Israeli-born musician Oran Etkin fell in love with jazz at age 10, when his parents gave him his first CD—a Louis Armstrong record. Later, he would fall in love with the clarinet, then with the polyrhythms of Malian music, and, later still, with the plaintive sounds of klezmer. In his new album Kelenia, a collaboration with three West African musicians, he combines all these elements to exhilarating effect. All Music Guide credits him with “set[ting] a new standard for world music.”

Vox Tablet host Sara Ivry interviews Etkin at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where he teaches, about his unusual musical trajectory. For information on his upcoming performances, go here.

Produced by Julie Subrin