Actor

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Idan Raichel (Hebrew: עידן רייכל, IPA: [(ʔ)iˈdan ˈʁaiχel]; b. 12 September 1977) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician known for his "Idan Raichel Project" (Hebrew: הפרויקט של עידן רייכל), distinctive for its fusion of electronics, traditional Hebrew texts, and diverse musical influences. Prior to the project, Raichel was a keyboardist, collaborating with artists such as Ivri Lider.

Biography

Idan Raichel was born in Kfar Saba, Israel, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. He began to play the accordion at the age of nine. He was attracted to gypsy music and tango, and studied jazz piano in high school.

Raichel played in the Israel Defense Forces army band at the age of 18, performing covers of Israeli and Western pop hits at military bases around the country. As the musical director of the band, he learned to do arrangements and produce live shows.

Following his military service, Raichel worked as a counselor at Hadassim, a boarding school for immigrants. There he met young Ethiopian Jews who took him to Ethiopian bars and clubs in Tel Aviv and introduced him to Ethiopian folk and pop music, including that of Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke, and Gigi.

Music career

After working as a backup musician and recording with some of Israel's most popular singers, Raichel struck out on his own. He began working on a demo recording in Kfar Saba and invited other singers and musicians to collaborate with him to create a new synthesis of sounds and styles. He released two albums locally before signing an international deal.

The Idan Raichel Project and Mi'Ma'amakim

The diversity of the Jewish diaspora and Israeli citizenry interested Raichel and influenced his musical career. He has worked with Ethiopian Jews, Arabs, traditional Yemenite vocalists, a toaster and percussionist from Suriname, and a South African singer, among others. The global fusion sound of the song "Bo'ee" ("Come with Me") propelled his group to the top of the charts. The Idan Raichel Project's self-titled first album focuses on these cross-cultural collaborations. It was released in Israel in 2002 and followed by a second album, Out of the Depths, in 2005.

This collaboration became a platform for the emergence of ethnic singers such as Cabra Casay, an Ethiopian Jew born in a refugee camp in Sudan, and Ravid Kahalani, from the band Yemen Blues, who explores his Yemenite roots. The Yemenite-Israeli singer Shoshana Damari performed with the group just before she died in 2006 at the age of 86. The Idan Raichel Project has released four albums as well as a collection of live recordings in Israel on the Helicon Label. Cumbancha, a US-based record label, released the group's first album worldwide in 2006. The album also received a nomination for Award for World Music by BBC Radio 3.

Within My Walls, Open Door

The Idan Raichel Project issued its second international release, Within My Walls, in 2008. Raichel recorded much of this album while he was on tour in impromptu settings. During his travels, he met musicians from around the world and exchanged musical ideas with them along the way. He recorded and co-wrote songs with Colombian singer Marta Gómez, Cape Verdean Mayra Andrade, and Rwandan/Ugandan Somi. The group performed at a number of international festivals and traveled to and performed across Europe, South and Central America, Asia, and Africa.

Raichel later worked with Grammy Award winner India.Arie on a project called Open Door. They began working together in 2008 when India was visiting Israel. Together, they performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in front of President Barack Obama on Martin Luther King Jr. Day after Obama's election. They also played the song "Gift of Acceptance" at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize gala event. In August 2011, the duet performed at the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., on their US tour. Raichel and India.Arie produced Arie's first single, "6th Avenue", from her 2013 album Songversation. Shimon Peres, then-president of Israel, asked Raichel to compose music for a poem Peres wrote about Israel's Ethiopian community.

Quarter to Six

The project's next album, Reva LaShesh ("Quarter to Six"), was released in 2013. It includes guest appearances by Portuguese fado star Ana Moura, Palestinian-Israeli singer Mira Awad, German countertenor Andreas Scholl, Colombia's Marta Gómez, Vieux Farka Touré, and some of Israel's up-and-coming artists. Quarter to Six reached triple-platinum sales status in Israel, selling over 116,000 copies.

The Project played at a private concert for President Barack Obama during his visit to Israel in March 2013. Raichel was invited by pop star Alicia Keys to perform a duet with her on stage at the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv. One month later, Raichel shared the stage with Patrick Bruel. At the end of the Jewish year in September, Pnai Plus, an Israeli entertainment magazine, voted Idan Raichel "Man of the Year". The song "Ba'Layla (At Night)" was voted "Song of the Year". Raichel was also named "Musician of the Year" in 2013 and 2014 by Galgalatz radio station. The Idan Raichel Project placed no.1 in Media Forest's chart of "The Most Broadcast Group" in Israel for 2013 and 2014, as well as "Group of the Year" in various media charts for 2014.

In September 2014, Alicia Keys invited Raichel and Palestinian singer and qanun player Ali Amr to join her on stage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park to perform her song "We Are Here". On 3 July 2014, Raichel and 18 members of his project performed at Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv, in front of 20,000 people

On 12 January 2015, Raichel joined Patrick Bruel and Moroccan singer Youness El Guezouli on stage at the Paris Opera to sing "Pourquoi ne pas y croire..." (Why Not Believe) in French, Arabic, and Hebrew

In 2015, Raichel continued to perform and collaborate with various musicians, including Italian singer Ornella Vanoni, Cuban singer Danay Suarez, and Portuguese singer Antonio Zambujo.

He also toured extensively, including December 2015 shows in Japan with the Project, a series of concerts in Germany with Andreas Scholl, and an appearance at the Jazz a la Villette festival in Paris with The Touré-Raichel Collective in September 2015.

The Touré-Raichel Collective

Raichel incidentally met Vieux Farka Touré, son of Ali Farka Toure, at an airport in 2008. Toure was invited to Israel to perform at the Tel Aviv Opera House with Raichel in 2010, and this led to the formation of The Touré-Raichel Collective, a collaboration of Malian and Israeli musicians. The collective recorded an album together, The Tel Aviv Session, which reached the number one spot on the iTunes World Music sales charts and made number 2 on the Billboard World Music Chart. In September 2014, The Touré-Raichel Collective released their second album, The Paris Session, with Daby Touré on bass, Israeli trumpeter Niv Toar, Malian singer Seckouba Diabate, and others.

In November 2014, Raichel toured the United States and Canada alongside Vieux Farka Touré with the Touré-Raichel Collective. Their performance at Symphony Space in New York City, presented by World Music Institute, was previewed in a feature article in The New York Times, where music critic Larry Rohter described the Touré-Raichel Collective as "one of the most fruitful and intriguing collaborations in the grab-bag genre known as world music." While in New York, The Touré-Rachel Collective also appeared on WNYC radio's Soundcheck.

At the Edge of the Beginning

On 22 January 2016, Raichel's first solo album, At the Edge of the Beginning, was released worldwide. Raichel followed this with a set of solo piano concerts titled "Idan Raichel – Piano – Songs". He also toured with the Idan Raichel Project and with "Idan Raichel - Piano Concert with Friends" throughout Europe and the US. In February 2016, he performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna.

2017–2018

January 2017 saw the release of the single…