Oran Etkin, a native of New York,  brings together elements of modern jazz with traditional African and Israeli music and features Malian, Israeli, and American musicians.   The notables are vocalist Abdoulaye Diabate, and Grammy Award-winning artists Lionel Loueke and John Benitez who are on a collection of eleven tracks that pay true testament to the essence of “kelenia,” the Bambara word for love between people who are different from each other.

Since first forming Kelenia in 2003, Oran and the band’s other original members – Balla Kouyate (balafon) and Makane Kouyate (calabash and vocals) – have developed a unique musical connection that flows through their music and speaks volumes to the harmony that can be produced by pulling sounds from around the world together. Their recording debut will be released on Motéma Music on June 9 2009.

Oran is extremely skilled in the musical languages of West Africa, Jewish music and jazz and is well respected among those in the music community.  His time in Mali and his journeys to his native Israel are coupled with years in the highly evolved jazz music scene of New York City honed his skills and have lent credibility to his work.

“Lionel and I began playing soon after we moved to New York,” Oran recalls. “It’s always fun to play with him, building off each other’s melodies and sounds and letting the music lead us to a different place each time.”

Oran grew up playing jazz, mentored at a young age by the likes of George Garzone, Yusef Lateef and Dave Liebman and has been working with various West African musicians in the US and Africa for over ten years, learning their music the traditional way-by listening and playing it with the masters. For his formal training, Oran also studied classical clarinet and composition, an experience that inspired him to add a string section to one track, the sinuous “New Dweling“.

On his debut album, ‘Kelenia’, “Yekeke,” which sparkles with Balla Kouyate’s balafon and is buoyed by Daibate’s soaring vocals,  is a cheerful, spirited rendition while his interpretation of Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing,”  is undoubtedly a Kelenia-style of arrangement.

Oran’s work with the New York based African all-star group Mandingo Ambassadors has been covered in the New York Times and on Public Radio International’s Afropop Worldwide. In fact, PRI’s Afropop Worldwide also showcased Oran’s work with Kelenia twice in the past year, with music from Oran’s upcoming CD being broadcast on over 100 US radio stations and on stations around the world even before its release. Oran will be celebrating his album release with several shows around the New York area.

To learn more about him and his shows, visit his website.