Idan Raichel Project "overcomes" jet lag
Berklee Performance Center, Boston, March 25, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Four songs into his first show in Boston in a few years, the man behind the Idan Raichel Project apologized saying he was tired from jet lag.
One must wonder what Raichel and the rest of his Israeli band are like when fully rested because this was a very meaty show with the emphasis on the group Project.
Raichel is a superstar in Israel, but that does not necessarily translate to the outside world. He records for a very small U.S. label that specializes in world music, Cumbancha. The Project, which fits that loose world music term by playing Arabic, Eastern, slightly bluesy and pop material with almost all songs in Hebrew, has toured at least three times before in the U.S., although the visits tend to be extremely short and hitting only a few cities (the current U.S. tour is one week, playing six dates east and west coasts only). Now, they are touring behind the February release of "Within My Walls."
While Raichel's name is on the band, he is more musical leader than focal point, although he held down the latter job far more than he did a few years ago when touring. Raichel plays keyboards and sings some lead vocals. He move about at times near his keyboards, often grooving to the rhythm of the music (who could blame him?), before darting back to the keyboards for a few notes to flesh out said song.
The Israeli vocalists are the key to the band with Cabra Casai, who left a Sudanese refugee camp for Israel, Maya Avraham and Ravid Kahalani (from Tel Aviv, Israel and apparently Helsinki, according to his myspace page). Kahalani, with huge, baggy pants, is a superb vocalist getting a lot of emotion out of his guttural, Arabic sounding voice. Casai sings with beauty, a bit soulful at times, and has fine stage presence, especially when she flashes her big smile. She sang one song in Spanish, Todas Las Palabras ("All the Words") from the new CD. Avraham is a technically superb singer, just more mainstream than her counterparts. The vocalists worked well on their own and trading vocal passages here and there during the course of a song. This was not a competitive situation, but rather a case of working together for the greater good.
Also shining were Eyal Sela on clarinet and flute and Shalom Mor on different string instruments, including oud. Raichel sidekick Gilad Shmueli set a strong beat. Percussionist Roni Iwryn, from Uruguay, was quite creative. He employed water for percussive sounds, running his hands through water in a big bowl for a pretty sound effect. Raichel gave a tremendous amount of space to his band, and all were up to the task.
Raichel played large chunks from both U.S. releases, but if you were looking to hear it exactly as presented on the silver platter, that wasn't apparently Raichel's bag. He changed things up just enough, keeping the songs recognizable and probably more interesting for him. Even songs that he has enjoyed airplay with, Bo'ee (Come With Me), were altered. On Mi'Ma'amakim (Out of the Depths, the three singers kicked it off, and then Raichel sang. Casai eventually took over, sounding very vibrant in a lovely song different from the recorded effort.
The new material stood up very well, starting the show with the new song She'eriot Shel Ha'Chaim (Scraps of Life). In fact, the concert grew stronger as it went along, getting a bit bouncier and livelier with material new and old interspersed along with soloing that made sense.
It would have been nice if Raichel, or perhaps one of the singers, spoke more and introduced the material to the crowd. Granted, many in the near capacity crowd were Israelis, but for those who aren't as facile with Hebrew, that would have helped.
The flip side is that Raichel and band were on fire, raising the level as they went along as the best concerts do. Towards the end, the crowd abandoned their seats to fill the aisles near the stage with everyone clapping and dancing along. The bottom line is that the Idan Raichel Project let the music do its talking, and it spoke volumes.
Raichel was clearly pleased with the evening as well he should have been, clapping and smiling at varying points, particularly at the close where band and audience stood facing each other applauding. Jet lag apparently may do that to you.
