Biography

Born in Israel in 1981 and now residing in Berlin, Ido Bukelman is a guitarist, multi instrumentalist, composer-performer and a poet.

Ido Bukelman has been exploring ways to extract an ever-widening range of tones, challenging as well as delicate, from his instruments since the age of twelve.

His work combines elements of modern music, free-jazz and blues with oriental-folk tradition; He builds and breaks beats and structures, using dis-harmonized sounds, exploring ways to extract an ever-widening range of tone from his instruments. 

Bukelman strives for the melodic and the intimate but doesn't avoid passing through experimental and unfamiliar paths on his journey; 

"Bukelman is first of all a melodist and knows how to tell a story"
(Eyal Hareuveni, All About Jazz)

Over the past 15 years, Ido Bukelman played countless solo concerts at different international festivals and venues all over Europe and Israel.

He has released more than 10 albums under his name. On his solo albums, as well as in his solo live performances, he uses acoustic guitar, bowed banjo and vocals; dips his hands in fire and blood to find a new song.

“…Bukelman is even better on his own...(his) Solo is totally acoustic and even more in your face. Tightly wound and fearsomely sure of itself.”
(Bill Meyer, Wire)

Alongside his solo work, Bukelman plays in a variety of highly creative musical projects; He has toured and recorded with musicians like Steve Swell (USA), Gunter "Baby" Sommer Baby (DE), Mark Sanders (UK), Mikołaj Trzaska (PL) and others.  

Over a year ago, Bukelman entered a new musical phase and followed a different calling — one that stems from his years of researching and studying folk music, especially from the Middle Eastern region, from which he comes. The unique sound he developed through years of experimental work has not been left behind, but rather transformed; it now finds expression through clarity of melody, rhythm, and structure. His music has grown more direct and emotionally open, yet still carries the spirit of exploration that defines his sound.

Bukelman is also an educator. He teaches guitar and improvisation, coaches and mentors groups that play free improvised music.

Along with being an active musician Ido Bukelman is a poet, his first book Melodic Move published in 2021 and won an award for debut books.