kfarcenter.com Blog » Sephardic

Shlomit Levi

Administrator — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:01:26 +0000

Shlomit Levi is a gifted & powerfully voiced singer, blessed with a joyful spirit and dynamic personality. Born in the small town of Keryat Ekron in Israel, Shlomit grew up listening to the traditional folk music of Yemen which is one of her main influences. After touring in Europe with the band Orphaned-Land, Shlomit began to focus on learning the classical Yemenite musical repertoire of her ancestry.

In addition to specific meloldies, Temanim (Yemeni Jews) have a distinct pronunciation of the Hebrew language and a musical trope all their own. To these classic techniques, Shlomit has also added a contemporary twist and western influences. She most recently performed as a featured guest alongside the legendary Boaz Sharabi

At present, Shlomit is working on her debut album and performing across Israel, delivering her intimate songs with powerful melodies & soaring voice. She grew up listening to traditional folk music of Yemen as well as western-modern music. As a result, Shlomit has an eclectic palette, from which she draws inspiration.

Her performance combines ancient Yemenite rhythms & music; original songs influenced by her unique family story, known Israeli music and soul music in English. At present, Shlomit is working on her debut album and performing across Israel, delivering her intimate songs with powerful melodies & soaring voice. Not since the days of Ofra Haza has there been such an enigmatic singer to come out of Israel

Joining Shlomit is Tomer Koren , a talented arranger, guitar, keyboard and bass player who has performed with Simanim, Melechet, Fusion ensemble, Brit Olam, Adama festival, Haifa symphony, Universities and for the Prime Minister’s office. Shlomit is also backed by percussion artist Yatziv Caspi, specializing in Indian Tabla. Yatziv has performed in many ensembles, including Orphaned Land, Amit Varshetzki, Eliel Abecassis, Yuval Ron and Residents of the Future.

Shir HaShirim
Asalk

WPvideo 1.02

Divahn

Administrator — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:14:43 +0000

El Nora

Anyone who thinks Jewish music equals klezmer needs to hear Divahn’s Middle Eastern and Sephardic grooves. Fans first heard Divahn’s energetic music deep in the heart of Texas. Today, this dynamic New York City-based quintet delights audiences throughout the country and has made numerous live radio appearances. Divahn infuses traditional songs with sophisticated harmonies and arrangements using tabla, cello, rabel, doumbek, violin and other acoustic instruments, plus vocals in Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish.
Their beautiful lyricism flows through an intense rhythmic drive. The group distinguishes itself as the only all-female ensemble performing Mizrakhi-influenced music (Jewish music from the Middle East and North Africa) in the US, and has performed with some of the world’s most renowned master musicians, including Glen Velez and Anindo Chatterjee. Divahn, a word common to Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic, means a collection of songs or poetry. Through its music, Divahn seeks to underscore common ground shared between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions. The group captures the breadth and diversity of Mizrakhi and Sephardi music throughout the centuries, while simultaneously creating and redefining innovative directions for the music in the present.

El Nora
Ayni Tzofiah
Hamavdeel
Vashti

Hazzan Galeet Dardashti (vocals, guitar, percussion) pursues her artistic and academic passion for Mizrahi music as both accomplished singer and anthropologist. She has performed as a soloist both in the US and Israel, including significant cantorial work. Galeet is writing her dissertation on contemporary Mizrahi and Arab music in Israel and offers interactive musical workshops and academic lectures on this topic, such as recent events at B’nai Jeshurun in NYC and the 2005 Aleph Kallah. She recently returned from conducting her dissertation research in Israel, which was funded by fellowships from Fulbright-Hays, The National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.

During her fieldwork, Galeet studied and performed Arab and Persian music with some of Israel’s most renowned musicians, including Yair Dalal, Yitzchak Refuah, and Kobi HaGoel. Galeet’s grandfather Yona Dardashti was one of the most highly acclaimed singers of Persian classical music in Iran. Together with her father, Hazzan Farid Dardashti, and The Dardashti Family, Galeet performed international Jewish music throughout the US and Canada for 19 years. In 2007 she was named a Six Points Fellow. She is joined in Divahn by Lila Sklar, Amy Sue Bartson, Eleanor Norton and Sejal Kukadia.

