Download Eliyahu Sills - World Flute Society

Eliyahu Sills
Known for his authenticity and soulful musicianship, Eliyahu Sills has been performing music for more
than 20 years on multiple instruments, including bansuri, Turkish and Arabic ney, the upright bass, and
electric bass. He performs throughout the country with his critically-acclaimed band, The Qadim
Ensemble, whose CD reached #7 on Billboard's World Music charts, as well as collaborating with many
highly acclaimed musicians.
In the early 1990s, Eliyahu studied the upright bass at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
in New York City. Deeply influenced by teachers Makanda Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence, and Reggie
Workman (bassist who played with John Coltrane and Art Blakey), Eliyahu began performing as a sideman
and bandleader in renowned jazz clubs such as The Village Gate and Small's. In the years that followed, he
fell in love with the flute and applied the music theory that he learned through his jazz studies to teach
himself this most ancient of instruments. After falling under the spell of the Sufi music of Turkey, he
became a devoted student of both the ney and the bansuri. He has since continued to study and perform
these ancient instruments under the guidance of his teacher Hindustani bansuir master G.S. Sachdev, one
of the world’s most highly esteemed musicians in that ancient tradition, and to whom he is a devoted
student.
Eliyahu has performed and recorded with Arabic oudist and singer Naser Musa; Iranian Santoor player
Hamid Saeidi; Ethiopian born jazz/soul vocalist Meklit Hadero; world music with Rupa & the April Fishes;
devotional music with Shimshai; Middle Eastern music with oudist/composer Yuval Ron, Za'atar and with
members of Diwan Halev; West African folk music with the Palm Wine Boys; soul roots reggae with the
Original Intentions; acoustic soul with Sparlha Swa; conscious Hip-hop with Rebels Advocate; and
Hindustani ragas with Jason Ranjit Parmar. In Istanbul, Turkey, he studied the ney under masters Neyzen
Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya. He returned two years later to further his studies. Later, in
Israel, he studied with Neyzen Itamar Shachar. In Morocco, Eliyahu studied the Arabic ney with Akdii
Abdelsalaam, as well as the melodies and rhythms of Gnawa and Saharan music with Hossein
Bohalibambara Bziz. To learn more about Eliyahu and to hear his music, please visit: www.eliyahumusic.com