Kantikas de amor i vida
2005

So many of us who survived the Holocaust had one thing in common … our silence. But as we grew older, we began to feel the need to share our pain and memories with the world. Some of us wrote books, participated in photography exhibitions, and gave lectures; I poured my memories into songs. After World War II and having been blessed with coming to live in America I had the freedom to continue my musical tradition.

To my great joy, my songs and stories have touched the hearts of many talented musicians who want to support and join me in keeping this music alive and vibrant. Now, over 500 years after our ancestors were expelled from Spain, I have the pleasure of making this special recording of Ladino duets with Ramón Tasat. Although we grew up in different generations and in very different lands, we share the same intense feelings for our Sephardic ancestry and the desire to continue our musical heritage. Through his talented fingers and rich melodic voice, Ramón has woven his threads from Argentina into my own Sarajevo-style Sephardic tapestry, enriching the music and ensuring its survival.

Flory Jagoda

I first heard about Flory Jagoda in 1993. I was finishing a doctoral degree in Austin, Texas, and more than eager to embrace Sephardic music as a full-time passion. Somebody, one of those angels that one encounters in life, felt that I could profit from knowing Flory and gave me her phone number.

What followed was a very enthusiastic conversation between this artist--searching for those songs,those kantikas, full of “amor i vida”--and a remarkable lady who had lived fully and had already offered the world wonderful musical creations. Months later, I moved to Maryland. Ever since, Flory has embraced me in every possible way, guiding me and sustaining me even in dire times. But the idea of performing with such a remarkable interpreter of Sephardic music seemed simply beyond reach. Then, one day--more precisely, on Sunday, October 21, 2003--Flory, with her proverbial generosity, invited some friends to perform with her at University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Center. The concert was well received. Joan Reinthaler, a music critic for the Washington Post, wrote: “The performances were lovely, very much in the spirit of gentle and sympathetic collaboration that characterizes the best in folk tradition… Tasat's duets with Jagoda were most intimate, as he tempered his voice to balance exquisitely with hers…” and my dream came true. The dream continues, embodied in this CD.

Ramón Tasat

CREDITS

Flory Jagoda
Voice and Guitar

Ramón Tasat
Voice and Guitar

Steve Bloom
Percussion

Ladino Translators: Rachel Bortnick, Albert Garih
English Version: Betty Jagoda Murphy
Translation Editor: Cynthia Arnson
Executive Producer: Ramón Tasat
Recorded and Mixed by Gizmo Recording Company
Sound Engineer: Gantt Mann Kushner
Mastering: Wolf Productions Inc.
Graphic design: Estudio Lo Bianco
Typography/Duplication: Sound Recorders Inc., Austin, Texas