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

Biography

Yasmin Levy was born on December 23, 1975, in

Baka, Jerusalem Baka ( ar, بقعه, lit. "Valley"; he, בַּקְעָה) is a neighborhood in southern Jerusalem. The official name is Geulim, which is mainly used on road signs. Geography The neighborhood is somewhat trapezoidal, sandwiched between Derech He ...

. She is of Sephardic Jewish descent. Her parents were

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Her father, Yitzhak Isaac Levy (1919–1977), was a composer and hazzan (cantor), as well as a pioneer researcher into the history of the Ladino music and culture of Spanish Jewry and its diaspora, being the editor of the Ladino language magazine ''Aki Yerushalayim''. He died when Levy was just one year old, but she names him as one of her greatest musical influences.

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 Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

and traditional Turkish music as well as combining instruments like the

darbuka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-s ...

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

, violin, cello, and piano. Her debut album was ''Romance & Yasmin'', which was followed by her second album ''La Judería'' ( es, link=no, The Jewish Quarter). On her second album, ''La Judería'', she also covered the popular songs "

Gracias a la Vida "Gracias a la vida" (Spanish for "''Thanks to life''") is a song written, composed and performed by Chilean Violeta Parra, one of the artists who was part of the movement and musical genre known as the Nueva Canción Chilena. Parra composed "Gra ...

" by

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal an ...

and "Nací en Álamo" from the film '' Vengo'', directed by

Tony Gatlif Tony Gatlif (born as Michel Dahmani on 10 September 1948 in Algiers) is a French film director of Romani ethnicity who also works as a screenwriter, composer, actor, and producer. Personal Gatlif was born in Algeria of Pied noir ancestry. A ...

, which in its original version won the 2001

César Award for Best Music Written for a Film Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

(itself being a cover of "The Song of the Gypsies" ( el, "Το Τραγούδι των Γύφτων"), written by Greek songwriter Dionysis Tsaknis in 1990).. In her own words in 2007:

Other roles

Levy is a

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

for the charity

Children of Peace Children of Peace is a United Kingdom, British-based, non-partisan Charitable organization, charity that focuses upon building friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian people, Palestinian children, aged 4–17, reg ...

Accolades

In 2006, Levy was nominated in the "Culture Crossing" category for the

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occa ...

/ BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. In 2008 Levy's work earned her the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation Award for promoting cross-cultural dialogue between musicians from three cultures. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' named ''Sentir'' as one of the Top 100 albums of 2009, and placed it in their Top 10 World Music releases of the year.

Discography

Full albums

* 2004: ''Romance & Yasmin'' * 2005: ''La Judería'' * 2006: ''Live at the Tower of David, Jerusalem'' * 2007: ''Mano Suave'' * 2009: ''Sentir'' * 2012: ''Libertad'' * 2014: ''Tango'' * 2017: "Rak Od Layla Echad" ('Just one more night') * 2021: ''Voice & Piano''

Singles for movie soundtracks

* 2011: "Jaco", for My Sweet Canary (featuring the

player Tomer Katz) * 2011: "Una Pastora", for My Sweet Canary (featuring the qanun player Mumin Sesler)

Collaborations

* 2008: ''Tzur Mishelo Achalnu'', for Avoda Ivrit 2, featuring

Shlomo Bar Shlomo Bar (1943- ) is an Israeli musician, composer, and social activist. He is a pioneer of ethnic music in Israel. Biography Shlomo Bar was born in Rabat, Morocco. His family immigrated to Israel when he was six. He learned how to play t ...

* 2010: ''Tzur Mishelo Achalnu'', for Kol HaNeshama, featuring Shlomo Bar * 2012: ''Yigdal'', for Yehuda Halevi Pinat Ibn Gabirol - The Collection