Yasmin Levy

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With the release of Yasmin Levys fifth studio album Libertad (Freedom), she states with passion: I started as a Ladino singer, before this music was known around the world. No one would listen to Ladino songs but somehow we managed to help breathe new life into them and today it has become well recognised. But Im more than a Ladino singer. I see myself as a World Music singer, singing in modern Spanish as well as Ladino, and bringing the flavours I love. After 8 years talking about Ladino music and the Jews of Spain, part of my personal Libertad is about being able to sing Ladino songs because I love them; not because Im expected to sing them. I sing Flamenco, Turkish music, Ladino, Persian music and mix them all together.
Libertad represents the beginning of a new phase in Yasmin Levys life, as well as in her musical career. Part of this is a newfound sense of freedom that comes both with and from the birth of her baby boy just over a year ago. This inspired Yasmin to focus even more on her own song-writing; she has contributed five of Libertads twelve songs. It also helped her try a new musical fusion bringing together flavours of Flamenco with the unique emotion of Turkish strings and providing a fresh musical backdrop to Yasmins songs. This new freedom of spirit has encouraged Yasmin to take on the challenge of recording songs she never dared approach before, including the great Persian classic Soghati, renamed Recuerdo here, as well as the hugely popular Turkish song Firuze, famously performed by Sezen Aksu. This new spirit also helped Yasmin to collaborate on a magical duet of her own composition Olvidate. And finally, the album also contains three stunning Ladino classics.
Yasmin grew up in Jerusalem, which she describes as a true melting pot of peoples and cultures, listening to Turkish versions of Moroccan music, classical, chanson, jazz, Jewish and Muslim music, and church music. Her taste in singers gives some idea of the importance of passion in Yasmins music: Pavarotti, Billie Holiday, Julio Iglesias, Piaf, Turkish and Greek music big, dramatic voices. As Yasmin says: I like sad songs. My mum, Kochava, has had a hard life. I picked up sadness from her although I am a happy person but I create through sadness. Im lucky that I have music so I can express this sadness.
Its important to note that Yasmins father, Yitzhak Levy, was born in Turkey in 1919 and worked as both a composer and cantor. After the creation of the State of Israel, he was appointed head of the Ladino department at Israel's national radio station. His life's work was devoted to the collection and preservation of the songs of Sephardic Jews: these Ladino songs had been passed down orally from generation to generation over a period of 500 years. During his lifetime he published 4 books containing Sephardic romances and another 10 volumes of liturgical songs. He also recorded many of these same songs for the national radio.
One of Libertads most challenging songs is Yasmins recording of the Farsi/Persian classic Soghati (Recuerdo), which was both technically and emotionally difficult to achieve. Yasmin first heard the song when she was 8 years old on her mothers cassette player. After losing the tape, Yasmin spent the next 25 years searching for the song until she finally happened upon it, courtesy of an Iranian who drove her regularly to the studio where she was recording her 3rd disc, Mano Suave. Following that re-discovery, Yasmin spent another year seeking out the original lyrics, which were finally provided by a Voice of America Persian Service presenter who interviewed Yasmin in Washington DC and who eventually translated those lyrics for Yasmin.
Another special recording on this album was the collaboration with Spains Conche Buika who Yasmin first met several years ago and represents a continuing love on Yasmins part to collaborate with musicians who she has long admired. In recent years Yasmin has collaborated with artists including Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Enrico Macias, Yiannis Kotsiras, Eleni Vitaly, Natacha Atlas, Montse Kortes, Kubat, Ibrahim Tetlises and Maria Toledo. A chance meeting in Poland sparked something between two of world musics more powerful voices and within a week they had recorded Yasmins composition Olvidate de Mi. As Yasmin says: Buika arrived like a gift from heaven after all the work I had put into this album. The song was written for my cancer-stricken Aunt and when I explained the history to Buika she said: I want your Aunt to be able to look down and hear our two voices so shell know shes being loved.
The production for Libertad was very different to Yasmins last album. After working on all the arrangements with her guitar player and long-time collaborator Yechiel Hasson, Yasmin turned to renowned producer Ben Mandelson who gave her the confidence to move forward with her n