Eliyahu Sills has been studying and performing music for over 20 years on many instruments, including upright bass, bansuri, the bamboo flute of India, and the ney, the reed flute of the middle east.

In the early 1990s, he studied the upright bass at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Deeply influenced by teachers Makanda Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence and Reggie Workman (bassist who played with John Coltrane and Art Blakey), Eliyahu began performing as a sideman and bandleader in renowned jazz clubs such as The Village Gate and Small's.

In the years that followed, Eliyahu fell in love with the flute and applied the musical theory that he learned through his jazz studies to teach himself this most ancient of instruments. After falling under the spell of the Sufi music of Turkey, he became a devoted student of both the ney and the bansuri. He has since continued to study and perform these ancient instruments under the guidance of his teacher G.S. Sachdev, to whom he is a devoted student.

In 2006, Eliyahu went on a journey to Turkey to study the traditions and nuances of the nay. During his journey, he fell in love with Istanbul and had the opportunity to study under masters Neyzen Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya.  He returned two years later to further his studies. Most recently he went to Morocco to study Arabic style of the ney, as well as the melodies and deep rhythms of Gnawa and Saharan music.

Eliyahu's mastery of musical styles spans the globe. He has performed and recorded traditional spiritual music of the Middle East with Za'atar, West African folk music with the Palm Wine Boys, soul roots reggae with the Original Intentions, acoustic soul with Sparlha Swa and revolutionary Hip-hop with Rebels Advocate.  Recently, he has been making music with Ethiopian born jazz/soul vocalist Meklit Hadero, recorded devotional music with Shimshai and with m.j. greenmountain of Hamsa Lila, toured with Rupa & the April Fishes, and with oudist/composer Yuval Ron.

Eliyahu also works with young people, primarily mentoring teenage young men.  He has taught at The Mosaic Project, an educational program that helps children from all backgrounds celebrate diversity as well as Omega Teen Camp, and teaches a class guiding young men, at WCCHS a high school in Richmond, CA, and for the rites of passage program at Stepping Stones Project.  He is now leading his own "Soul Warrior" groups for young men.

Click here Listen to a recent interview with Eliyahu on Worldstreams.org.