Biography

Balkan Beat Box is a world music group consisting of ex-Gogol Bordello member Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat of Firewater and Big Lazy. As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians, both in the studio as well as on stage. Their current live crew consists of Tomer Yosef, Billy Levy, Ben Hendler, Itamar Ziegler, Dana Leung, Eyal Talmudi, Jeremiah Lockwood, and Peter Hess. Amongst their other collaborators are Victoria Hannah, the Bulgarian Chicks,Uri Kinrot, Dessislava Stefanova and gnawa player Hassan Ben Jaffar.

Balkan Beat Box established their own unique sound by fusing the musical styles of Jewish, Mediterranean and Balkan traditions as well as the cultural influences of their home turf of New York City with electronica.

They cite Boban Markovic, Rachid Taha, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Manu Chao, and Charlie Parker amongst their musical influences.