Balkan Beat Box blends electronic music with hard-edged folk music from North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. With Nu Med, BBB steps forward with a cohesive new album that imagines a Middle East without borders and a healthy dose of New York energy. Their 2005 eponymous debut on JDub Records was hailed by The Denver Post as “a sonic masterpiece.” Having performed at Bonnaroo, Central Park Summerstage, Montreal JazzFest and having toured extensively with Matisyahu as well as on headlining international tours, Balkan Beat returns with Nu Med, a musical vision of what the Mediterranean would sound like if borders were removed.
Led by Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat, BBB makes connections that politics often keep separate. Jewish, Gypsy, Arabic, and American are united by hip hop beats and dancehall toasts. BBB’s musical hitch-hiking continues as they mix things up with dub and electronics, juxtaposed with ancient Moroccan and Mediterranean melodies. The band’s sound gives equal weight to soulful acoustic timbres and digital rhythms creating a uniquely organic sound with electronic elements. Echoing his growing involvement in their live shows, MC Tomer Yosef is a dynamic presence on Nu Med, blazing his way through featured tracks Digital Monkey, Mexico City, & Hermetico.
With their fusion of Jewish melodies, Balkan brass-band stomp and frenetic gypsy rhythms with hip-hop, reggae, and electro production, this internationally acclaimed collective is out to prove that the entire world is, indeed, their stage, and that we are all Gypsies.
PRESS QUOTES:
“A combustible mix of big bright horns and high energy beats.” - The New York Times
“This is not your grandmother's klezmer; in fact, Jewish music never sounded so groundbreaking. This is the dance party of the new millennium." – Paste
"Guaranteed to propel any party into a hedonistic, sweaty mess, this cross-cultural crew of New York musicians cranks out Eastern Bloc-inspired techno grooves seemingly fueled by Manischewitz and a big dose of punk 'tude." – Entertainment Weekly
“A magnificent mash-up melding music from every conceivable corner of the globe and its history." – Chicago Sun Times
