Avital Raz

Avital Raz is an Israeli born musician and fine purveyor of traditional music from around that region and beyond . Having spent her childhood listening only to Classical music, Avital Raz later travelled to India to learn meditation, only to fall in love with traditional Indian music.

According to her biography, Avital Raz has had an eventful life, including a bout of a mysterious tropical illness. However, travelling to India has had a major contribution to her musical output. It was there that she discovered the "revelation" that is Indian Classical music.

Avital Raz combines early music with folk and the aforementioned traditional Indian music, to create a uniquely startling sound. I first became aware of her, when Yndi Halda felt compelled to let thousands of people know about her music, by posting a bulletin on myspace. It remains to be seen if Yndi Halda will be releasing any of this music on their O Rosa Records.

Some of her music, brings to mind Beth Gibbons' (Portishead) solo work. They both share a similar haunting vocal style. However, with washes of Indian flute and unique Eastern structures, there is no-one quite like Avital Raz. There are three haunting tracks for available for download here.