Ladino Music in Pop Culture, 1975 - Present

While the Ladino language is on the verge of extinction, as classified by UNESCO, Ladino music has become more present in pop music and other genres where it hasn’t been found before. 

Yasmin Levy (1975, Israel - Present), in particular, is an Israeli singer-songwriter who has dedicated her career to spreading the music that her father spent his entire life collecting. She describes how over the past 500 years, the melodies and songs of the Sephardic people have been passed down orally: mothers singing to their daughters at home, and fathers singing to their sons in the synagogue. Her father, like many other Ladino music enthusiasts, understood that these songs would need to be written down before these people passed and took the music with them. Throughout his life, he published 14 books of those songs. Yasmin Levy, then, has taken it upon herself to share with the world the works her father had collected. 

In order to keep a sense of modernity to these traditional songs, Levy has combined different styles of music and languages, encompassing a wide audience. Her music has influences of flamenco, tango, Portuguese fado, and turkish ornamental instruments. 

One song in particular, featured on The hidden gate Jewish music around the world, a CD in the library collection which is shown above, features her cover of "Esta Montanya d’Efrente," a Ladino song originating from the late 19th century following the classic ladino ballad theme of love, in this case lost love.