“ A stunning debut! … Darting, stabbing rhythms, throaty, urgent vocals and intricate and intelligent arrangements, this is a flat-out thrilling record.” Jewish Week
In combining the old and new, drawing from across the globe, and mixing their respective musical gifts, Divahn have not only a fine debut on their hands, but a new musical statement — one of craft, originality, and spirit.” – Austin Chronicle

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Sarah Aroeste Band

Administrator — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:56:24 +0000

Sarah Aroeste leads the world’s only Ladino Rock band, performing a funky fusion of Spanish, Mediterranean and American musical styles. Inspired by her family’s cultural heritage–orginally from Spain and later settling in Salonika, Greece– the Aroeste sound combines and updates aspects from her unique family background.

Most influenced by the music and language of her Spanish roots, Aroeste grounds her music in Ladino, or castillian Spanish, the language originated by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. This medieval form of Spanish was carried by Spanish Jews to the various points where they later settled, primarily along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa. In time, ladino came to absorb bits and pieces of languages all along the Mediterranean coast, including Greek, Turkish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Hebrew.

This exotic pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away and is hardly spoken anymore. But the musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans many centuries and unites a linguistic group. Until WWII the vibrant Spanish Jewish communities, particularly throughout the Mediterranean, had been able to perpetuate a significant Hispanic influence throughout the region. Following the War, Mediterranean Jews emigrated in large numbers to the U.S and Latin America, where their proud communities continue to retain a link, in many ways through music, with their medieval hispanic past.

American born, Aroeste has decided to revive this rich body of music by combining it with more contemporary musical influences. Encouraged by an influx of Latin-based music in America over the past few years, Aroeste hopes to make Sephardic music more recognized and accessible as well. Her family’s original Spanish-Greek name, Aroeste, or “of the West,” truly reflects her style of music by combining traditional Mediterranean sounds with contemporary rock, funk, jazz and blues. Using traditional instruments such as oud and dumbek, alongside electric guitar, bass and drums, Sarah Aroeste seeks to bring new life and energy to the beautiful and mysterious sounds of Sephardic music. Her sets include contemporary takes on traditional Mediterranean ladino songs, as well as original songs written in English, set to Spanish Mediterranean backgrounds.

A La Una
Arvoles
Hija Mia
Puertas

June 2006 Radio Safarad
Listen to an exclusive interview Spring 2006 with the Madrid-based radio station on the Sarah Aroeste Band experience.
Listen to it here

September 16, 2005 The Star Ledger
Jewish pop pourri:Ladino rock BY VICKI HYMAN
Read it here (pdf)

April 2005 Heeb Magazine: Heeb 100
October 2004 Chashm Andaaz Magazine/ Iranian Jewish Chronicle
A Sephardic Rock Star – Diva Embraces Music from the Past

Download the Article as PDF

9-10-04 The LA Jewish Journal
I am stunned … at how successfully Aroeste has succeeded in setting this music in a way that makes it contemporary, without losing the very traditional feel of the music and the music’s roots.

Click here for the full article

8-30-04 The Chicago Tribune
From the first notes that sounded, there was no question that Chicagoans were hearing music of the highest artistic level…[Yet the festival’s] cultural agenda seemed almost modest alongside the reach of singer/songwriter Sarah Aroeste, who finds inspiration in the ancient poetry of Ladino…

NPR” Ladino, the Language of Sephardic Jews on Morning Edition audio
NPR’s Renee Montagne talks to two experts [Sarah Aroeste and Rabbi Mark Angel] about the past and future of Ladino, the 500-year-old language of Sephardic Jews.

Listen to the NPR Audio here

8-15-03 The Forward
Sarah Aroeste is a woman on a mission. The 27-year-old singer, who mixes rock and pop influences with the Ladino music of her ancestors, isn’t just out to entertain. She wants to redefine the term “Jewish music.”… With the explosion in the popularity of world music, Aroeste may indeed have stumbled upon a fusion that no one else has yet hit upon.

