compositions
Shyfrin created 12 compositions in the fall of 2022 and winter of 2023. He offered his vocal teacher, the brilliant Cannes-based jazz singer Lizzy Parks, the position of general manager of the Shyfrin Alliance project. With her help, Shyfrin gathered some of the top rock musicians in France, employed the orchestra of the Paris Opera to form the group, and subsequently recorded 12 compositions in Paris, constituting the Upside Down Blues album.
Most of the lyrics of Shyfrin’s songs express a powerful message of love and anti-war sentiments. “We never know the source of our creativity,” he says. “All my lyrics and music are based on my life experience, and the study of Kabbalah is a very important part of my life that changed my attitude to the world dramatically and radically. That’s why there is some Kabbalistic thought in all of the lyrics.”
Parks suggested that he apply his distinctive, gravelly bass-baritone to his songs. Following her advice, Shyfrin began to practice and sang solo on nine of the 12 tracks.
“Despite the fact that I am not a professional singer,” says Shyfrin, “since my lyrics are based on my life’s experiences and my understanding of the world, I decided to sing myself.” Parks and guest vocalist Tommy Edward participated in some of the compositions.
“My attitude to art,” says Shyfrin, “is that the success comes when the piece of art reaches a state of holism – meaning, when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We have vocals, music, and the lyrics. The success comes when you put them together. You create a composition that is bigger than the sum of its parts. That is what I tried to achieve.”
Shyfrin views his musical career as somewhat surreal. “It never crossed my mind that I would compose music,” he says. When asked about his family’s reaction to his latest endeavor, he chuckles and says, “They were all surprised but were very helpful.” Each of his musical creations must pass muster with his wife, Olga, who presents her honest evaluations.
Shyfrin’s gratification from making music is one of intellectual satisfaction and self-expression, he says. “That is the biggest pleasure. When you play music, it resonates with something inside you. You are in a different state of mind and consciousness. It cannot be described with words. They are inner feelings.”
SOME OF Shyfrin’s compositions took him months to complete, while others took him a matter of minutes. For example, the song “Unconditional” was inspired by the love of his grandmothers, with whom he grew up in the small apartment. It was the fastest song Shyfrin had written. He had decided to take lessons in public speaking in London to ease the tenseness he felt when lecturing on Kabbalah and science. In one exercise, his teacher, Kate Gilbert, asked him to imagine the place where he was born.
“My soul went to the apartment where I grew up, 60-odd years ago. I recalled the smallest details of the interior. I had a fantastic feeling of warmth and happiness. It was a happy place, where I was loved unconditionally.” He returned home from the session and wrote the music and lyrics in a few minutes. “It is a very mysterious and pleasant process to express yourself through music,” he says.
Beyond the feelings of satisfaction and musical accomplishment, Shyfrin says that his goal was to send a message to the world through his music and lyrics, of the importance of love and his opposition to war. He says his most powerful antiwar message is in the composition “The Cage.”
Shyfrin is not pausing his work on Kabbalah, despite his musical interests. He is combining his recent articles on the subject that have appeared on The Jerusalem Post website into a new book. At the same time, he has five musical compositions in the pipeline that he is developing.
“Whiskey Blues,” the first single on the Upside Down Blues album that will be released on April 26, and the remaining tracks on the album will be released over a period of several weeks. The songs are a mixture of rock, blues, and balladry; they will be available on popular music streaming channels such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon.
Eduard Shyfrin is pleased with the results of his musical creation. While he hopes the album will succeed, he recognizes that he alone cannot determine its success. “The job has been done. I did my best. The Almighty will decide.”
This article was written in cooperation with Eduard Shyfrin. Visit shyfrinalliance.com for more information and to sign up for newsletters and social media. To order Shyfrin Alliance Music: single ‘Whiskey Blues’: orcd.co/whiskey blues; full album ‘Upside Down Blues’: orcd.co/upsidedownblues