Renowned Israeli singer Yasmin Levy has broken through as an international sensation in part because of her album Mano Suave, which is sung largely in the Sephardic language of Ladino. Levy, the daughter of well-known Turkish composer and cantor Yitzhak Levy, will make a stop in Seattle next month as a part of her first U.S. tour. She connected with JTNews via e-mail.
JTNews: Though you’ve studied music most of your life, was it your father’s Ladino music and cantorial recordings that inspired you to become a professional musician? What about your mother?
Levy: I was inspired by both my father and my mother. My mom taught me how to sing, but she always considered my dad as the great teacher, even if I didn’t really know him. She always had me listen to his singing and told me how he would have sung any particular song. When I decided to see if I could become a singer, she used to sing with me day and night until she felt I was ready to step out as a singer. The funny thing is that I always thought that as a daughter of two singers, I wouldn’t be able to become anywhere near as good as they were.
JTNews: When you began your musical career, did you hope to have the opportunity to work as internationally as you have?
Levy: My first album was released when I was 24 years old. I never thought I would be a singer and definitely didn’t think my music would reach international markets. After all, I sing music which is considered as a very small niche of the world music market, so I never imagined that people from all over the world [would] find an interest in it.
JTNews: You have a diverse number of musicians you worked with on Mano Suave. How were you connected to these artists and how were you originally exposed to their work?
Yasmin Levy: I worked with some of these musicians for many years. Others I met through the album’s producer, Lucy Duran. I am always happy to get to know new artists who are bringing their own musical world into mine. I find it very exciting. It makes me richer both as a person and as a musician.
JTNews: Describe your process in creating an album — do you envision collaboration with a specific artist, or does the music as you’re writing it present itself with opportunities for artists that have a certain sound or genre you’d like to work with?
Levy: Usually when I write a song I know who I would like to hear in it. For years I dreamt of collaborating with two artists: Ibrahim Tetlises (from Turkey) and Eleni Vitaly (from Greece). As for Eleni, when I wrote “Por que,” a song from my next album Sentir, I could really hear her voice in my head long before I even approached her about the idea of collaborating with me. It is like I knew the song was born for her. And with Ibrahim I was very happy to be a guest on his national television show in Turkey last year and to sing with him.
JTNews: Do you feel like you’re an ambassador for the Ladino language and Sephardic traditions? What do you think your music has done for Ladino studies or inspiring people to begin writing or speaking it?
Levy: I never set out to be an ambassador of Ladino; all I wanted was to sing. But now, I do see that I’ve become something like an ambassador of these songs and culture and I am very happy for that. I get letters from people all over the world who tell me that after they were exposed to this music and language, they want either to sing or to speak Ladino and it makes me very happy and proud.
JTNews: You may know that Seattle has a large Sephardic population, many of whom come from Turkey. Do you have relatives here? Have you made connections in the area either ethnically or musically?
Levy: Though my father was born in Manisa, Turkey, I don’t know of any relatives in Seattle. But I can tell you that when I go to Turkey I feel like I’m coming home. The Turkish people give me so much love and they treat me as if I was one of them.
JTNews: You serve as a Goodwill Ambassador for Children to help kids in the Middle East crisis. How do you help those children and how do you present that work to your audiences? Do you feel your work has made an impact? How?
Levy: My personal ethos is to respect people, their religion, their way of life, their dreams, and so on.
I don’t think that I as a person, or my music, can change the world. But I do believe that music can be a vehicle to create and share it in harmony with others. I think that in this way we can show the world that it is possible to create harmony in life, and it is possible to dream, and make dreams come true. That is exactly what I want to bring with me to these beautiful children of the Middle East and it is why I have agreed to be an Ambassador for Children of Peace.
JTNews: Will Sentir be released in the U.S.? When?
Levy: It definitely will be released but my record company wanted to start with Mano Suave, which has been something of a breakthrough record in other countries. I am sure Sentir will be released next year in the U.S.