Esta

Excerpt from Why-Y from the album Mediterranean Crossroads- Newance

ESTA the multicultural and instrumental quartet, created in Israel and nurtured in the musical halls of Manhattan, brings a thrilling and pulsating musical experience that reflects the many ethnic flavors of Israel's vibrant society. Just reaching back to the songs they heard as kids growing up in Israel with immigrant parents, they can plug into the music of Iraq, Poland, Bulgaria, Moldavia, Romania, and Russia. To serve up this stew of musical influences, the band travels with a large and curious inventory of ethnic folk instruments, including conga drums, Chinese mouth organ, zorna (an ancestor of the oboe), darbuka (a kind of drum), Irish penny whistle, and several different kinds of bagpipes, not to mention assorted pots and pans. Indeed, a kind of Pan-Arab sound drifts in and out of much of ESTA's music. That, in fact, is the point of what ESTA is trying to do, according to Deshet. "We have revived a lot of traditions that were neglected or ignored..."

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