2011: A retrospective

There’s a lot of things I can say about 2011, but, in all honesty, there’s very little I want to leave to posterity. There was one thing I did want to write about, but to my later amazement I discovered I was dead wrong. For about 15 minutes, I truly believe I didn’t fall in love at all last year.

What was actually going on, is that  I was loathe to admit that the only time I feel in love last year was with a woman that I’ve never met with person, that I only know from listening obsessively to the same couple of music records I found on some dusty corner of my hard drive. Yes, dear readers, I’ve fell victim to the common teenage crush, and I wish I was kidding.

Her name is Yasmin Levy. Ethnically, she’s Ladino, Jewish of Spanish roots. Her music is both this heritage (of which her father is an eminent scholar and performer), as well as Flamenco and Middle Eastern influence. The music can be haunting, exhilarating, bone-chilling or passionate, and often all of these at the same time. But you can figure this this out for yourself.

From the mouth of this wonderful creature:

I am proud to combine the two cultures of Ladino and flamenco, while mixing in Middle Eastern influences. I am embarking on a 500 years old musical journey, taking Ladino to Andalusia and mixing it with flamenco, the style that still bears the musical memories of the old Moorish and Jewish-Spanish world with the sound of the Arab world. In a way it is a ‘musical reconciliation’ of history.

PS Does any one know a Ladino restaurant in Scotland, or another place they congregate?