La Serena by Aviva Chernick
I share these songs with you like jewels collected on travels, gifted to me along with stories, or stumbled upon by chance and left for me to decipher. This collection is primarily of tunes from the Jews of Spain and the Balkans, traditional and original melodies with rich poetry in Judeo-Spanish (also known as Ladino). La Serena is a female being whose voice, according to Greek mythology, lures sailors to their death. This notion of the female voice as a means to destruction runs counter to my experience of this music, the cultural legacy from which it comes and, most importantly, of my own voice. How liberating it is to discover that the female voice can be many things: ferocious and wild, sensual and seductive, filled with grief, rage and joy, all with great potency and without destruction for anyone, most importantly the one letting the sound pour forth.
Tracklist
| 1. | A ti Espanya | 4:16 |
| 2. | Min Hameitzar | 4:50 |
| 3. | Kol Dodi | 4:07 |
| 4. | Buena Semana | 3:42 |
| 5. | La Serena | 3:45 |
| 6. | Arvoles Yoran | 4:55 |
| 7. | Esta Montanya De Enfrente | 4:31 |
| 8. | Laz Tiyas | 2:41 |
| 9. | Adon Olam | 4:12 |
| 10. | Rikordus Di Mi Nona | 1:42 |
Credits
ALL SONGS ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY
AVIVA CHERNICK, JUSTIN GRAY AND JOEL SCHWARTZ
Aviva Chernick: All Lead Vocals
Justin Gray: Bass, Bass Veena —
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
Joel Schwartz: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar,
Resonator Guitar, Mandolin, Piano, Electric
Piano — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Lyle Molzan: Drums, Shakers —
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Derek Gray: Drums, Shakers, Djembe,
Percussion — 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
Naghmeh Farahmand: Udu, Tombak, Frame
Drum — 2, 3, 9,
Ernie Tollar: Duduk, Ney — 3, 9
Maryem Tollar: Vocals — 8
Aaron Lightstone: Oud — 2
Recorded at The Canterbury Music Company
by Jeremy Darby and Julian Decorte.
Additional recording by Justin Gray at Synthesis
Productions and by Joel Schwartz at his studio.
A ti Espanya, Buena Semana, Laz Tiyas and
Rikordus di mi Nona are used with permission
from Flory Jagoda.
Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) consultant:
Dr. David Navarro, Texas State University
Photo of Flory and Aviva by Pat Jarrett,
Virginia Humanities
All other photos by Paul Wright
Graphic Design: Carlos Gouveia /
cgmultimedia.ca
The dress that Aviva is wearing was created
by Sara Ferdman Tauben in 1971 as a graduate
in Fashion Design from Shenkar College for
Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Aviva acknowledges the generous gift of this
dress and its impact on the project design.
License
All rights reserved.
Aviva Chernick is an award-winning singer, singing in Hebrew, Ladino and English. Aviva brings her soulful, soaring vocals to the exquisite Balkan Judeo-Spanish repertoire in her newest release, La Serena. The music is both lush and intimate and while honouring the roots of an established tradition of song, beautifully fresh sounding.