Israeli superstar Idan Raichel typically tours with a large ensemble. The Idan Raichel Project’s 2014 show at the O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul, for example, featured seven musicians and three singers (4-25-14 AJW). However, the singer-songwriter’s recently released two-CD set, Idan Raichel – Piano – Songs (Cumbancha), mainly pares down the arrangements of Raichel’s beloved repertoire to voice and piano. Many of the 36 songs on the album were recorded during a 17-concert run at the renovated Roman amphitheater in Binyamina. Although Raichel was concerned about how his music would be received in this stripped-down setting, he found audience reactions made his “heart beat faster” and heightened his “passion” to make music. — Mordecai Specktor
(American Jewish World, 2.7.18)
