posted by Anonymous at 4:48 PM
Asefa As the name implies, this ensemble ''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. An Asefa performance displays the diverse traditional and contemporary styles of music from around the Jewish diaspora. The ensemble also conducts participatory "Jewish Awareness Through Music" workshops and educational seminars for schools and synagogues. These workshops teach the Jewish diversity, history and geography of the Jewish people through the distincts musics of various Jewish communities throughout the world.
posted by Anonymous at 1:29 PM
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.
posted by Anonymous at 1:36 PM
RebbeSoul 's Percussion Trio brings 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 totally progressive sound.
posted by Anonymous at 1:36 PM
Sultana Ensemble Yoel Ben Simhon leads and directs this middle-eastern fusion ensemble. Together with a talented group of multi-ethnic musicians, Ben Simhon explores the music of the Morrocan Jews in through Hebrew piyutim and Haketia (Ladino) melodies, along with song wonderful new original arrangements. Yoel Ben-Simhon says, "Sultana was the name of my grandmother, a very inspirational figure in my life, who was born in Mogador, Morocco. As a verb, saltana means 'to dominate' or 'to govern' and of course sultana means Queen." Sultana also means 'sublime', the enjoyment communicated by a performer to the audience through the artistic and technical mastery of the instrument or voice.
posted by Anonymous at 1:29 PM
Yardena y Son Ladino Led by Israeli-born jazz vocalist Yardena Namerdi "Yardena y Son Ladino," is Ladino-Afro Cuban Jazz, and represents a fusion of Sephardic Jewish and Middle Eastern music with Cuban rhythms. The fusion of these two traditions with so much common ancestry comes off as so natural as to sound startlingly inevitable.Both share important roots in 15th century Spain, where an already thousand-year-old mix of Moors, Jews, and Gypsies gave to Iberia the essence of habanera and flamenco forms. In the then newly discovered Cuba this music was combined, and evolved with, African percussion for 500 more years, to become one of the most vital of all musical genres. With the expulsion of the "heretics," also 500 years ago, the Jews of Spain, a land they called 'Sepharad,' took with them their Castilian language, now known as 'Djudeo-Espanyol,' or Ladino, a language frozen in time. In a long odyssey from Moorish North Africa to Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East itself, and even the New World, colorful words and rhythmic variants were absorbed into songs handed down, mother-to-child, from antiquity.
These Sephardic ballads and romances, with their language still reminiscent of Columbus and Cervantes, take on a soulful and very dynamic new life, refreshing the family of Afro-Cuban sounds like a long lost relative. It is a unique fusion of 500 year old Sepahardic folk songs with Afro-Cuban Jazz, highlighting their mutual roots in 15th century Spain.
Hear the music: Los Bilbilcos El Rey Nimrod
Booking and Performance inquiries: sephardic@j-arts.org
posted by Anonymous at 1:29 PM
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.
posted by Anonymous at 1:29 PM
Danzon de Moises Growing up in Havana, Roberto Rodriguez encountered Jewish immigrants who sought refuge in Cuba. His own family sought refuge in Miami in the '60s, where Cubans and Jews were thrown together with common cultural experiences. 30 years later, the drummer voices those commonalities in a mesmerizing meld of Cuban music and traditional Jewish melodies.
posted by Anonymous at 1:36 PM
