The Idan Raichel Project

I spend a lot of time in my car listening to the radio. I’ve gotten fed up with dumb DJs and listening to the same songs over and over again, hardly any of them that I like. I think I spend more time surfing through the stations trying to find one that has something good on rather than actually listening to the radio.

So Tuesday I found an NPR station, and it’s stayed there ever since. It’s so nice to hear intelligent people in the morning when I drive to work rather than inane drivel.

Thursday as I was driving home I was listening to The World program and they were talking about Idan Raichel. He is a 29 year old man from Israel. Four years ago he was in the Israeli army and played keyboards in his spare time. Now he is a top selling musician. He blends Israeli music with the Ethiopian music of his neighbors who left Ethiopia seeking safety in Israel.

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.

It’s a beautiful example of peace through working together and building on differences rather than knocking them down.