Shye Ben Tzur

Shye Ben Tzur is an Israeli musician and composer with a unique cross-cultural approach to music. Deeply inspired by Indian classical traditions, he crafts songs primarily in Hebrew, Hindi, and Urdu, blending the rhythmic and melodic intricacies of Indian music with Sufi poetry, devotional themes, and Western influences. Based in both Israel and India, Ben Tzur has immersed himself in the music of Rajasthan—working extensively with local musicians, including the Rajasthan Express, a group of traditional Indian instrumentalists and singers.

One of his most acclaimed projects is the 2015 album Junun, a collaboration with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and producer Nigel Godrich. The album, recorded in a 15th-century fort in Rajasthan, showcases an exhilarating fusion of sounds, combining Indian brass, Sufi qawwali chants, and layered electronic textures. The making of the album was also the subject of a documentary film by director Paul Thomas Anderson. Through his genre-defying work, Ben Tzur continues to build musical bridges between Eastern and Western traditions.