response 1 of 22:

Mar 14 19:23 UTC 2001

I guess it's about time I thawed this item and starting my blabbing about
music.

My latest musical obsession began earlier this Winter, when I heard two
different Early Music ensembles perform "Ladino Love Songs," or what is known
as Sephardic music. I was immediately drawn to the poetry of the lyrics, which
I could recognise as a dialect of Spanish. This contradiction of the language
with the music reminiscent of Arabic and Jewish music kept me fascinated and
eager to hear more. I've done several Internet searches, and finally bought
the boxed set entitled "The Sephardic Experience," produced by an Australian
group called The Renaissance Players. Next on my list is a 1999 release by
an Israeli named Etty Ben-Zaken called "Ladino Love Songs" (Ladino being the
language these Spanish Jews spoke before their expulsion, and still do today
in Morocco, Syria and other places.). I'd be interested in hearing other
suggestions.

response 3 of 22:

Mar 16 22:35 UTC 2001

It does if your target demographic is people who were in high school ten years
ago.

response 5 of 22:

Jun 3 04:32 UTC 2001

My current musical obsession seems to have shifted again since the last time
I posted here. I still listen to the odd Sephardic love song, and I did
finally obtain Etty Ben-Zaken's CD. I still like the mediaeval instrumentation
of which The Renaissance Player make use a little more than Ms. Ben-Zaken's
somewhat more contemporary arrangements, but her version of "La Novia
Destrenza El Pelo" ("The Bride unfastens her braids," which goes on to state,
"And the Knight faints") sings to the soul.

response 7 of 22:

Aug 5 21:04 UTC 2001

What a fun song. I don't remember hearing it much when it was first released,
only (I think) once at the Western Washington state fair. 1991 was the year
I was living in a dorm with a bunch of *old* hippies, and consequently, it's
also the year I "discovered" a lot of jam bands, and psychedelic rock. 

A few months ago I indulged in yet another Spanish music online purchasing
adventure. I think that might have been mentioned over the Celtic item, when
I bought the NACIONES CELTAS compilations. I just can't seem to get enough
of this Ibero-Celtic type of music now. These are groups like Milladoiro and
Llan de Cubel, from the regions of Galicia & Asturias in the Northwest of
Spain. On the 9-disc compilation, there are many groups that are seldom seen
in stores locally, like (to list some of the stand-outs for me): the amazing
female vocalist Uxia, and a group called Chouteira on which she sings and
plays tamborine, the asturian piper Xuacu Amieva (who played on The
Chieftains' SANTIAGO CD), and also the incomparable voice of Marta Arbas, who
contributes vocals for Xuacu Amieva, the group Xareu Folk, and Ubin(~)a, among
others. So, there's a rich source of music that appeals to me, and I've
recently found a few dollars to spend, and have been trying to locate some
of the Spanish groups found on these compilations. I've found a fairly decent
selection at the online music department of the El Cortes Ingles website
< http://musica.elcorteingles.es > with prices that seem like a bargain,
until the shipping to North America is calculated at the very end. After
finalising, I ended up paying an average of $14.70 per CD, including shipping.
Many of the discs have short RealAudio samples of each song.