Trying to describe Balkan Beat Box is a tricky affair. Listen to one track and you assume they are a Jamaican dub band. But then the next song begins and they’ve suddenly morphed into hip-hop and dance. Just when you think you have them figured out, the saxophones hit with a distinct Yiddish flavour leaving you grasping at genres. In the end, you give up and just enjoy the journey this American-Israeli collective take you on.
The influences of co-founders Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat are still present, with Kaplan having played klezmer clarinet and Muskat a drummer in a punk rock band. But through fusion and experimentation they have combined and evolved the sounds into a highly individualised and audial captivating movement.
Lead singer Tomer Yosef was symptomatic of the band’s style - full of energy and dynamism. His unrelenting bounding on stage was infectious and the throng in Concorde 2 happily obliged when he demanded they jump and clap and move. It was hard not to when the beat lent itself perfectly to the action.
But this group are not just about good-time beats, with many of their songs highly politicised. Among the set were songs about being mistaken for a terrorist on a plane and the Bush administration in the US. The band hope that, by combining different world music, they can bring people across the globe together. At Concorde 2, they left a delighted and eclectic crowd energised and wanting more, which is not a bad start.
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