If asked nicely, Israeli pianist Shlomi Shaban could easily dash off a Bach prelude or Chopin mazurka.
It’s just not his style anymore. The former conservatory whiz kid and Israel Philharmonic soloist would rather rock around the clock.
Indeed, since he left classical music in 1998, Shaban has steadily built himself into one of Israel’s most popular singer-songwriters. He’s got the gold records and Israeli Grammy awards to prove it.
Shaban, 34, will make his first West Coast concert appearance with a Sept. 30 show at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. The concert is a co-presentation of the Israel Center and the Israeli Consulate.
He won’t take the stage alone. Accompanying Shaban will be singer Rona Kenan and Israeli trumpeter Avishai Cohen, the latter of whom has been friends with Shaban since high school.
In those days, Shaban spent his time practicing etudes. But he already opened up to new musical ideas. Most of them came from artists like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman.
“When I was a kid I dreamed of being a rock star,” Shaban says from his Tel Aviv home. “Most kids do. I was in the trajectory of classical pianism, but when I practiced I would take breaks and write these silly songs.”
As a teen studying piano at the London Royal College, he realized those silly songs were what he wanted to do for a career. “What drew me first was the lyrics, the storytelling,” he says. “It blew my mind.”
His debut album, released when he was 23, featured all original compositions. In that rookie year he won several AMIs (Israel’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards), including discovery of the year and song of the year.
After that first album, Shaban suffered from writer’s block. It was six years before he made what he calls his “therapeutic comeback,” in the form of the album “Ir.”
Like his first, that album featured Shaban’s stripped-down style. Lacking the ornamentation typically found in classical music, he focused instead on writing about himself in a spare, unadorned fashion.
On his most recent, self-titled CD, he kept the sparse arrangements, but returned to a kind of classical simplicity.
“With time I learned it’s something I cannot escape,” he says of his musical roots. “My recent record was just me on the piano doing renditions of classical, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman. I’m very influenced by classical traditions.”
As for what he writes about, Shaban gravitates toward complicated love stories and even more complicated observations about Israeli life. In one song, “New York vs. Yekhezkel,” the lyrics translate in part: “The thing with Israel … we’re too incestuously whirled.”
“It’s a small place,” Shaban says of his homeland. “You can’t be isolated. People are very familiar with you, even the ones that buy your music. I think that’s kind of healthy. It gives you a chance to live your life the way you’re used to.”
Despite touring in Europe and parts of the United States, Shaban’s celebrity may not extend far from home. That’s because he, unlike other Israeli stars such as Ivri Lider, will not write English-language versions of his songs.
“I don’t feel I can really express myself as I would love it in a foreign language,” says Shaban, who speaks perfect English. “I’m a lyrics person, a storyteller, so I’m kind locked in my own country.”
That’s fine with him. He is always working on new songs and performs regularly across Israel. Then, after the show, he’s more than likely to hang out at the bar across the street with his fans.
In Israel, he says, “You’re famous, but it’s not such a big deal.”
Shlomi Shaban performs 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. $32-$41. Information: www.jccsf.org.