EDGE OF THE WORLD IDAN RAICHEL Letting Israel’s Many Voices Be Heard STORY PHIL FREEMAN | PHOTO BARZI GOLDBLAT musicians to work with me. I was hoping to create demos that would lead to more work as a producer or songwriter, but it developed into When people outside Israel think about the country, their image is the recordings that are the basis of the album.” generally that of a simplistic dichotomy: Jews vs. Palestinians, end of The Idan Raichel Project didn’t stay studio-bound for long, of story. But the country isn’t just some cratered patch of desert on the course. “After the songs started getting airplay and there was a edge of the Mediterranean; it’s a cosmopolitan nation with cities as demand for a live show,” Raichel recalls, “I decided to invite seven well as kibitzes. Living in those cities are people from all walks of life, musicians of various backgrounds, each an exceptional artists on with all sorts of ethnic backgrounds, from the region and beyond. their own, to participate in creating a stage show. We sit in a semi- Songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Idan Raichel was struck circle on stage, I am off to the side, and each artist gets a chance to by the idea of showcasing some of the many voices his homeland shine. I thought this embodied the collaborative spirit of the project.” was harboring. “I was working on demos in a studio I set up in my Raichel’s U.S. CD, on upstart label Cumbancha, is actually a parent’s basement and was inviting many different singers and compilation culled from two Israeli albums—2002’s self-titled debut, 20 GLOBAL RHYTHM JANUARY_07 and last year’s Mi’Ma’amakim (Out Of The Ethiopian music when I was counseling Depths). One of the tracks, the hauntingly some Ethiopian kids and started listening to beautiful “Bo’ee” (Come With Me), also Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke, Gigi and appears on the Putumayo compilation One others.” World, Many Cultures, a showcase for This newfound interest in Ethiopian music genre-blending collaborations that features was the initial impetus behind the project, Cheb Mami paired with Ziggy Marley, and tracks like “Mi’Ma’amakim,” which Taj Mahal accompanying Toumani Diabate, contains samples from the traditional Ethio- Alan Stivell alongside Youssou N’Dour, and pian song “Nanu Nanu Ney,” are the result. many other surprising and rewarding Wagderass Avi Vese, who sings on the encounters. Raichel has dreams of collab- track, immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia orating with performers from everywhere in at 14. But perhaps unsurprisingly, given the the world. “I would love to work with singers open-ended and collaborative nature of the from the Arab world such as Khaled, Cheb music, Raichel’s expectations and early Mami, Souad Massi and Faudel,” he says. ambitions were quickly exceeded. “When “I’d also love to work with West African I fi rst started working on these songs, I was artists such as Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour, focusing more specifi cally on the Ethiopian Oumou Sangare, and especially Tinariwen, sound, but I eventually began adding more who I met when we both played at WOMAD Middle Eastern and Arabic fl avors, Yemenite in Singapore. I think they are great.” sounds and even infl uences from the Carib- The power of Raichel’s music lies in its bean and South Africa,” he says. combination of ancient and modern, remi- niscent of Moby’s looping of crackly blues I use the vocals as and gospel 78s on his album Play. Traditional instruments are heard alongside guitars and the foundation of the electronics, and some of the voices, singing song, and try to add the in ancient languages, are live, but others are sampled. Raichel manipulates the sounds, elements that I feel will adding echo and reverb and synthetic rhythms occasionally reminiscent of hip-hop, enhance that particular but with the desolation of a desert post- singer’s performance. sandstorm. “Bo’ee” is entirely electronic, with vocals Indeed, there are over a dozen vocalists by Yair Ziv and Shiran Cohen fl oating amid featured on the disc, part of a total musical the artifi cial sounds, perfectly demonstrating cast of nearly 70 musicians of wildly diverse Raichel’s self-effacing production style. backgrounds. “The songs ‘On Sabbath’ and “I always start a song with the vocals,” he ‘Brong Faya’ feature Sergio Braams, who says, “and I let the melody and the rendition grew up in Suriname and Curaçao and now of the song guide how the rest of the song lives in Tel Aviv,” Raichel says. “Most of the develops. Then I just add what the singer hip-hop fl avored stuff on the album is per- needs to support him or her. If he needs only formed by Braams, who is actually singing in an acoustic guitar then we give him that. If a Dutch Caribbean patois. Mira Anwar Awad, he needs something more electronic to con- who sings on ‘Comfort Me,’ is a Palestinian trast with what he is doing then we add that.” Arab who lives in Haifa and is a well-known The vocals on “Brong Faya” are particularly actress in Israel. A man from the traditional startling, fed through static and hiss to Yemenite community named Yihia Tsubara, create a feel not unlike late-’90s productions who is in his 70s, and his son Shalom Tsuberi, by dubby UK dance artists Leftfi eld. came to me to document their performances Raichel’s been making music almost his of the Diwan, an ancient collection of songs entire life. “I started playing the accordion as that they know by heart.” a child,” he recalls, “and I was exposed to Different traditions, different countries, dif- all kinds of different music, everything from ferent generations—all come together in Idan Gypsy music to Argentinean tango, French Raichel’s studio. The Idan Raichel Project waltzes, Israeli folk, whatever. It taught me to may be a CD, but the larger Idan Raichel keep my ears open to different sounds. I project is one of cultural and musical unifi ca- listened to a lot of different music growing up, tion: a noble goal indeed, particularly in a part from Miles Davis to Oum Kalthoum. I studied of the world many associate with sectarian jazz in high school. I became interested in confl ict and religious intolerance. ·.