♪♪ Pamela: It says that when the Jewish people left Egypt, together, we sang a song, and it says that when there will be peace in the world, we'll all sing together this song.

So, melody and harmony is beyond conversation.

It's something that connects us to other spheres of reality.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: My name is Jacob Edgar.

I'm an explorer, but I don't search for lost cities or ancient ruins.

I'm on the quest for a different kind of treasure -- music.

[ Man singing in French ] Edgar: As an ethnomusicologist and world music record producer, I travel the globe hunting for the best songs the world has to offer, and I suffer through some of the worst, so you don't have to.

[ Man singing in French ] Edgar: I've got a backstage pass to the world's music, and i won't stop until I've heard it all.

Man: ♪ For the people, and we're talking about God ♪ [ Singing indistinctly ] ♪♪ Edgar: Mention Israel to most people, and the first thing that comes to mind is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel is in the news a lot, and, usually, the news isn't very good.

It's a tense region of the world, which all too often erupts into violence, and with polarized opinions and power struggles, it's very hard for anyone to find common ground.

But if you look beyond the headlines and take the opportunity to hit the streets and meet people face to face, you'll find an enchanting multicultural country overflowing with incredible natural beauty and a complex and creative society.

[ Man sings in Hebrew ] ♪♪ I'm in Tel Aviv, Israel's biggest city, and I'm going to be meeting up with Idan Raichel.

Now, Idan is a huge name in Israel, but he's not your typical pop star.

He brings in a number of multicultural influences into his sound, including Ethiopian flavors, Middle Eastern flavors, a bit of Yemenite music, and he mixes it all together into this incredibly accessible and beautiful sound.

I'm going to be exploring Tel Aviv with Idan and then heading South to Eilat on the Red Sea for the Phaza Morgana Festival, where Idan and his Idan Raichel Project will be performing in a very magical location.

It's going to be an incredible trip, and I'm sure there's going to be some amazing music along the way.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: In 2002, The Idan Raichel Project, a collective of musicians of diverse backgrounds, ages, and religions, released its first album, and the impact was immediate.

Since then, The Idan Raichel Project has released a string of hits, making a household name out of its dreadlocked founder and leading the band to international success as well.

In a region that seems indelibly marked by religious and cultural strife, The Idan Raichel Project promotes the concept that, through artistic collaboration, people from all walks of life can find common ground.

For some insight into the Israeli music scene, I sat down with Dubi Lenz, a respected journalist and radio host who has his finger firmly on the country's musical pulse.

Israeli music is like a melting pot.

Put it on the fire -- a really low fire -- and every day comes somebody and brings into it some ingredients from home or some herbs, and when you taste it in the evening, it's different from the night before.

Every day is something new.

Always in the process of experiments.

♪♪ [ Woman singing in Hebrew ] The story is that this guy, who is, first of all, very, very talented and very curious about people, and he knows how to translate his curiosity to wonderful melodies and to amazing lyrics, and he knows how to pick the right people.

Speaking to people gives him the idea about listening to the music.

Raichel: [ Singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: I've known Idan for many years, and I've been wanting to bring the show to this part of the world for some time now.

"Music Voyager" finally had the perfect excuse when Idan invited us to be his special guests at a concert that was to take place in the Israeli desert.

Raichel: [ Singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: We planned a journey with Idan from Tel Aviv, pass by the Dead Sea, then cross the Negev Desert as we make our way south to Eilat, a resort on the Red Sea bordered by Jordan and Egypt.

It's a great opportunity to learn a bit more about Idan and what lies behind the man and his music.

Raichel: I don't practice Judaism or I don't practice any religion.

But I think that a song like "Bo'ee," or a song makes a big effect, I believe that I'm like a tool.

You can call it a spiritual something.

It's just using you as a tool to deliver it.

Raichel: [ Singing in Hebrew ] There is a level of song become a hit, and then, you know, it can last for many years, but the most supreme form of music, for me, are the folk songs, because the folk songs are something that is beyond hits, beyond time, beyond even classical music, and I think that a song like "Let It Be," there is a good chance that 800 years from now, no one will know who were The Beatles or John Lennon, but kids in churches will sing "Let It Be".

[ Singing in Hebrew ] It's funny, because as we're standing here -- I'm just going to describe the scene.

We're standing here, and this crowd is slowly building around us.

Smiling faces.

I see all these people smiling.

Nobody ever smiles like this when I'm around, you know?

But I see everybody's like, "Hey, it's Idan Raichel!"

And here they come.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Crowd cheering ] -[ Speaking Hebrew ] -Crazy.

We better get out of here.

We better split.

