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My Story
In 2016 I embarked on an unexpected journey following a song I rediscovered on the streets of Morocco. After a sold-out performance at the Tangier Jazz Festival I visited my grandma’s hometown. She spoke Ladino but my father forbade us to speak to each other in any other language but Hebrew. Instead, she sang some songs in the kitchen, in this mysterious language no one else could understand. I still remember being 4 years old, peeling beans with her, listening to the fascinating rhythms and hope that one day I’ll be able to sing them myself, as well as she did.
Then in 2018 the Amsterdam Roots Festival commissioned me to write a new program about Ladino heritage, I embraced it happily! For 6 months I was devouring old texts, had conversations with teachers and rabbis and wrote 90 minutes of new music! This brought a new album to life Ke Haber (What’s New) released in 2022, this time comprising of original songs I composed In Ladino.
Some of them were music I composed to an existing text, and sometimes I rearranged traditional texts to include millennial themes and wrote new music to them. And the most precious of all, to some songs I wrote the lyrics and composed the music. Una Segunda Piel (A Second Skin) was the 1st on that series, and I was so excited to reconnect to my grandma’s language!
Then in 2024 that same song won the Eurovision for Minority Language LIET International. On the day of the finals my father passed away, and it was an extremely bittersweet performance. The song miraculously was about the transition of the soul into the afterlife. So it felt like a true closure. I dedicated my Ladino song to my father who forbade the language at home. And at the same time, I felt like he was there with me. I feel lucky I was able to experience that moment.
Thank you for being there and listening to my music. Please consider to join my Music Family so I can continue to create music and share it with you. Love, Nani
Then 20 years later, hearing the same melody sung on the narrow streets of downtown Fez felt like a destined moment. As if I was meant to disconnect from my roots and rediscover them, when I was ready. A traditional Ladino melody was sung in Arabic, through the throats of a few hundred people on the square in front of a blue gate and brought me back to my grandmother’s kitchen.
That song has reawakened my love for Ladino language and song and I started studying it and released an album of traditional Ladino songs Andalusian Brew. The language of the Sephardic Jews from the Iberian peninsula.
Short Bio
With a ship’s-horn power voice & irresistible stage presence, Eurovision winner Nani Vazana breathes life into the endangered Ladino Language. Nani’s heard Ladino from her Moroccan grandmother in hiding, as her father forbade the language at home. Her songwriting fuses Sephardic fairytales with contemporary storytelling and the sounds of the marketplace with Flamenco drama. Vazana’s new album Ke Haber was documented for the Library of Congress, ranked #11 on the International World Music Chart and #13 on World Music Chart Europe 2022.
Bio
Nani Vazana is a millennial Ladino songwriter, she won the Eurovision for minority languages 2024 representing the Netherlands with her original song Una Segunda Piel (A Second Skin).
Described by BBC Radio 3 as a voice that “transports you from ancient markets to modern jazz clubs in one breath”, Vazana’s music breathes new life into Ladino, the nearly lost language of Sephardic Jews, through flamenco-inspired vocals and contemporary storytelling.
Nani captures the spirit of the ancient, matriarchal language & propels it into the future with socially pertinent lyrics celebrating migration, gender & female empowerment. The soundscape captures the sounds & smells of the marketplace and fuses them with soft choral trombone & heartfelt piano.
Vazana’s music was documented for the Library of Congress USA and her album Ke Haber (What’s New) ranked #11 World Music Charts and #13 Music Charts Europe. She performed at the Montana Folk Festival USA, Richmond Folk Festival USA, Jazz in the Park fest RO and the Jodhpur RIFF festival IN, Kennedy Center USA, London Jazz Festival UK and TEDx Amsterdam.
Milestones:
- Winner – Eurovision for Minority Languages 2024
- Library of Congress documentation 2023
- PAIS Album Promotion Grant, IL 2021
- SENA Music Production Grant, NL 2020
- Arts Council England Premiere Grant, UK 2019
- Sephardic Music Award, ES 2017