http://sephardicfest.com
* Move over "I have a Little Dreidel" and "Maoz Tzur"... there is an exciting new sound in the air this Hanukkah. The 8th Annual Sephardic Music Festival will be lighting up the eight nights of Hanukkah in venues around New York from December 8-15. In addition, a Sephardic Music Festival compilation album is scheduled for release on December 11, 2012.

Founded by American-Israeli producer Diwon, the Sephardic Music Festival is the first Jewish music festival to focus exclusively on Sephardic music and culture. It showcases artists from around the world including the latest Mizrahi, Yemenite, and Ladino musical talent. In addition to traditional Sephardic folk music, the festival offers a platform for performers whose music fuses traditional Sephardic rhythms, melodies, and motifs with modern musical styles.

The Sephardic Music Festival’s second compilation album is set for release on December 11. Selections range from traditional Sephardic folk songs to hip hop, electro, and dance music. Album tracks incorporate Jewish liturgical and ceremonial texts, Sabbath songs, and classic love poems, as well as original compositions inspired by traditional themes.

Cheb i Sabbah, among the most talented world-music producers, kicks off the compilation with "Im Ninalou" (If the Doors are Locked), a traditional Yemenite song made famous by the late-great Ofra Chaza.

Israeli club kids Axum blow up the compilation with their energetic "Knowa." Dunkelbunt gives a remix to Marseille-based Watcha Clan, which mixes Balkan brass and Sephardic folk with Gnawa trance and and hip-hop.

DeLeon uses their own distinctive style of rock to transform ancient Sephardic folk music into a sound that is both brand new and centuries old. On Ansi Dize La Novia, DeLeon borrows Manu Chao-esque grooves to convey an ancient tale of a bride being described to a groom. Each of her features is more beautiful than the last just as each of this song's verses is funkier than that which preceded it.

Jerusalem native Mor Karbasi chills out the compilation with her beautiful song titled "Arvoles." The listener can't help but feel that they are floating on a carpet being whisked away as Karbasi sings gently to the accompanying piano.

Tel Aviv's Cohen@Mushon highlights the 90's golden era hip hop sound. Diwon includes a couple of his own tracks including a Middle Eastern instrumental single and a "Maoz Tzur" holiday-inspired song with an LMFAO feel. The latter track features ex-Hasidic, gay rapper Y-Love and Ladino songstress Sarah Aroeste.

Like the Sephardic Music Festival itself, the compilation album highlights the remarkable diversity that exists within the Jewish community. While other Jewish music festivals focus mostly on Ashkenazi tunes, themes, and beats, the Sephardic Music Festival offers a fascinating exploration of Sephardic music and culture from around the world.


Mor Karbasi - "Arvoles"

از وقتی به خودم آمدم دیدم شاعرم و از آن وقت تا به حال از تنم در حال رفتنم ... 
شعرهایی من را گفته اند و کتاب هایی پشت سرم مثل دهان سکوت به نام گم نام من باز بسته می شوند...

http://sephardicfest.com

SEPHARDIC MUSIC FESTIVAL HAS BEEN FEATURED IN; 
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The Sephardic Music Festival showcases the remarkable diversity that exists within the Jewish community. Its tapestry of harmonies, rhythms, and cultural motifs are as rich, vibrant, and diverse as the Jewish world itself. Popular perceptions of Jews and Jewish culture are dominated by Ashkenazi images and symbols like bagels, gefilte fish, klezmer, and Yiddish. This is the first music festival to focus exclusively on the less familiar but captivating culture of the Jewish communities of Spain/Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

The festival showcases artists from all over the world, representing cultural traditions from Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) to Mizrahi (Middle Eastern/North African) to Yemenite (Judeo-Arabic). In addition to traditional liturgical music, Shabbat songs, Sephardic folk tunes, and classic love poems (Romanceros), the festival also presents artists who fuse traditional rhythms, melodies, and themes with modern styles such as electro, hip hop, and dance music. The Sephardic Scholar Series, an important part of the Festival, brings performers, ethnomusicologists, and experts together to illuminate the historical and sociological roots of Sephardic music and culture.

فهي حين تغني كل صباح يتوقف الزمن ويُستبدل بالصوت، فتصير الدقائق كلمات، والثواني ألحان، وينسى المرء الوقت وما يعنيه، ويتولد الإحساس الذي ما عرفه الإنسان يوماً، إحساس أن الحياة كلها مجرد نغمة صباحية لا تعرف النعاس..