• Home
• Musical artists
• Oran Etkin

Oran Etkin Musical artist

Oran Etkin is an internationally acclaimed jazz/world artist and composer who is known for giving music classes for children in New York City. He recently released Wake Up Clarinet!, his first release in the genre of family music. In 2010 he formed a new music education program called Timbalooloo.Oran Etkin has been described as a "great clarinet player" and "an excellent improviser" by the New York Times' jazz critic Ben Ratliff and a "woodwind maestro" by PRI's internationally syndicated show, Afropop Worldwide. He has performed around the world with musicians ranging from jazz guitarist Mike Stern to rapper Wyclef Jean. His 2009 album Kelenia (Motema Music), fuses traditional Malian and Jewish music with modern jazz creating what the Boston Globe dubbed a "hypnotic balance between straight-ahead jazz and world music. The album was named "Best World Music Album of 2009" by the Independent Music Awards.Etkin brings this uniquely diverse perspective to his music for children, which incorporates rhythms and melodies from all over the world. For example, after concert tours in Haiti, Africa and Europe, Etkin returned to New York and adapted songs from these regions for his Timbalooloo music classes.Etkin has earned the respect of his peers through his various musical activities. Ken Burns and Julie Burns remarked that they were "very happy to see how Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo classes awakened an excitement about music in our daughter, enabling her to be creative and express herself through music." According to Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, "His ability to teach children...and keep them fully engaged and willing to learn was really really remarkable." And Harvey Keitel and Daphna Kastner Keitel stated that "Oran Etkin makes music from all over the world accessible and fun for children to listen to and learn about. From the age of two, our son was talking about Herbie Hancock, Mozart, Samba, and African music - and he knew the difference." In January, 2011, Wake Up, Clarinet! won in the Children's Music Album category in The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. Etkin received a Grammy nomination for his song "Unique Monique" which appears on Healthy Food for Thought, nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.