Balkan Beat Box
Encyclopedia
Balkan Beat Box is an Israel
i musical group founded by Tamir Muskat
, Ori Kaplan
of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef (MC, vocals, perc, sampler unit). As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live. Their current live crew consist of Tomer Yosef, Ben Hendler, Itamar Ziegler, Eyal Talmudi, Uri Kinrot
, Ron Bunker, Jeremiah Lockwood, and Peter Hess. Amongst their other collaborators are Victoria Hanna, the Bulgarian Chicks, and gnawa
player Hassan Ben Jaffar.
and Tamir Muskat
both met in Brooklyn
, New York City
, New York
as teenagers. Both had grown up with music and Kaplan had been a klezmer
clarinet
ist, while Muskat was a drummer in a punk rock
band. They began playing together but had trouble finding a style that they felt represented themselves, so they decided to create one. They established their own unique sound by fusing the musical styles of Mediterranean and Balkan traditions with hip hop
and dancehall beats. The group was extremely influenced by Jamaica
n dub
, another influence visible in their hybrid musical form. Balkan Beat Box’s goal was to take ancient and traditional musical traditions and fuse those with hip hop in order to create a new mix of musical styles out of the traditional world music context that would appeal to listeners in a club or a dancehall. As children, they had felt that traditional music was outdated and felt as though it did not adequately reflect their experiences of the growing world culture, so hoped to bring new relevance to these old traditional musical forms. They also hoped to encourage and foster peace between citizens around the world by combining traditional music from various areas in the world, hoping that by doing this they can create peace, and believe in the elimination of political borders.
Balkan Beat Box’s self-titled first album (released in 2005) and their 2007 follow-up album Nu Med
both received global acclaim. While their first, self-titled album focused more on Mediterranean sounds, their new album included Arabic and Spanish
influences. The song "Bulgarian Chicks" from their first album became popular in clubs and dancehalls by 2008.
As of December 2006, Tomer Yosef was considered a core member of the group and is now represented this way in the Balkan Beat Box logo and press photos.
They cite Boban Marković
, Rachid Taha
, Fanfare Ciocarlia
, Manu Chao
, and Charlie Parker
amongst their musical influences.
Live members
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i musical group founded by Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat is a musician/producer-engineer who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. As a teenager, he was already a prominent rock drummer and percussionist...
, Ori Kaplan
Ori Kaplan
Ori Kaplan is a jazz saxophonist from Israel. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with Tom Abbs and the Balkan Beat Box.-Career:...
of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef (MC, vocals, perc, sampler unit). As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live. Their current live crew consist of Tomer Yosef, Ben Hendler, Itamar Ziegler, Eyal Talmudi, Uri Kinrot
Boom Pam
Boom Pam are an Mediterranean surf rock band from Tel Aviv.Tel Aviv based band Boom Pam was formed in 2003, plays a mixture of Mediterranean, rock and surf music in a format of a unique power trio consisted of Electric Guitar, Tuba and Drums...
, Ron Bunker, Jeremiah Lockwood, and Peter Hess. Amongst their other collaborators are Victoria Hanna, the Bulgarian Chicks, and gnawa
Gnawa music
Gnawa music is a mixture of sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Sufi religious songs and rhythms. It combines music and acrobatic dancing. The music is both a prayer and a celebration of life...
player Hassan Ben Jaffar.
History
Co-founders Ori KaplanOri Kaplan
Ori Kaplan is a jazz saxophonist from Israel. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with Tom Abbs and the Balkan Beat Box.-Career:...
and Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat
Tamir Muskat is a musician/producer-engineer who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. As a teenager, he was already a prominent rock drummer and percussionist...
both met in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, 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...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as teenagers. Both had grown up with music and Kaplan had been a klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist, while Muskat was a drummer in a punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band. They began playing together but had trouble finding a style that they felt represented themselves, so they decided to create one. They established their own unique sound by fusing the musical styles of Mediterranean and Balkan traditions with hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and dancehall beats. The group was extremely influenced by Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, another influence visible in their hybrid musical form. Balkan Beat Box’s goal was to take ancient and traditional musical traditions and fuse those with hip hop in order to create a new mix of musical styles out of the traditional world music context that would appeal to listeners in a club or a dancehall. As children, they had felt that traditional music was outdated and felt as though it did not adequately reflect their experiences of the growing world culture, so hoped to bring new relevance to these old traditional musical forms. They also hoped to encourage and foster peace between citizens around the world by combining traditional music from various areas in the world, hoping that by doing this they can create peace, and believe in the elimination of political borders.
