Vagabond Heart

Matted hair braided neatly, black baggy trousers and a wink to follow every joke… Idan Raichel is a hit with the youth in Israel. His Monday night concert at Kala Mandir was nothing less than mind-blowing ~ a little bit of folk, R&B, reggae… a great mix. A touch of Ethiopian and Middle-eastern influence comes through in the group’s music.
Raichel is a young keyboardist, producer and composer from Kfar Saba. “I grew up on folk music. Israel is a relatively new country. In the last 10-15 years the music scene has changed quite a bit. Since Raichel is not from a family of musicians, he is open to all forms of music. He started playing the accordion when he nine years old and from a young age became attracted towards folk music. Though he has studied jazz in high school, the music his ensemble presented did not touch upon this aspect. During his days in the military Raichel was part of the army’s rock band and toured military bases performing covers of Israeli and European hits.
The diversity in Israel has always fascinated Raichel ~ the Yemenite Jews are keepers of tradition, Israel’s Sephardic community consists of people who incorporated the traditions of Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean region, the Ashkenazi Jews have arrived from Russia and Eastern Europe and then there’s the Arab community ~ making him invite over 70 musicians. The result was greeted with mixed reviews from record label owners ~ most considered his work “ethnic”, except for Gadi Gidor at Helicon Records. The single Bo’ee (Come With Me) was something fresh, unheard of by youngsters.
“The musicians are in the age bracket of 16 and 84. And one of them, Liora Itzhak, is from India. If you travel across Israel, you will appreciate the multiculturalism. Though political issues are aplenty, the music we create is simple and talks about love. Love songs are understood and enjoyed by all. The vision of a good politician is to bring about harmony among communities and not about creating groups.”
Though Idan Raichel means “an era”, the music he presents is timeless. He combines the music he grew up listening to with genres becoming popular. “Of course, the folk music I listened to as a child is no long popular. But when blended with other forms, the tunes became a hit. Also, different communities have poured into Israel since my birth. What I play is Israeli music rather than world music. For you any genre of music that’s not Indian will be called ‘world’. The same is true for us.”
The Idan Raichel Project was in Kolkata to host a concert organised to celebrate the 59th Independence Day of the state of Israel and to mark the 15th anniversary of Indo-Israel relations. The programme was organised by the Embassy of Israel, New Delhi, and the honourary consul of Israel in Kolkata, Harshavardhan Neotia, in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
-- Mathures Paul