Yitzhak Attias

Early life

Attias was born on September 9, 1958 in Gibraltar, a British colony in the south of Spain. He attended Jewish day school until age 11.

Attias initially planned to become a drummer like his friend Joe Levy, but was inspired to percussion by watching Steve Peregrin Took of the band T. Rex. He was also influenced by Santana and Osibisa, as well as flamenco and African music. As a child, he attended Carmel College boarding school in Oxfordshire, England. Musician David Broza was an older student there, and the young Attias would often play percussion alongside him and his friends.

He left school at age 16 to pursue a music career and came to Israel, where he lived on Kibbutz Be'erot Yitzhak after being invited by a cousin. Feeling unsatisfied, he left the kibbutz and moved to Netanya.

Gather the Sparks and Reva L'Sheva

After moving to Israel, Attias worked with musicians like Yehuda Glantz and Eli Massias (later of Heedoosh). Both contributed to his debut album, Gather the Sparks, released in 1987. Many of the songs had been written with Attias' previous band, Ladino, and were inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

Attias was a percussionist with the pioneering Jewish rock band Reva L'Sheva from 1999 until their breakup in 2006. He performed on four of their albums, including their final album, V'Sham Nashir. In 2014, he participated in a Reva L'Sheva reunion concert at Zappa Jerusalem alongside Yehudah Katz, Lazer Lloyd, Nitzan Chen Razel, and Chanan Elias.

Reshimu

Attias released a second solo album, Reshimu, in 2012, after four and a half years of development. He worked again with Massias, as well as jazz musicians Ofer Portugali, Yorai Oron, Yaron Gottfried, and Yoram Lachish.

He performed at the 2014 Moshav Country Fair at Mevo Modi'im alongside Yehudah Katz and Ben Zion Solomon.

Personal life

Attias lives with his family near the Jerusalem Forest. His wife, Tamar Lauffer Attias, whom he met in the early 1980s, is a professional flautist who plays with the all-female Jewish rock band Tofa'ah as well as on several of her husband's albums.

Attias was inspired as a young man by musician Carlos Santana's spiritual journey as expressed in his music. He also read Hermann Hesse and was introduced through Martin Buber's work to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who intrigued him with his emphasis on music in religious practice. He has said that while he was raised Sefardi and follows Sephardic law and customs, he identifies with the Hasidic outlook and philosophy in his hashkafa.

Solo albums

With Reva L'Sheva

With Shlomo Carlebach

Featured appearances