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Yoel Ben-Simhon & Sultana Ensemble
Yoel Ben-Simhon
Yoel Ben-Simhon & Sultana Ensemble
Genres: International Music, Jazz
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

As a child, composer/instrumentalist Yoel Ben-Simhon was immersed in the Moroccan-Jewish culture of his parents and grandparents, who emigrated to Israel in the late 1950s: "My grandmother Sultana was always my babysitter....  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Yoel Ben-Simhon
Title: Yoel Ben-Simhon & Sultana Ensemble
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sultana Music Records
Original Release Date: 2/1/2004
Re-Release Date: 1/1/2004
Genres: International Music, Jazz
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 678277070325

Synopsis

Album Description
As a child, composer/instrumentalist Yoel Ben-Simhon was immersed in the Moroccan-Jewish culture of his parents and grandparents, who emigrated to Israel in the late 1950s: "My grandmother Sultana was always my babysitter. At her house, I was exposed to my family's Moroccan and Arabic heritage. It was in the language they spoke, the tobacco my grandfather Mimon sniffed, the food they ate, and the music they picked up via short wave radio from Morocco. We went to a Moroccan synagogue, and I heard the music there, too; both liturgical hymns and secular songs." With the musicians and dancers of the Sultana Ensemble, Ben-Simhon blends the sights and sounds of his childhood in Israel with those of his adulthood, spent as a working musician in the United States. The resulting project is as personal in conception as it is global in scope, mixing elements of Moroccan, Andalusian, Sephardic, and Middle Eastern music and dance with Latin jazz.
 

CD Reviews

Meeting of worlds
Yael | New York, New York | 06/16/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"In days when East and West are approaching what seems to be an inevitable clash, Yoel Ben-Simhon's CD represents an amazing alternative of what our world could have looked like if tolerance and creation weren't underrated. Ben-Simhon and his affluent ensemble were able to intertwine Moroccan-influenced music, ancient prayers, and jazz, into a harmonic and sensitive composition. The result is intriguing and exciting, making each listening to the CD a new experience. Highly recommended!"
Highly recommended
matleson | Maine, United States | 05/03/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yoel Ben-Simhon conceived of this music and of the Sultana Ensemble as a way of preserving various Middle Eastern musical traditions, connecting those traditions to Western musical styles (e.g. jazz), and promoting a musical dialogue between Arabs and Jews. That is admirable enough, but he and his accomplished bandmates have also crafted a terrific album, full of energy and emotion, mystical power and beauty. Beyond easy categorization, very accessible, and highly recommended."