Balkan Beat Box’s self-titled first album (released in 2005) and their 2007 follow-up album Nu Med
Nu Med
Nu Med is the second album by the New York City electronica-world fusion trio Balkan Beat Box.- Track listing :All tracks written by Tamir Muskat/Ori Kaplan, except tracks 2, 5, 9, and 13, by Tamir Muskat/Ori Kaplan/Tomer Yosef....
both received global acclaim. While their first, self-titled album focused more on Mediterranean sounds, their new album included Arabic and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
influences. The song "Bulgarian Chicks" from their first album became popular in clubs and dancehalls by 2008.
As of December 2006, Tomer Yosef was considered a core member of the group and is now represented this way in the Balkan Beat Box logo and press photos.
They cite Boban Marković
Boban Markovic
Boban Marković is a Serbian Romani trumpet player and brass ensemble leader from Vladičin Han, frequently recognized as the greatest trumpet player to emerge from the Balkans...
, Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...
, Fanfare Ciocarlia
Fanfare Ciocarlia
Fanfare Ciocărlia is a popular twelve-piece Romani brass band from the northeastern Romanian village of Zece Prăjini. The band began as a loose assemblage of part-time musicians playing at local weddings and baptisms. In October 1996, the German sound engineer and record producer Henry Ernst...
, Manu Chao
Manu Chao
Manu Chao , is a French singer of Spanish roots . He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Galician, Arabic and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages...
, and Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
amongst their musical influences.
Band members
Official members- Tomer Yosef - lead vocals, percussion, samples
- Ori KaplanOri KaplanOri Kaplan is a jazz saxophonist from Israel. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with Tom Abbs and the Balkan Beat Box.-Career:...
- saxophone - Tamir MuskatTamir MuskatTamir Muskat is a musician/producer-engineer who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. As a teenager, he was already a prominent rock drummer and percussionist...
- drums, percussion, programming
Live members
- Itamar Ziegler - guitar, bass guitar
- Ben Hendler - bass guitar
- Uri Kinrot - guitar, saxophone
- Jeremiah Lockwood - guitar, backing vocals
- Ron Bunker - guitar
- Peter Hess - saxophone
- Eyal Talmudi - saxophone
- Dana Leong - trumpet, trombone
Discography
- Balkan Beat BoxBalkan Beat Box (album)Balkan Beat Box is the self-titled debut album from the New York City electronica-world fusion trio Balkan Beat Box.-Track listing:...
(2005) - released on JDub Records - Nu MedNu MedNu Med is the second album by the New York City electronica-world fusion trio Balkan Beat Box.- Track listing :All tracks written by Tamir Muskat/Ori Kaplan, except tracks 2, 5, 9, and 13, by Tamir Muskat/Ori Kaplan/Tomer Yosef....
(2007) - released on Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
, JDub Records - Nu Made (Remixes)Nu Made (Remixes)Nu Made is a remix album by the New York City electronica-world fusion trio Balkan Beat Box. The album features remixes of songs from their second studio album Nu Med.- Track listing :...
(2008) - released on Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world... - Blue Eyed Black BoyBlue Eyed Black Boy- Personnel :* Tomer Yosef - lead vocals, percussion, samples* Ori Kaplan - saxophone* Tamir Muskat - drums, percussion, programming...
(2010) - released on Nat Geo Music and Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
External links
- Official Homepage
- Balkan Beat Box at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Balkan Beat Box page on the Crammed DiscsCrammed DiscsCrammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...
site.