Non-Askenazi music cont....

[Yatzliakh Abrahami <Yatz...>]

To continue a thread started a few days ago;

I came across a Series yesterday which those who were following the original
thread may be interested in: Inedit, Maison des Cultures du Monde.

        Inedit
        101 BD Raspail
        75006 Paris
        France

Inedit essentually promotes Muslim/Arab music but releases a smattering of 
music from other cultures.  I bought two CD's form their (short) list of 
Jewish music, Hazanout: Chants Liturgiques Juifs and Chants Judeo-Espagnols 
(de la Mediterranee Orientale).


Hazanout: Chants Liturgiques Juifs (W 260005), 1988
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This CD contains ten tracks of Hazanut from five different Jewish traditions
Bukharian, Maroccan, Jerusalemite Sephardi (?), Ashkenazi and Iraqi. It also
has two tracks of Samaritan origin (who Muslims consider to be Jews). The
recordings are raw and unpolished but vibrant.  The sleeve notes (in French,
English and German) however leave a lot to be desired, being written by a
Muslim (Habib Hassan Touma) who is probably an "expert" on Jewish music, 
and they are full of errors.  For example he confuses Minhag and Nusach; he 
claims that the text of Synagogal prayer is not Jewish, but is taken from the 
Christians and Muslims; in explaining the Herem on the Samaritans he states 
"the conclusive breach between Jews and Samaritans [was] after Ezra had 
altered the Pentateuch in such a way that the population of the southern 
kingdom was no longer able to participate in public worship in Gerizim" and 
he also states that the Ashkenazim "came from Palestine in the 9th Century 
to settle in the Rhineland".  
        Anyway the music's great, but treat the sleeve notes with caution!


Chants Judeo-Espagnols (de la Mediterranee Orientale) W 260054, 1994
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52 minutes and 25 songs of solo Female vocal sung by Two sexagenarian ladies,
Bienvenida "Berta" Aguado from Turkey and Loretta "Dora" Gerasi from Bulgaria.
The songs, all in Ladino, are divided into five categories, Romances, Coplas and
Holiday songs, Wedding songs, Love and Humoresque songs and Song of Zion.  The 
sleeve notes (in French and English) are by Edwin Seroussi of Bar-Ilan 
University.
        - Strangely beautiful. - Why did my Nana have to be tone deaf?


Inedit also do a CD of Ethiopian Jewish Liturgical music which I have on
order, if people are interested I'll give it a review when it arrives.

Col tov.
-- 
Yatzliakh Abrahami
yatz (at) intxtdoc(dot)demon(dot)co(dot)uk