With a group of musicians rotating around the Israel-born New Yorkers
Ori Kaplan and
Tamir Muskat,
Balkan Beat Box plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates traditions from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and New York electronica. Both men had plenty of experience playing in various eclectic bands before starting
BBB: saxophonist
Kaplan came to the U.S. to play jazz but soon fell into the underground, immigrant-driven scene, hooking up with
Gogol Bordello and others, while percussionist
Muskat played in
Firewater for a while as well as flexing his production muscles (which he also uses with
BBB) in projects with
Gogol Bordello among others. In 2005, with help from bassist
Itamar Ziegler, trombonist
Dana Leong, and MC/percussionist
Tomer Yosef, the band released their self-titled album on Jdub Records, a label that focused on promoting Jewish music of all sorts. They soon became a fixture in the New York underground, and
Balkan Beat Box came out with their second full-length,
Nu Med -- an album that also included contributions from guitarist
Jeremiah Lockwood, trumpeter
Ben Holmes, and saxophonist
Peter Hess -- in 2007. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
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