Click here for full article

2004 CD ROOTS.com
A fine and promising debut release by a young American singer exploring Sephardic music in the modern world. A la una ranges from traditional folk forms to jazz, rock and many of the hyphens in-between.

6-20-03 The Jewish Week
With a bare midriff and gyrating hips, Sarah Aroeste performs jazz and rock blended into favorites from her Sephardic repertoire… The music is no mere attention-grabbing gimmick for Aroeste, who founded her own record label two years ago. It’s a connection to her Greek Jewish heritage and ancestral roots in medieval Spain.

Click here for full article

6-11-03 The Village Voice
Ethnic eclecticism from a sultry warbler of Greek ancestry…(Shakira eat your heart out!)

4-4-03 Baltimore Jewish Times
When Sarah Aroeste discovered the music of Spanish and Mediterranean Jews, she took to it at once. Much of her extended family comes from Greece, and these songs spoke to that part of her heart.

2-03-02 The New York Blueprint
Living in a city with as rich a Jewish music scene as New York is a privilege. The next time you find yourself picking between New York’s eclectic offering, find a show by Sarah Aroeste…

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RebbeSoul

Administrator — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:05:50 +0000

RebbeSoul performs melodies from throughout the Jewish world, from Sephardic romanceros in Ladino to Lubavitch niggunim to tunes from Ashkenazi nusach. Carlebach melodies and Mizrahi piyyutim collide with a World beat rhythms- its the sound of the Jewish Diaspora coming home. And in after a Rebbesoul show, everyone will go home humming something new!

A rock guitarist and studio session musician, Bruce Burger (RebbeSoul) was inspired by the haunting beauty of a prayer heed heard one night in synagogue. From memory, he reconstructed the melody and lyrics, and so began a spiritual and musical journey that brought him back to his Jewish heritage. That song tapped something inside Burger, who recorded the song and submitted it to local radio stations.

Months later his acoustic rendition of Avinu Malkenu garnered record high listener call-ins when maverick San Francisco station aired it. Now, Burger leads his percussion trio, bringing a new voice to the sometimes-stagnant realm of Jewish music, blending rock sensibilities, world fusion stylings and traditional Hebrew melodies for an ageless yet progressive sound. RebbeSoul mixes Mizrahi chant and electronic beats with the funk/ethnic rock style, layerng balalaika, guitar and mandolin over of a percussion trio using darbouka, djembes, riq and cajon. Having toured Israel repeatedly, he made Aliyah in 2006.

He returns to the US for periodic tours to teaching about Israel and the Jewish people through music that reflects its melodies and those of Jewish Diaspora communities. A Rebbesoul performance is a musical ingathering, mirroring the diverse Israeli society. The sound of the Jewish journey home is at the heart of a RebbeSoul performance.

Kol Dodi
Esa Enai
Shmelke’s Nign
Maoz Tzur

“This is about us, as in the big ‘us,’ not about individuals, biases, cultural clashes or any of that other clutter that junks up our daily lives. This album is about how we are more alike than different.” – Cat Delaney, Lucid Forge “RebbeSoul crafts an energetic sound… packs an eclectic armament… for Jewish and Arabic music… RebbeSoul forges a danceable fusion.” – Popmatters

“Soulful mission: RebbeSoul dedicates his long-awaited CD, Change the World With a Sound, to peace in the Middle East and throughout the world.”- Halifax Herald

“From the dub feel of “Kaddish” to the folk-rocky “Shalom” and “Rock of Ages,” perhaps my favorite is “Eliyahu,” with a stripped-down funk groove, soulful Hebrew vocals by Lynn Rose, and some tasty hand drumming.” KAOS/Spin The Globe

“A thick and soupy blend of Middle-Eastern percussion, growling rock guitar, plucked balalaika and funk bass that builds to a perfect simmer.” – Splendid“[RebbeSoul] blends melody and electricity… there’s a depth of soul that sucks you in.” – Kent Zimmerman, Gavin Report

“His compositions take acoustic rock into a mystical realm” – Charles M. Young, Playboy

“Multi-talented RebbeSoul seamlessly mixes international musical influences into his own unique sound. Rhythms from Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are evident as they weave and wind through rock, pop, and jazz tones.” – Joey Alkes, Music Biz Magazine face

Esta

Administrator — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:22:55 +0000

ESTA is a multi-ethnic band with innovative compositions and imaginative arrangements – deeply rooted in Israel’s diverse traditions. Founded in 1979 by Shlomo Deshet and Ori Beanstock, Esta has created a distinctive new sound, incorporating Jewish, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African and Celtic genres into its own pan-global sound, propelled by Rock’s energy and Jazz’s musicianship.

