| Yitzhak Attias | |
| Birth Place: | Gibraltar |
| Origin: | Jerusalem, Israel |
| Genre: | Jewish rock, world music |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter, percussionist |
| Years Active: | 1985–present |
| Associated Acts: | Reva L'Sheva, Shlomo Carlebach |
Yitzhak Attias (born 9 September 1958) is a Gibraltar-born Israeli Jewish musician. He was the percussionist for Reva L'Sheva for several years and has released two solo albums.
Attias was born in Gibraltar.[1] He attended Jewish day school until age 11.[2]
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.
See main article: 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 break-up in 2006. He performed on four of their albums, including their final album, V'Sham Nashir.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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. His sons Yonatan Attias and Michael Attias founded the Indie-rock band Nuriel, and another of his sons, David Attias, soon joined as a band member.[6]
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.