An Ethiopian Jew by birth, Israeli keyboardist-composer Idan Raichel is a man with a mission: bringing to the Tel Aviv scene a younger generation's music that blends a bold variety of Middle Eastern, African, Indian, Latin American and funky hip-hop styles and that trumpets a message of conciliation and peace across the Arab-Israeli gulf.
The dreadlocked Raichel brought his Idan Raichel Project to downtown's Orpheum Theatre on Sunday night in a slick but powerful performance that showcased a nine-member ensemble drawn from a diaspora of sympathetic musical souls.