The Idan Raichel Project (album)
Encyclopedia
The Idan Raichel Project is the self-titled debut album by Idan Raichel
. 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 who were versatile and strong individual artists in their own right. This live show became symbolic of the album, as it brought together a group of people of different backgrounds but of equal standing.
in Hollywood and gave two well-received shows at the Apollo Theater
in Manhattan
. While in New York City
, Idan and members of the Project visited a number of schools and churches in Harlem
.
Idan Raichel
Idan Raichel is an Israeli singer-songwriter and a musician, known for his Idan Raichel Project , distinctive for its fusion of electronics, traditional Hebrew texts, Middle Eastern and Ethiopian music. Prior to the Project, Raichel was a keyboardist, collaborating with artists such as Ivri Lider...
. 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
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
, 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
Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center
The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center is a performing arts center at King Saul Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was designed by Israeli architect Jacob Rechter....
. 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 who were versatile and strong individual artists in their own right. This live show became symbolic of the album, as it brought together a group of people of different backgrounds but of equal standing.
Success of the Project
The Idan Raichel Project studio album was certified 3x platinum, selling over 120,000 copies in Israel. In November 2005, the Project headlined at the Kodak TheatreKodak Theatre
The Kodak Theatre is a live theatre in the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall and entertainment complex on Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles...
in Hollywood and gave two well-received shows at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. While in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Idan and members of the Project visited a number of schools and churches in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
.
Track listing
- Blessing for the New Year (3:31) ברכות לשנה החדשה
- Boee (4:25) בואי
- Im Telech (2:48) אם תלך
- Ayal-Ayale (3:35)
- Hinach Yafa (4:53) הנך יפה
- Brong Faya (4:05)
- Medabrim Besheket (3:54) מדברים בשקט
- Shoshanim Atzuvot (2:35) שושנים עצובות
- Tigest (4:37) טיגסט
- Mimi's Song (2:32) השיר של מימי
- Et Lihyot, Et Lamut (3:52) עת לחיות, עת למות
- Boee (Radio) (7:04) בואי (רדיו)