NEW!
Judith and Tamar's new cd,
Sefarad en Diáspora /
Sepharad   in Diaspora
has just appeared.


Judith and Tamar's Recordings

Judith and daughter Tamar

You will need the latest version of RealPlayer to listen to these selections.  After you have downloaded the RealPlayer installation file, double click on it to install it on your computer.  Unfortunately the installation file is rather large and could take 15-20 minutes to download over a slow internet connection.  Please be patient. Following the successful installation of the player on your system, you can then click on any of the highlighted titles below to listen to the music.  It may take a minute or two before the audio downloads and begins to play, particularly if you are connected over a slow link.

Sefarad en Diáspora / Sepharad in Diaspora
has just appeared.

This is a different sort of CD from other ones we’ve recorded: it focuses on the Sephardic diaspora, and the links that songs both create and reveal among different cultures and times,  and how these songs both maintain their identity and change as they travel, along with their singers, from place to place.
Find out more



 

Istemem Babacigim/ No quero, madre (mp3 format)
Sephardim  in early 20th century Istanbul combined a Spanish  popular song with an urban Turkish Rom ("Gypsy")song to create a Judeo-Spanish dialogue  between mother and daughter, about the latter's choices for a husband


Judith R. Cohen and Tamar  Ilana Cohen Adams,
"Songs of Sepharad: Empezar quiero contar...I'd like to begin to tell"
Pneuma PN270, 2000.
with Eduardo Paniagua (Producer, qanun, flutes; Wafir Sheikh (oud, viola), David Mayoral (percussion);
Judith Cohen (vocals, bowed vielle, frame drums; Tamar Adams: vocals, frame drum)

 

  •   żAdonde  váis Seńor Yitzkhak?       (Pilgrimage/hilulá song);  Moroccan Judeo-Spanish.   A song  for the Moroccan Sephardic hilulá to the tombs of venerated rabbis of various cities.  From the singing of Alicia  Benassayag, Tetuán/Ashqelon.     
  • La envenenadora       (Romance) Moroccan Judeo-Spanish   A rarely-heard  narrative  ballad, romance, about the young woman who poisons her lover,  then offers  him remedies to which he responds with with rather under-stated  irony. From  the singing of Hanna Pimienta, Tangier/Montreal.
  • A Padeirinha     Beira Baixa, Portugal. The baker's girl  and her beautiful  eyes, "beat, baker's girl, on my heart, which is like a hard stone, or the  ripe orange fallen to the ground". Learned from a number of our favourite  people in Beira Baixa villages.
  • Empezar  quiero contar        (Coplas de Purím) Moroccan Judeo-Spanish, and  the title song of the  2000 CD: "I'd like to begin to tell...". Moroccan  Sephardic version of the  story of Purím, the events narrated  in the Book of Ester. From the  singing of Solly Lévy, Tangier/Montreal/Toronto  
  • Alabar Quero al Dio     (Coplas de Purím) Judeo-Spanish  version from Salonica, of the Purím story. From the singing of Buena  Sarfatty Garfinkle, Salonica/Montreal.

 

  This CD recording may be found  at:

JMS CLASSICAL IMPORTS

Jon Stringer - Proprietor

The Musical Offering-Classical Record Shop & Café


Judith R. Cohen and  Tamar Ilana Cohen Adams:
Dans mon chemin, j'ai rencontré"   (On my way I met..)
Chansons Traditionnelles d'ici et de lŕ-bas
Radio/Canada/Interdisc: Maurice Blouin  Prize 1999

Judith and Tamar: vocals;  Rob Simms: oud, percussion, setar,  flutes;
Judith: bowed vielle, oud, percussion, recorder

( nb : Tamar Ilana was 8 when we recorded these  - now,  at 15, her voice is  really different.)

  • Non  Sofre Santa Maria: Cantiga 159, Alfonso X  King Alfonso X "The Learned" (13th century) composed and commissioned   a  celebrated   manuscript of Galician-Portuguese songs about Marian   miracles:  here, the faithful pilgrims' stolen portion of meat calls out to them  from where   it's been hidden in the inn's attic. Jewish,   Muslim and  Christian musicians   were all part of Alfonso's court;  the Learned King was also prolific in contributing to the distinctly  more scurrilous  cantigas d'escarnio e maldizer tradition.
  • Germaine Acadian (Maritime French Canada)  version of the "Husband's Return"  or  "Broken  Token"   ballad, which I've  arranged on the CD as a suite of  several  versions:  16th-century   France,Moroccan  Judeo-Spanish, Turkish  Judeo-Spanish,  Acadian,  Italian and English.

You may find this CD at:

Interdisc Distribution / Disques Transit

 

 

Judith Cohen
"Dized', ay! Trobadores" (Say Oh Troubadores! )
Monofonias Medievales
All Medieval music, with a
few survivals in French Canada, France, Galicia; with Tamar Ilana and the

          Ad-hoc Saga Chorus on refrains    ; Madrid,  Saga,1994.

TECNOSAGA, S.A

 

  • Mia Yrmana Fremosa    Cantiga de Amigo #3 by the troubadour Martin Codax .  A13th century Galician-Portuguese lyric in the voice of a young girl, waiting for her lover by the sea of  Vigo.