[ Chuckles ] [ Man singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: No city has played as important a role in the history of religion than Jerusalem.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all consider it to be among their most sacred sites, and you can practically feel the energy of thousands of years of human spirituality as you walk in front of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: Idan asked me to come to Jerusalem so I could visit the home of his good friends, Pamela and Aba Clayman.

It's a beautiful home with patios overlooking Jerusalem's Old City.

Pamela: Every stone has a melody in this city.

Jerusalem is the city of hope, it's the city of dreams, the city of vision, the city of tears, the city of prayer, the city of peace.

Very nice.

And the city of hospitality.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ Edgar: Idan takes me to one of Israel's most popular tourist attractions, and with good reason.

The Dead Sea is truly magnificent, and it attracts visitors from around the world who come to bathe in its supposedly healing waters.

Almost 10 times saltier than the ocean, bathers float like corks in the dense water, which, of course, makes it the perfect place to film an interview.

I don't think a lot of people realize how diverse Israel is, because it's a country of immigrants, really.

Right.

For those viewers who are not familiar with Israel, you know, and as I said, in every block, you can find people who lived here for seven generations or people that just moved here from hardcore villages of Ethiopia, and they didn't know what electricity is, and then their neighbor is a classical violin player from Moscow.

We don't have here in Israel Little Italy or Chinatown.

It's not sections.

It's just, uh...

It's all mixed.

That's cool.

I feel that more people from different places in Israel can feel connected to it.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ Edgar: That night, I get together with Idan for a taste of traditional Israeli food.

Even though this dish is being prepared by one of Israel's top chefs in a high-end resort restaurant, the chef assures me this is just the way his mama used to make it.

So today, I don't think that you can define an Israeli dish or Israeli kitchen.

I think it's all about the mix.

Edgar: Oh, yeah?

The mix from all over.

I mean, people will say to you falafel is very Israeli, and hummus and pita, but, actually, you can find great falafel in Egypt, and also, great hummus in Lebanon, I'm sure.

Yeah.

And, you know, in music, as I told you, I think that the supreme form is folk music.

I think also, you know, at the end of the day, he's a chef, and he learned all over the world, but when he needs to pick a dish to make us, it's somewhere, you know, from East Jerusalem that he -- That he grew up eating.

His mother made it.

And I said, "This is the best thing," you know?

It can be, you know, very simple -- a very simple dish that -- it's just.

-- It's like simple music.

Well?

Alright.

How do you say it?

What?

L'chaim?

L'chaim.

L'chaim.

L'chaim.

L'chaim.

Toda.

Thank you.

Edgar: After our meal, Idan sits down by the piano to demonstrate how he puts together his music.

Raichel: There is no recipe for writing something, writing a song.

It's the soundtrack of the people's lives.

It's like the bread and the sugar for the chef.

So, folk music is for the culture, for the nation.

It's the soundtrack of a nation.

I think the most famous melody of The Idan Raichel Project is "Bo'ee".

"Bo'ee", right, which was your first big hit, yeah.

Yeah, and it also started from this kind of groove.

[ Playing piano ] Really?

It's hard to imagine.

So, show me how you went from that into "Bo'ee."

It's a very, very, very hora kind of melody.

[ Humming ] [ Playing piano ] ♪♪ Wow.

And if you slow it down.

So... [ Playing piano slower ] ♪♪ ♪♪ I hear it.

♪♪ ♪ Bo'ee, tni li yad venelech ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti le-an ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti al osher ♪ ♪ Ulai gam hu yavo ♪ ♪ K shehu yavo ♪ ♪ Yered aleinu kmo geshem ♪ ♪ Bo'ee, nitchabek venelech ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti matai ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti al bayit ♪ ♪ Al tevakshi mimeni zman ♪ ♪ Zman lo mechakeh, lo otser, lo nishar ♪ Raichel: ♪ Bo'ee, tni li yad venelech ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti le-an ♪ ♪ Al tishali oti al osher ♪ ♪ Ulai gam hu yavo ♪ ♪ K shehu yavo ♪ ♪ Yered aleinu kmo geshem ♪ ♪ Bo'ee... ♪ Edgar: I'm standing at the entrance of Timna Park, where The Idan Raichel Project is going to be performing this evening and before I've even entered, I'm really struck by the setting.

You have the mountains of Timna over here, down there, you've got the Red Sea, and right across the road, so close you could practically touch it, are the incredible mountains of Jordan.

[ Woman singing in Hebrew ] Edgar: This barren, otherworldly setting is the site of the biannual Isrotel Phaza Morgana Festival, which, for four nights in September, treats people to exceptional live music and dance in one of the most unique and impressive performance settings I've ever seen.

