Yasmin Levy

Yasmin Levy
Yasmin Levy in 2008
Background information
Born (1975-12-23) December 23, 1975
Jerusalem
Origin Jerusalem, Israel
Genres Sephardic music, world, flamenco
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2000–present
Labels Adama
Website yasminlevy.net

Yasmin Levy (Hebrew: יסמין לוי‎; born December 23, 1975 in Jerusalem) is an Israeli-Spanish singer-songwriter of Judeo-Spanish music.

Biography

Levy is of Sephardic descent. Her late father, Yitzhak Isaac Levy (1919–1977),[1] was a composer and hazzan (cantor), as well as a pioneer researcher into the long and rich history of the Ladino music and culture of Spanish Jewry and its diaspora, being the editor of the Ladino language magazine Aki Yerushalayim.

Career

With her distinctive and emotive style, Levy has brought a new interpretation to the medieval Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) song by incorporating more "modern" sounds of Andalusian flamenco and Persian,[2] as well as combining instruments like the darbuka, oud, violin, cello, and piano.

Her debut album was Romance & Yasmin in 2000, which earned her a nomination as "Best Newcomer" for the fRoots / BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards 2005, followed in 2005 with her second album La Juderia (Spanish: The Jewish Quarter). In 2006, she was nominated again, then in the category "Culture Crossing".[3]

On her second album, La Judería, she also covered the popular songs "Gracias a la Vida" by Violeta Parra and "Nací en Alamó" from the film Vengo, directed by Tony Gatlif, which in its original version won the 2001 César Award for Best Music Written for a Film (itself being a cover[4] of "The Song of the Gypsies" (Greek: "Το Τραγούδι των Γύφτων"), written by Greek songwriter Dionysis Tsaknis in 1990).

Levy's work earned her the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation Award for promoting cross-cultural dialogue between musicians from three cultures.[5] In her own words:

I am proud to combine the two cultures of Ladino and flamenco, while mixing in Middle Eastern influences. I am embarking on a 500-year-old musical journey, taking Ladino to Andalusia and mixing it with flamenco, the style that still bears the musical memories of the old Moorish and Jewish-Spanish world with the sound of the Arab world. In a way it is a ‘musical reconciliation’ of history.[6]

Levy is a goodwill ambassador for the charity Children of Peace.

Discography

Yasmin Levy in concert in Warsaw, September 2008 (Mano Suave World Tour)

Full albums

  • 2004: Romance & Yasmin
  • 2005: La Judería
  • 2006: Live at the Tower of David, Jerusalem
  • 2007: Mano Suave
  • 2009: Sentir
  • 2012: Libertad (release date: October 2012)[7]
  • 2014: Tango (release date: October 2014)
  • 2017: "Rak Od Layla Echad"

Singles for movie soundtracks

Collaborations

  • 2008: Tzur Mishelo Achalnu, for Avoda Ivrit 2, featuring Shlomo Bar.
  • 2010: Tzur Mishelo Achalnu, for Kol HaNeshama, featuring Shlomo Bar.
  • 2012: Yigdal, for Yehuda Halevi Pinat Ibn Gabirol - The Collection

References

  1. ↑ "Music & Vision"
  2. ↑ "Yasmin Levy: Passion from exile". London: The Independent. 2005-07-15. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  3. ↑ "BBC - Radio 3 - Awards for World Music 2006 - Yasmin Levy". BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  4. ↑ "Vengo (2000) - Soundtracks". IMDB. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  5. ↑ "2008 Event Media Release - Yasmin Levy". Sydney Opera House. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  6. ↑ "BBC - Awards for World Music 2007 - Yasmin Levy". BBC. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  7. ↑ Yasmin Levy Presenting songs from her new album, Libertad + Tanja Tzarovska: Hidden Songs of Macedonia
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