Shye Ben Tzur

Shye Ben Tzur is a New York-born composer, musician and poet, based in Jaffa, Tel Aviv after many years in India. His work is rooted in ancient Sufi and North Indian traditions, explored alongside contemporary and experimental sound. In the 1990s he studied Dhrupad under Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar, and in Ajmer, Rajasthan, formed an ensemble with Rajasthani musicians and Sufi Qawwali singers. He has composed original Qawwali music for Hebrew, Urdu, and Hindi poetry, and continues his practice in the Dhrupad tradition under Ustad Bahauddin Dagar. His debut album Heeyam was released in 2003, followed by Shoshan (2010), acclaimed worldwide. In 2015, Ben Tzur collaborated with Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and The Rajasthan Express to record Junun, inside Jodhpur's 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort. The album was documented in a film by Paul Thomas Anderson and named World Music Album of the Year by the Sunday Times. The ensemble toured Europe and North America, and joined Radiohead on three consecutive international tours. In July 2018 they appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2022 he released Hallel, recorded and filmed at Augusta Victoria Church in Jerusalem. His EP Yom (2025) explores the space between the mundane and the transcendent in the modern urban landscape. In 2026, Ben Tzur returns with a new album alongside Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express on World Circuit/BMG. The title single Ranjha was released in March 2026, with the full album due in May.