"Ladino" primer

[Judith Cohen <judithrc...>]

Hi, your message is a little confusing. DO you want to learn aout the 
language, which is what the subject "Ladino primer" seems to suggest? Learn 
a few songs? Seriously learn something about the tradition? On the 
quick-and-easy level, you have my mini-bibliography/discography which Ari's 
posted, and a longer version in Jewish Folklore & Ethnology Review, to be 
updated soon. That will tell you the documentary recordings which are 
commercially (or semi-commercially) available. Personally, I don't recommend 
just learning a few songs and adding them, but doing as at least I would do 
with any unfamiliar repertoire - spending serious time studying it, 
listening, reading, learning at least something of the language and if 
possible working directly with people from the tradition before even 
thinking about performing any of its songs.
In any case, "Ladino" itself is a problematic term. Technically, it refers 
only to the literal translation from Hebrew: the time-honoured example is 
"la noche la esta" from "ha-laila ha-zeh", used in the Haggadah, instead of 
the spoken "esta noche" (c.f. "the night the this"). Every community has its 
own designations for the spoken language: in Morocco it's haketia (really 
khaketia, with the initial guttural as in Khanuka - has anyone seen the 
great Khaiku posting by the way?) In the ex-Ottoman areas it was spaniol, or 
spaniol muestro ("our Spanish"), or djidio (literally, "Jewish", like 
Yiddish) or djudezmo (same idea).Only relatively recently has "ladino" come 
to be used for every variety of the language. Judeo-Spanish does cover it 
all.
Similarly, there is no ONE version of the language, no standard. People who 
teach it, mostly in Israel and France, tend to ignore haketia or pass over 
it very superficially and concentrate on, often, Salonica Judeo-Spanish.
There is also no one singing style. It depends on the area, the host 
culture, the type of song (ballads - romances - are not sung like wedding 
songs, for example), etc.
And there is no one acceptable accompaniment. Unfortunately for ensembles, 
it's largely, traditionally, an a capella repertoire, at least the older 
genres - romances especially - and wedding songs traditionally just used 
percussion, often played by women, Middle Eastern/North African style. The 
more modern songs, roughly the past century-and-a-bit , respond better to 
ensemble instrumentation, and that's what most people have heard on 
recordings.
In the ex-Ottoman areas the older genres, again especially romances, are 
often sung in MAQAM, the Middle Eastern modal system which includes 
microtones which one can learn to play on, say, violin, or to sing, but are 
not on keyboard or fretted instruments.
But the best thing is to listen, and listen, and listen....
unless, of course, one just wants to learn a few of the easy songs (in my 
view, not the gems of the repertoire) and say one's added some Ladino stuff 
to the group's repertoire....
cheers, Judith

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