Ori Kaplan

Ori Kaplan was born in 1969 in Tel Aviv

Ori Kaplan was born on October 1, 1969, in Tel Aviv. His first band was DXM, an underground group in Tel Aviv that worked with samplers. He chose to play with it instead of taking clarinet lessons.

In 1991 he moved to the United States. He earned a degree from Mannes College in 1996 and then formed Trio Plus with Tom Abbs and Geoff Mann. The group became a quartet in 1997 when Steve Swell joined.

In 1997 he also took part in jazz projects linked to the Knitting Factory. In 1998 he joined the rock band Firewater and toured the United States and Europe. He also formed the Ori Kaplan Percussion Ensemble and toured with Gogol Bordello from 2001 to 2004.

In 2004 he founded Balkan Beat Box with Tamir Muskat, and the band has toured around the world. His saxophone is heard on the songs "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo and "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony, and in the 2015 animated film Home. He co-wrote Russia's 2021 Eurovision song "Russian Woman" with Manizha and Ori Avni.