Performing as a group for over 25 years, Esta is among a handful of visionary artists to fuse contemporary music with folkloric styles and sounds. World Fusion isn’t just a genre Esta performs. It is its soul.

Dror Yikra
Shkembah
Black Sheep

Esta’s band members are all first generation Israelis, raised on their parents’ musical heritage from Bulgaria, Iraq, Poland, Iran, Romania, Syria, Russia, and Turkey. Inspired also by the 1970s progressive rock, Esta’s music traverses myriad soundscapes – acoustic instruments dance with electric, a cappella vocals complement a symphony of sounds.

The band members lived and worked in New York City. In this cacophonous cauldron – as musical ambassadors from their homeland – their vision of Esta’s distinctive East/West sound came to fruition. Vocalist Yarona Harel joined Esta in 2000 increasing the band’s ability to touch listeners with her captivating voice and charismatic stage presence. A lifelong friendship was first ignited by and it is still fueled through a deep passion for music.

Today, residing in Israel and touring worldwide, Esta continues its artistic mission. In keeping with their passion for breaking new grounds, Esta’s musicians have invented some of their own instruments, including the Zurnaphone, Bombeta, Shofarophone, Talking Darbuka, Drum Set Tabla, Saz Guitar, and Bandutar, Incorporating them to Esta’s one-of-a-kind performances. Highlighting each performance is the Darbukada, a percussion/woodwind extravaganza, performed with virtuosic musicianship guaranteed to rouse audiences to their feet. Esta is a musical force not to be missed!

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Ayelet Rose Gottlieb

Administrator — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 01:33:40 +0000

Pithi Li

With her dazzling free improvisational style, brilliant compositional facility, global music palette and her ability to sing in her native Hebrew, in English and with no words at all, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb is unlike anyone you’ve heard before. Only 27, Ayelet has a level of musical sophistication, daring and curiosity that enables her to seamlessly meld her many influences including Ornette Coleman, Laurie Anderson, Egyptian chanteuse Oum Koulthm, Eastern European melodies and Middle Eastern scales all in a breathtaking improvisational approach.

Pithi Li
Patahti
Min HaMidbar

MAYIM RABIM (TZADIK, JUNE 27, 2006) is based on the Song of Songs, ancient Hebrew erotica from King Solomon that is found in the Bible. The album evolved out of her Song of Songs-based composition, “Al Mishkavi (As I Lay),” which was featured on her first CD, Internal-External, selected by ALL ABOUT JAZZ-NY as the BEST DEBUT OF 2004. She composed the song cycle to 10 segments of the text and presents it in its original Hebrew. In Song of Songs, Ayelet found an incredible work of poetry about love, a human sentiment that surely incorporates the full color range of emotions.

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Shakshuka

Administrator — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:37:37 +0000

Ko Amar

Shakshuka is an ensemble raised on folk, pop and jazz music with a deep love for Jewish music. They perform Israeli and Sephardic selections in Hebrew, Ladino and Yiddish. With two guitars, percussion and voice, their arrangements add creative elements to traditional melodies with a refreshing sound. Shaksuka’s music includes songs of the early Israeli pioneers, camp favorites, modern Israeli composers, dance songs, Yiddish and Sephardic music.

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Elie Massias Project

Administrator — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:46:30 +0000

Elie Massias Project Singer/Songwriter, Guitarist, Elie Massias, a native of Gibraltar, has performed extensively in Europe, North America, and Israel. A classically trained guitarist, Massias’ spare, beautiful arrangements of Israeli and melodies from his Sephardic heritage are performed with a jazz flair that is a cross between David Broza and Dave Matthews unplugged, with a strong flamenco flourish and flashes of hasidic soulfulness.

