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Star Gazette.com, Concert Preview >>
Catch that Balkan beat
By John P. Cleary
jcleary@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
September 14, 2006
Balkan Beat Box's self-titled CD opens with a crowing rooster and a woman, pleading just once but compellingly, "Dance." If that's not enough to hook you, don't worry. The group's eclectic blend of sounds - from klezmer to hip-hop - will grab you soon enough.
The band plays Sunday at Castaways in Ithaca.
Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan and Tomer Yosef come from Israel via New York City. Their music is a stew of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences spiced by the musical traditions of their Eastern European ancestors.
Muskat was a drummer in Israel's early metal scene, but also worked with Sephardic singers from Greece and Turkey. After immigrating to the United States, he played with the band Firewater, toured with the White Stripes and John Spencer and was a cofounder of Vibromonk Records.
Kaplan studied klezmer clarinet, but grew up playing punk at a Turkish nightclub. In New York, he drew attention as a jazz composer, winning the Jerome Foundation Award for young composers in 2001, and played with the punk band Gogol Bordello. He, too, played with Firewater.
Yosef started out as a stand-up comedian and was on Israeli radio and television. He moved to New York in 2000 and started making electronic music.
Their album, "Balkan Beat Box," features many guest artists, including vocalists Vlada Tomova and Kristin Espeland, the Bulgarian chicks of the CD's second cut, "Bulgarian Chicks."
The band sings at one point, "The Balkan Beat Box paints like Dali, Kali, Bali," and it's true: The 11 songs range from Jewish party songs played over dance beats to funky jazz accompanied by rap in Hebrew to straight-up electronic house music. It ends with the political slam "La Bush Resistance," which offers the Pollyanna advice, "Bring the dance and leave the guns."
The Castaways show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $15 at the door. It's an age 18 and up show. Castaways is at 413 Old Taughannock Blvd. in Ithaca.
09/14/06 >> go there
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