As the sun begins to set, the 25 musicians who will be appearing on stage work through their sound check.

The members of The Idan Raichel Project reflect Israel's diversity.

With a large immigrant population, Israel's cultural heritage can be found in various parts of the world where Jewish people have lived over the centuries.

One of the lead singers in The Idan Raichel Project is Ravid Kahalani, who is of Yemenite heritage.

Ravid lives in Tel Aviv and fronts another band that is starting to make waves on the international music scene -- Yemen Blues.

It's a mash-up that reflects the multitude of flavors to be found in the Israeli music scene, and the young, open-minded musicians that are driving it forward.

[ Singing in foreign language ] Edgar: When I was in Tel Aviv, before making the trip down to Eilat, Ravid invited me to meet him for a taste of Yemenite food, music, dance, and craft.

Members of Yemen Blues set up in the Yemenite art gallery and workshop of famed silversmith Ben-Zion David, whose family has been making hand-crafted Yemenite jewelry for eight generations.

He's an amazing artist, Yemenite artist.

Edgar: Yeah, it's beautiful stuff.

I love jewelry, and I love the guys here.

So -- and it's a cool space.

So, I love the atmosphere here.

It's like...

It's like a second home, almost.

Yeah.

Like a family.

The magic and the amazing thing that happen with Yemen Blues, that we brought some kind of a fresh sound because it was, like, so natural because we didn't come to work on, you know, "Let's combine Yemenite music with African or jazz with Yemenite or blues with it."

We didn't think about it like this.

We were there, we were playing the music, we were feeling it, and everyone brought himself and his influence.

[ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Since I'm very young, my father was very strict with us that we're going to learn how to sing the Yemenite songs.

50% of my own singing technique is from there.

It's because I was singing when I was very young.

The traditional Yemenite.

So, yeah.

So this is...

This is, like, a traditional song... [ Tapping beat ] [ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So this is like...

It's cool.

It's like a traditional.

It takes me to another place.

Yeah, yeah.

But then I started to hear -- I started to listen to blues, you know?

I started to listen to blues, to funk, and it's incredible, and I love the sound.

[ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: Two other singers in The Idan Raichel Project are of Ethiopian background, part of the community of nearly 100,000 Ethiopian Jews that now call Israel home.

Through their work in the Project, Avi Wassa and Cabra Casay have helped bring broader acceptance to a community that hasn't always had the easiest time being integrated into Israeli society.

Cabra Casay was born in a refugee camp in Sudan as her parents were making the difficult journey to Israel.

But she's risen from her humble beginnings to become a star in her own right.

Casay: So, as I told you, it's like Eilat, we're in a desert.

So, usually, when we perform, we are in theaters and, like, big halls, everything is fancy.

Right, I've seen you in those types of settings.

Yes, and here, there's nothing.

What we have is nature.

It's the middle of nowhere.

The desert, the beauty of nature -- it's so beautiful.

[ Singing in foreign language ] It's very nice as an artist, you know, to explore yourself everywhere, but when we're home, we just like -- there is a connection.

It's very nice.

[ Singing in foreign language ] Edgar: Cabra joined Idan for a performance of the hit song "Ayal Ayale", which she sings in Amharic, and whose melodies and rhythms are inspired by traditional Ethiopian music.

♪♪ [ Singing in Amharic ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: For this special concert, Idan has invited a number of international guests, including Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade.

Mayra is a big star in France, where she lives, and while she and Idan wrote and recorded the song "Odjos Fitxadus", which translates to "Eyes Shut", this is the first time they've actually had a chance to perform it together.

Raichel: One, two, three, four.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: Here, in the shadows of the magnificent rock outcropping known as Solomon's Pillars, a 5,000-seat mobile amphitheater has been brought in, along with elaborate staging and lighting displays.

Oh, and did I mention they also bring in full-service bars, DJs, and lounge chairs, turning this into what must be one of the coolest open-air nightclubs in the world?

[ Singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Man singing in Hebrew ] Our teacher taught us something Very beautiful.

He said that when you speak, it's only one person can speak.

But when we sing, it's everybody together.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ Edgar: Visiting Israel does help put some of its long and often troubled history into perspective, and while I certainly only got a small taste of the reality on the ground, one thing every visitor learns is, well, it's complicated.

Maybe it's as simple as musicians from different backgrounds and political viewpoints coming together to make music.

Or maybe not.

But it certainly couldn't hurt.

Idan Raichel swears he isn't trying to make a political statement, that he just wants to make great music with exceptional musicians, no matter what their background or religion.

But like it or not, he has become a symbol of hope for a region where respect for one's neighbors and appreciation and celebration of their differences reveals, in the end, that we are all basically the same.

[ Man singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