Ven Canaryo

[Carol Freeman <tsipra...>]

Hi Joel -

Thanks so much for the text. Yes, the recording I have is the one my Jack
Mayesh. I've actually had a copy of it since 1978 and have been singing the
song in Greek since about the same time, but I don't know enough Ladino
language to have transcribed the words myself and I wasn't happy with the
Ladino text transcriptions I had been given - as I'm sure you know, not every
fluent speaker of a language is able to do an accurate text transcription - it
takes a sensitivity to the nuances of the particular musical genre to really
do a good job.

Because this song was so widely known, scores of older folks (mostly Orthodox
Greeks, but some Jews as well) have sung it for me, each with their own little
twist on the words. I haven't recorded all of these singers, but I think that
I do have some of these versions on tape, as well as the professional
recordings done on old 78s, if you're interested. (Of course, a lot of my
field recordings have yet to be properly archived, but that's another
story.....)

Thanks again!
Best,
Carol



---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+