| Idan Raichel עידן רייכל |
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|---|---|
The Idan Raichel Project |
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 12, 1977 |
| Origin | Kfar Sava, Israel |
| Genres | Pop, Folk, World music, |
| Occupations | Keyboardist, producer and composer |
| Instruments | Vocal, piano, accordion |
| Labels | Helicon Records |
| Website | IdanRaichelProject.com |
Idan Raichel (Hebrew: עידן רייכל, IPA: [ʔiˈdan ˈʁeiχel]; b. September 12, 1977) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and a musician, known for his Idan Raichel Project (Hebrew: הפרוייקט של עידן רייכל), distinctive for its fusion of electronics, traditional Hebrew texts, Middle Eastern and Ethiopian music.[1] Prior to the Project, Raichel was a keyboardist, collaborating with artists such as Ivri Lider. He has sold over 300,000 records to date.
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Idan Raichel was born in Kfar Sava, Israel.[2] Raichel began to play the accordion at the age of nine.[2] He was attracted to long hair, gypsy music and tango, and studied jazz piano in high school, which improved his improvisational skills and ability to collaborate with other musicians.[2]
At 18, Raichel went into the Israeli army, as is compulsory for all Israelis of that age. It was in this military setting that Raichel developed musical skills that later proved vital. Raichel joined the Army rock band, touring military bases performing covers of Israeli and Western pop hits. As the musical director of the group, he became adept at arrangements and producing live shows.[2]
Following his military service, Raichel became a counselor at a boarding school for immigrants. The school was attended by many young Ethiopian Jews, who introduced him to Ethiopian folk and pop music. Whilst many of people in the school rejected their own cultural traditions in an effort to assimilate into mainstream Israeli society, a small core of teenagers remained fans of Ethiopian music, passing around cassettes of songs by Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke and Gigi. After hearing them, Raichel began to frequent Ethiopian bars and clubs in Tel Aviv.[2] In April, 2007, Raichel travelled with Save a Child's Heart to Rwanda and Ethiopia.[3]
At the same time, Raichel had become a successful backup musician and recording session player for some of Israel’s most popular singers. After a few years of this 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 parents' home in Kfar Sava.[4] He thought it would be a good idea to invite a number of different singers and musicians to participate, in order to better demonstrate his different styles and the ways in which he worked with a variety of artists.[2]
Early in his career he has been criticized in Israeli media for stealing the music of Ethiopians; leading to a law suit.
Raichel invited 70 different musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds to participate in the recordings now known as the Idan Raichel Project, which includes Ethiopian Jews, Arabs, traditional Yemenite vocalists, a toaster and percussionist from Suriname and a South African singer, among others.[2]
Raichel invited seventy of his friends and colleagues from Israel’s diverse music scene to participate in his recordings. Most of the Israeli labels considered his work too "ethnic" and too outside of the norms of the formulaic Israeli pop scene to have any hope of success. But one A&R man, Gadi Gidor at Helicon Records, recognized the potential of Raichel’s work and signed him up for an album that became an immediate hit.[2]
Helicon Records released Idan Raichel's first, eponymous album in 2002. Raichel composed and arranged many of the tracks, performs vocals and plays the keyboard, while collaborating with other vocalists and musicians. Hit singles include Boi (בואי / "Come"), Im Telech (אם תלך / "If you go") and M'dab'rim B'sheket (מדברים בשקט / "Speaking Quietly").
While the majority of Raichel's songs are in Hebrew, a few are entirely in Amharic, while others include small passages in Amharic, by male and female voices, setting traditional-sounding tunes to modern music. Love-songs predominate in his Hebrew lyrics, including Hinech Yafah (הינך יפה / "Thou art Fair") based on the Song of Songs, while the opening track also reaches into the depths of Jewish liturgy, with B'rachot L'shanah Chadashah (ברכות לשנה חדשה / "Blessings for a new year") sampling voices reciting traditional Jewish blessings.
Following the popularity of the Project, demand for live shows increased. Raichel was booked to perform at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. Given the number of musicians who participated in the recordings, it would have been impossible to have them all appear on stage, so Raichel selected seven members. This live show became symbolic of the album, as it brought together a group of people of different backgrounds but of equal standing.
Idan Raichel released his second album, Mi'ma'amakim (ממעמקים / From the Depths) in 2005, having released the title track at the end of the preceding year. This track, reminiscent of the opening of Psalm 130 (traditionally recited by Jews in times of distress or mourning), attracted similar airplay to that of his previous singles.
The first and last tracks on the album, Aleh Nisa Baruach and Ha'er Et Einav, feature the late Israeli singer Shoshana Damari.
In addition to tunes in Hebrew and Amharic, Raichel adds Arabic (in Azini), Zulu (in Siyaishaya Ingoma), Hindi (in Milim Yafot Me'ele), and Yemenite Hebrew to his linguistic repertoire.
In November 2006, a greatest hits album launched to target an international audience. The Idan Raichel Project is a single CD album published by the new record label Cumbancha and shipped outside Israel to an international audience for the first time. The liner notes contain English translations of some of the songs while the enhanced CD contains the band's music videos. The release was coordinated with a special Putumayo World Music collection featuring Idan Raichel entitled One World, Many Cultures. A portion of the proceeds for One World, Many Cultures will go to support the nonprofit organization Search For Common Ground, which works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving.
In 2007, the Israeli activist group Gush Shalom, as well as Palestinian and international groups, called for a boycott of Idan Raichel after his participation in a celebration of the Israeli settlement block Gush Etzion.[2][5]
His third studio album, named Ben Kirot Beyti was released on November 20, 2008. The album is a collaboration with many world musicians, and has so far been certified platinum, with over 40,000 copies sold.
| Year | Album | Israel Certificate | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Idan Raichel Project | 3x Platinum | 120,000+ |
| 2005 | Mi'ma'amakim | 3x Platinum | 120,000+ |
| 2006 | The Idan Raichel Project (International) | N/A | N/A |
| 2008 | Ben Kirot Beyti | Platinum | 40,000 |
| 2011 | Traveling Home | N/A | N/A |