Elie won top 15 of the U.S. North East at the 2006 ‘Independent Music Worldseries’ and will be featured on discmakers ‘North East Heavy Hitters” compilation CD.

John Anders of DownBeat Magazine writes “Elie’s guitar textures and effects recall stylists as diverse as Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie and Bern Nix.”

Available for solo, duet and quartet performances.

LCha Dodi
El Dia de Shabat
B’lailah (live)

Asefa

Administrator — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:29:04 +0000

Ki Eshmerea Shabbat

As their name implies, Asefa ‘gathers’ traditional melodies from throughout the Jewish musical diaspora and combines them with their own jazz influences to create a splendid mosaic. The ensemble is at its best when applying contemporary improvisational concepts and maqams (their ancient eastern equal) to compositional frameworks traditionally employed by material in the Sephardic and North African musical traditions. One can feel the very connectivity that has helped the Jewish people endure. While an emphasis is on Middle Eastern and Sephardic Jewish musical traditions, a trip into the heart of Klezmer can occur as well.

Founded in 2001 by bandleader and composer Samuel Thomas, Asefa brings together diverse musical worlds. From the Hebrew word for “collecting,” Asefa includes Thomas on soprano saxophone and percussion, Shanir Blumenkranz on oud and upright bass, and Eric Platz on drums and percussion. Traversing a wide musical landscape, Asefa travels from Morocco to Persia, Poland to America and back. Thomas’ arrangements and original compositions, imbued with contemporary concepts in improvisation and instrumentation, reflect a fresh spirit in music making.

Ki Eshmerea Shabbat
Tzur Mishelo
Halleluyah!
Ailz

Calling it a musical journey is too mushy and anthropological too dry. Asefa celebrates a living and indomitable music that pops up everywhere, on various continents, in rural and cosmopolitan forms. This is alt-country like you’ve never heard it. This is jazz from unexpected contexts. This is Mitteleuropean proto-blues. This is music that honors both ritual and experimentation, reminding us of the vitality and variety within the Jewish tradition — a tradition that is, given the Diaspora, everyone’s to a degree. Listen and trace your own roots, whatever they are.

In clubs and on stages worldwide, Asefa brings a unique blend of North African grooves, Sefardic sounds and jazz. Soprano sax, oud, drums, and loads of percussion rock the house and get the crowd moving everytime. Based in NYC, Asefa is a developing collective that functions around the principles of a groovin’ sound.

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Crossroads Ensemble

Administrator — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:21:05 +0000

Frevo

Crossroads Ensemble is award winning instrumentalists Juancho Herrera of Caracas Venezuela and Mattan Klein of Jerusalem, Israel. Born over 6000 miles apart, their roads crossed in the U.S.A. and their musical and cultural backgrounds created the foundation for an exquisite world-music collaboration. Juancho and Mattan’s love and admiration for each other’s musical tradition and rich religious culture brought together two of New York’s busiest composers and performers to create a true world-music cross-over project, which involves Latin, Jewish, Brazilian, Ladino, Jazz and Funk elements, but all the while preserves the innovative voices they both carry as representatives of their nations.

Los Bilbilicos

Be’er Basade
Frevo

Ben Zwerin, bass, was born in Paris, France. His incredible knowledge of music from South America, Africa and the Middle East, in addition to his experience as a leading Jazz artist on the New York scene make him a unique addition to the ensemble’s sound. Being the son of Jazz legend Mike Zwerin (played with Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy and many more), Ben has absorbed a wide range of influences into his performance. Mathias Kunzli, percussion, is one of the busiest drummers/percussionists in New York. He is a recording artist with the John Zorn Tzadik label, and performed with figures such as Yo Yo Ma Silk Road Project, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Randy Brecker, Oscar Castro-Neves, John Zorn’s Electric Masada, Bob Berg, Bobby Watson, Paul Winter Consort, Dave Samuel and many more. Mathias specializes in music from South America and the Middle East.

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