BALADINO
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | INDIE
Music
Press
"I was immediately enthralled with their sound... Their music was lively, engaging, enthralling and mystical – and I could have listened to it all night long"
"While I couldn’t understand many of the words song by the group’s lead singer, Yael Badash, I could feel the meaning of each one in its rhythm and harmony"
Yonnie Dror of BALADINO creating magical sounds using a white PVC pipe... As the group went into each new song, it was hard not to note each of the new instruments many of the group's members would pick up and play. That in and of itself was amazing, mesmerizing and enthralling. You didn’t know what sound you'd hear next. In some cases, it was hard to believe such an ancient, mystical sound could come from an upright string bass, a windchime, a large drum, a violin, a shofar - and, yes, even a PVC pipe" - Aimee Thompson, ChicagoNow.com
"Dos Amantes by the Mediterranean folk band BALADINO is a spectacular album, with superb musical and soulfulness. BALADINO Members bring fresh interpretation to ancient traditional songs"
"An exciting project that connects, uncompromisingly, musicians from the new generation into deep and rich cultural source...Yael Badash impresses in her fresh, ripe voice, stays authentic and captures the ear" - Guy Tene, Galatz
"BALADINO in an excellent Israeli world music ensemble for export"
"The band members took the freedom to take the Ladino music and create a magnificent production... Their music crosses the boundaries of the Middle East and in fact, it crosses all political and cultural borders... The excellent singer is Yael Badash, with an impressive range" - Yosi Hersonski, yosmusic.com
Discography
"Dos Amantes" (2013)
Photos
Bio
With its members hailing from Berlin and Tel Aviv, Baladino is a Mediterranean folk band that offers fresh, yet deeply authentic interpretations of Saphardic and Ladino melodies and brings this tradition back into full, fresh dialogue with its trans-Mediterranean past, using extended technique, subtle electronics and improvisation to dust off the predominant heavy-handed approach to Ladino music. With stunning vocals, unexpected instruments, and a pitch-perfect sense of arrangement, the Israeli group melds everything from Egyptian darbuka to Armenian duduk, from Ladino classics to rarely heard tunes, into a sonically vibrant, organic whole. During Baladino’s live performances, songs often form a jumping-off point for instrumental improvisations driven by Mediterranean-Gypsy grooves, yet embracing rock and electronic influences.
Baladino was conceived by multi-wind instrumentalist Yonnie Dror and string player and producer Thomas Moked. After years of working intensely with Israel’s most respected performers, the two band members were in search of a different musical vocabulary, and spent most of their meetings developing concepts and ideas about how to combine tradition and creativity. Enhancing the band’s musical identity is the singer Yael Badash who brought with her an important collection of Ladino songs belonging to her ancestors. Both Daniel Sapir, a five string double bass artist, and Yshai Afterman, world percussionist and educator, produce the unique musical beat of Baladino, combining rhythms from Turkey, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt and the Mediterranean. Together they released the album “Dos Amantes” (2013) and recently performed super successful tours in North America.
Instrumentation:
Yael Badash - Lead Vocal
Thomas Moked - Violin, Guitar, Bouzouki, Oud, Mandoline
Jonathan (Yonnie) Dror - Soprano Sax, Clarinet, Alto Flute, Ney, Duduk, Didgridoo, Fujara, Shofar
Daniel Sapir - Upright Bass
Yshai Afterman - Cajon, Darbuka, Riqq, Bendir, Persian Daff, Tar, Dahol, Kastanyet, Cymbals, Bells
The name Baladino is a combination of two words which represent central themes in the ensembles vision. The first word, Baladi means land in Arabic. The music played by Baladino comes from their homeland - Israel - a country comprised of Diaspora Jews who migrated from different parts of the world.
The second word, Ladino originated in Spain, and refers to both the language and the culture of Sephardic Jews who lived in Spain up until their expulsion at the 15th century and then spread throughout the former Ottoman lands, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Morocco.
Band Members
Links
