Shred the Accordion: Koby Israelite Balkanizes the Blues (and Vice Versa) on Blues from Elsewhere

If Jimmy Page played accordion, and if Taraf de Haidouks sang the blues, they’d be partying along side Israeli-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist Koby Israelite. With devil-may-care daring, the Balkan and blues-loving maverick brings together the coolest sounds of gritty roots, hard-hitting rock, and the joyous mayhem of a good East European wedding band on Blues from Elsewhere (Asphalt Tango; U.S. release: March 15, 2013).
This is no novelty record, though, no gimmicky mash up. To Koby, it’s a natural, if unexpected sonic crossroads. “When I decided I was going to do the album, I tried not to introduce the two genres in a contrived way, because sometimes it just didn’twork,” he explains. “I had to work on the track or simply abandon it. It’s not easy tomake this mix sound organic, unforced. But I think I blended well.”

The proof is in the groove, in the balance of virtuosity and humor that guides the album. From “East of Nashville,” where Bulgarian rhythms get a boost from twanging country guitar, to “Johnny Has Cash No More,” inspired by Cash’s signature feel but with Arabic melodic flair, Koby works the connection, making music that’s crafty but not contrived. Using an Italian mandolin to stand in for a cimbalom (“Crayfish Hora”) and a melancholy Armenian duduk (thanks to top player Tigran Aleksanyan) to reveal a whole new side to Led Zeppelin’s epic “Kashmir,” Koby goes to great lengths to show that the blues can be from everywhere and anywhere.
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