Shye Ben Tzur (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: שי בן צור) is an Israeli musician who lives in India and Israel. He composes

Qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

s, instrumental and devotional music in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. Ben Tzur has been living and creating music in India and Israel for over a decade. He first visited India while searching for a classical Indian music teacher. After years of studying Indian classical music in the traditional manner, Ben Tzur began to compose traditional

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Qawwali music in his own language, Hebrew. Qawwali is a form of ecstatic devotional music.

Biography

After attending a concert in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

by the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n classical musicians Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain, Ben Tzur became interested in Indian music, which brought him into contact with Qawwali. He went to

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

in India (the site of the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti). In 2004, he performed at Jahan-e-Khusrau, an international Sufi music festival held in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

in the spring annually since 2001. Shye Ben Tzur performs around the world with his ensemble. He worked with Rajasthan Folk musicians communities across India. Shye collaborated with various folk musicians from the

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

desert. Shye collaborated with the famous Indian singer Shubha Mudgal, the Spanish guitar maestro Fernando Pérez, Yossi Fine, Mishko M’ba, Eli Magen, Zohar Fresco and many others. In 2015, Ben Tzur recorded an album with British guitarist and composer

Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numer ...

and a group of Indian musicians at the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in the Indian state of

. The sessions and Greenwood's 2015 India tour were filmed by

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...

for his documentary '' Junun''. The film premiered at the 2015 New York Film Festival.

Poetry

Shye’s first collection of poems, ''Souls Expressions'', was published in 1999 in Israel. A new poetry collection, ''Love Poems of Worship'', was announced in Israel.

Discography

''Heeyam''

His 2003 debut album, ''Heeyam'' ("Supreme Love" in Arabic), was recorded in India, Israel and USA. Shye worked with traditional Sufi Qawwali singers, who sang in Hebrew.

''Shoshan''

In 2010 Shye’s second album ''Shoshan'' ('Rose' in Hebrew) was released. It rated Top 10 in ''Songlines'' world music magazine and Top 5 album of the year of non-

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

music by ''Times of India Chennai''. Shoshan is a cross-cultural mix of passions, genres and languages.

''Junun''

'' Junun'' is a 2015 album by Ben Tzur, the English composer and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

guitarist

, and the Indian ensemble the Rajasthan Express. It was produced by Radiohead producer

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and ...

References

Living people 21st-century Israeli male musicians Israeli expatriates in India Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Israeli male poets 20th-century Israeli poets 21st-century Israeli poets {{Israel-singer-stub