The Idan Raichel Project
       
 
Led by Israeli keyboardist/producer Idan Raichel,
The Idan Raichel Project seeks to give voice to the amazingly diverse blend of world cultures that comprise Israel's colorful musical landscape. After time spent with the army rock band in which he cut his teeth, touring and performing for troops all over the nation, Idan took work at a boarding school for immigrant youth. Exposed for the first time to Israel's growing populations of Ethiopian Jews through his students, Idan began to fall in love and identify with Ethiopian folk music. He also found that most of the immigrant boys he worked with were forced to shun the culture of their homeland in desperate hopes of assimilating into mainstream Israeli society. Inspired by this realization, Idan began investing time in learning more about the many immigrant cultures that made up Israel. Hanging out with a wide variety of musicians, Idan hoped to encourage his students and new friends to embrace and live out their native cultural heritage. In the meantimeIdan became an established supporting musician, working as a sideman alongside some of the nation's most important pop acts. With his ever-growing number of world musician friends and pop production knowledge, Idan set to recording some of the richly multicultural music he'd begun to create. Over 70 musicians contributed to the demo recording that Raichel used to garner the support he would need for a full-length production. With the support of Helicon Records, the Idan Raichel Project was born, featuring the songwriting and production of Raichel, and musical contributions from an amazingly diverse cast of players. The record created buzz worldwide, showered with praise by some of the industry's most influential voices. It was a breakout success in Israel and throughout the region. Raicheland his group maintained a busy touring schedule in response to their explosive popularity.
Biography by Evan C. Gutierrez - Source: allmusic

The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the global music scene in 2003, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering “a fascinating window into the young, tolerant, multi-ethnic Israel taking shape away from the headlines” (Boston Globe).
Idan Raichel, the creator and leader of the Project, began his musical journey by inviting collaborations from artists of different generations, multiple ethnicities and singing in languages as diverse as Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Amharic and Swahili. The resulting albums shattered sales records in Israel, made Raichel his country’s biggest musical breakthroughs, and sold over half a million records worldwide. The Project was honored as the “Musical group of the Decade” in Israel in 2010, and the song “Mima’amakim” was selected the “Best Song of the Decade”. As described by The New York Times, “His arrangements bind the voices together in somber minor-mode anthems paced by electronic beats, earnestly seeking to uplift.”
The Project’s blend of African, Latin American, Caribbean and Middle Eastern sounds, coupled with a spectacular live show, has enchanted audiences worldwide. They have headlined in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including New York's Central Park Summer Stage, Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater, The Apollo Theater, the Sydney Opera House and Radio City Music Hall. They have also performed across Europe, South & Central America, Hong Kong, India, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Singapore to enraptured audiences of all backgrounds.
In 2011, The Idan Raichel Project released Traveling Home, their first live album. A collection of performances in Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, Amharic, Spanish and more, Traveling Home is a selection of songs from recently recorded live performances and features more than 40 musicians from Colombia, Mali, Rwanda, Israel and The Idan Raichel Project touring ensemble. The album quickly reached double platinum sales in Israel.
Raichel has collaborated with many different artists from around the world, including Mayra Andrade from Cape Verde, Marta Gomez from Colombia, Ana Moura from Portugal, German counter-tenor Andreas Scholl and Vieux Farka Touré from Mali.
The latter collaboration resulted in the formation of The Toure-Raichel Collective and the recording of the acclaimed album The Tel Aviv Session, which was released in March 2012. The result of an inspired afternoon jam session in Tel Aviv, the resulting album has been hailed by the media as “a masterpiece” (about.com), “simply divine” (Giant Step), “deeply affecting” (The Wall Street Journal), “a cross cultural triumph” (Time Out Chicago) and “the best album this year” (Pop Matters). The album reached the number one spot on the iTunes World Music sales charts and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard World Music Chart. The Toure-Raichel Collective’s US and Canada tour in April 2012 was an unparalleled success with numerous sold-out shows and rave reviews.
In 2012, Raichel received a special honor when the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, asked him to compose music for a poem Peres had written in dedication to Israel’s Ethiopian community. The song, “The Eyes of Beta Israel,” was performed in front of 3000 people during a high-profile concert in Jerusalem in January 2012.
Currently, Raichel is working with GRAMMY winner India.Arie on their joint recording project Open Door. Idan and India have become close friends and collaborators since they met in 2008 when India was visiting Israel. They performed their song “Gift of Acceptance” at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize gala event in Oslo, Norway, and in August 2011 they performed together at the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC. India and Idan toured the US together in 2011, with more concerts planned to coincide with the release of Open Door in the fall of 2012.
Biography by fcat productions

Watch and listen the videos: Mon Amour, Halomot,
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videos), Be'yom Shabbat, Hakol Over, Quarter to Six,
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Karov and Mix (50 videos).