Oded Kafri - Schlagzeug, Performance, Gesang, Mix
Drummer Oded Kafri aka KAFRi is a solo Artist, a one-man party and YouTube phenomenon with over a million hits. He has taken his stage and street shows all over the world, playing some of the biggest festivals and clubs in many different territories (Please see video section of the website). He takes his audience on a seamless and energetic journey, in which they can dance and marvel at his ability. All the while he is mixing styles in the vain of a DJ and giving the audience a live music experience.
One day when Kafri was playing drums and touring, he had an urge to do something extraordinary. He wanted to play the drums in the street that afternoon, before the show, outside the venue. ‘I felt such a purity playing for the people’ he said. ‘It’s the greatest show ever, no one has asked me to be there, so when people spontaneously appear and start dancing, it becomes pure entertainment and I can know I have really made someone’s day better.’
Kafri first started to play the drums at the age of 10 practicing at his family home bomb shelter in Tel Aviv Israel. Firstly playing Violin from the age of 4, he then picked up the drums. As a teenager Oded Kafri lived and studied music In Paris France, which shaped his musical direction and exposed him to Jazz and world music. In his twenty’s he was an acclaimed session player in Tel Aviv playing for artists such as Shalom Hanoch, Yossi Fine, the Idan Reichel Project and was the drummer for the big band of the Live TV Show in Israel’s “Strictly Come Dancing” (which made the news when it had a same sex couple compete In summer 2007). In 2008, Kafri was asked to accompany Israeli Singer David d’Or on his world tour which included Womad Festival, UK and Arenas.
After meeting with Agnes Tzu of KHS in Taiwan Oded Kafri became A Mapex drum Endorser. From 2012 he became A Murat Diril Cymbals Endorser.
In 2009 Kafri moved from Tel Aviv To London where he played the drums for the Koby Israelite group performing in High prestige Venues such as the Royal Albert Hall & Koko, London. In February 2010 Kafri made his first street performance in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester …” I was just having a day off from a Function band I was playing for at the time and having a stroll with my friend Omry shay I suddenly said to him: man I would like to play here pointing at the city square”….
Kafri’s street performance gave him recognition world wide with an on growing following through YouTube and other social media platform in December 2011 Kafri joined Beatboxer Beardyman at his Brixton Electric Show.
Oded Kafri has been on the road for over a decade in his ‘Drum The World’ initiative and has strong fan bases all over Europe and the UK. He has performed at venues such as KOKO, Brixton Electric, [1], The Barbican, The London Jazz Festival for BBC Radio (Southbank Centre) and many of the UK and Europe’s most popular Festivals. Most recently he put on a one man show production which sold was a sold out show (att. 1000) at the Jerusalem Theatre.
Oded Kafri has released three studio albums, toured around the world, performed and collaborated with many artists such as:
BEARDYMAN (UK), BILLY COBHAM (USA) and VIEUX FARKA TOURE (Africa).
Oded Kafri has released 2 studio albums and is currently working on his 3rd which is set to be released on a large independent label.
Oded Kafri currently lives in Hamburg Germany and is signed artist at Monumental Management UK (Brett Leboff).
