When I was a little girl my grandma taught me Ladino in hiding, because my father forbade us from speaking the language at home. It was our special connection, our secret language. We sang songs, told stories, and baked baklava. She always had something sweet prepared, to chase away stray or sad thoughts.

She passed away when I was 12 and I forgot about Ladino. I went on to play classical music and jazz and back in 2015 I was invited to play a concert in Morocco. I went to visit my grandma’s home town and there on the street I heard people singing a familiar melody she sang to me when I was 4 years old.

At that moment the world stopped. I knew I had to go back to my roots and rediscover Ladino. It took me years to study the language and sing a lot of traditional songs. But finally now I’m ready to share with you my 1st original album of songs in Ladino I wrote and composed myself!

I call it Ke Haber (“What’s New” in Ladino). 

It has songs about mother-daughter fights, superstitious rituals, fairies, and even queer rabbis and 13th century transgender transformations. It’s full of the life that I had, and that my grandma used to have. I will never forget the way she was so alive and could inspire anyone she met with her happiness.

If you’re Sephardic like me, I hope you cherish this album of original Ladino songs. And if you’re not Sephardic, I hope you enjoy the album as it is. It reminds me the sounds of the marketplace, and my grandma’s kitchen. I hope you can smell it too wherever you are.