The Idan Raichel Project

Idan Raichel, the architect of this unique recording project, is a 29-year old keyboardist, producer and composer from Kfar Saba, Israel.

It was while working as a counselor at a boarding school for immigrants that he first started getting familiar with Ethiopian folk and pop music. "I started to hear lots of cassettes from Addis Ababa. Village music, like Ethiopian pop and reggae, or the native village songs," says Raichel.

Idan began to explore Ethiopian music and culture. He started going to Ethiopian bars and clubs and soon attended Ethiopian synagogues, weddings and ceremonies; his connections to the community deepened. Meanwhile, Idan had become a successful backup musician and recording session player for some of Israel's most popular musicians. He decided it was time to pursue a project that reflected his musical ideals, and began working on a demo recording in a small studio he set up in the basement of his parent's home. Idan invited over 70 of his friends and colleagues from Israel's diverse music scene to participate in the recordings. He never expected his musical experiments to turn him into Israel's biggest musical phenomenon in recent memory.

The debut album of The Idan Raichel Project in 2002 was an immediate hit. The haunting Ethiopian chorus of the first single, "Bo'ee" (Come With Me), sounded completely unlike anything most Israeli's had heard before, yet, coupled with Idan's richly poetic lyrics of love and devotion and sophisticated production techniques, the single was a huge success. The album went on to sell over 150,000 copies (triple platinum) and firmly establish Idan as a new type of Israeli pop star.

For the live version of the recordings, Idan chose seven members in addition to himself who were both versatile and strong individual artists in their own right. "There would be no front man," Idan says. "I would sit at the side and watch things and see what occurs. Every song would have a different singer, we would sit in a half circle and each musician would have a chance to demonstrate what they have to offer." The live show became symbolic of the album, as it brought together a group of people of different backgrounds but each is equal to the other.

The Project featured a fascinating array of participants including Cabra Casey, Mira Anwar Awad and Sergio Braams. Vocalist Cabra Casey is of Ethiopian heritage and was born in a refugee camp in Sudan during her parent's journey to Israel. She met Idan when they were both serving in the Israeli Army. Mira Anwar Awad, sings on the dramatic Arabic-language track "Azini," and is an Arab-Israeli who grew up in the northern city of Haifa. She is a well-known singer and actress, and has participated in numerous productions in Israel. Sergio Braams, who sings on the dancehall inflected track "Brong Faya" (Burn Fire) among others, immigrated to Israel from the country of Suriname on the Caribbean coast of South America.

Known around the world, especially in circles of Jewish, Ethiopian and Israeli communities, the Idan Raichel Project regularly sells out concerts in large performance venues. In November 2005, the Idan Raichel Project headlined at the renowned Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, the same venue from which the Oscars are televised. The Project also gave two well-received shows at the famed Apollo Theater in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood.

The work of The Idan Raichel Project is now released outside of Israel for the first time on the new record label, Cumbancha. Founded by Jacob Edgar, the longtime head of A&R and music research at Putumayo World Music, Cumbancha seeks to present exceptional artists from around the globe whose work merits attention by a wider public.