Sarah Aroeste is Making Ladino Rock... Literally!

Sarah Aroeste, inspired by her Sephardic heritage and roots from Salonika, Greece, is the leader of the Ladino Rock band, the Sarah Aroeste Band. Determined to help bring Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) music back to life for a new generation, Aroeste and her band fuse traditional Ladino folk songs music with contemporary influences such as rock, funk and blues. With its unique modern take, the Sarah Aroeste Band brings an updated, exciting new sound to Ladino and Sephardic music. I chatted with Sarah to learn about her influences and what inspires her as a Ladino singer. Take a look at what Miss Aroeste had to say.

Many people tend to correct me when I say Ladino and say Latino instead. Can you explain to us what Ladino music is and why so few of us know about it?

Ladino is primarily a language, though for us Sephardic Jews, it also represents much of our culture. As the language, its base is medieval Spanish. When the Jews were kicked out of Spain during the Inquisition in 1492, they took the Spanish they were speaking in Spain and combined it with the languages of the countries where they ended up settling, mostly along the Mediterranean basin and North Africa. My family settled in Greece, so my family’s Ladino incorporates Spanish with various bits and pieces of languages of countries that span from Spain eastwards to Greece. So you could definitely hear in a conversation random words influenced by French, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Arabic or Greek. And in the liturgy and songs there is definitely Hebrew thrown in the mix as well. There is one basic standard of Ladino, but depending on where you ended up after the dispersion, there were certainly regional differences in pronunciation and word choices.

I like to describe Ladino as the difference between Shakespearean English and today’s English. If you’re a native English speaker, you can read Shakespeare and still understand the basic gist of what’s going on. You might not understand every word, and the grammar might seem odd, but you can definitely follow along. It’s similar with Ladino if you’re a fluent Spanish speaker.

As for the music—Ladino is a tradition that is mostly made up of folk songs about basic life experiences. (There are also a lot of liturgical/religious songs, but those are less my specialty.) The songs were passed down orally from generation to generation over the last 500 years. Many songs speak of life-cycle events, like births, weddings etc, or otherwise they’re just about basic everyday events and observations. Then there are your songs about big, universal themes like having crushes, first loves, unrequited love, family dynamics, going off to war—all themes that are being written about today! Every song is like a little story—and taken together they really represent the heart and soul of Sephardic culture. I’m in love with the music, not only because the songs are beautiful and fun and they each speak to me in their own way—but also just because I think it’s incredible that they’ve lasted for so many centuries!

I think the biggest reason people don’t know about Ladino is because American Jewish education too often leaves out the Sephardic story in the curriculum. When I grew up there were only two things we learned in Hebrew School about Sephardic culture – Sephardic Jews come from Spain and Ashkenazi Jews come from everywhere else, and that Sephardic Jews eat rice and beans on Pesach. Neither is entirely true—but that’s all that many kids are learning today. It’s such a shame. The Sephardic story is such an important part of Jewish history as a whole. One really can’t fully understand Jewish history without knowing about Sephardic history. I’d also say that proportionally, it is true that there are fewer Sephardic Jews in the world today than Ashkenazim. Sephardic communities tend to be fairly insular, and so I don’t think we’ve done a particularly good job of telling our own story to the world in a loud enough voice. Even so, everyone’s heard of Yiddish—I’m not sure why so few people have ever heard of Ladino. It was one of the major Jewish languages up until the Holocaust…

Who have been your musical influences?

I’d probably say Ofra Haza. She did a lot for Yemenite music in Israel, combining her proud tradition with a more mainstream, popular sound. She was always someone I wanted to emulate—sadly she passed away in 2000. In general, I listen to a lot of Middle Eastern music, mostly Arabic music from Turkey and Egypt. I also listen to a lot of Brazilian/Cuban music. I grew up on American folk music, but now I tend to listen to “world” music from other regions. In general, I appreciate most any music that’s authentic and soulful.

Coming from a Ladino heritage, how much has your background affected your music and your path in life? And how much has your music affected who you are as a Ladino woman?

Let me just say that you do not start a Ladino rock band to be rich and famous. You do it because you love it. I do it because of my family history. I am so proud of where I come from and I want to pay homage to all my ancestors who came before me. My grandfather, especially, was an amazing man. He was the oldest of 9 brothers and sister, and he came with his family over to America to avoid the oncoming war in Europe at the time. I always saw how proud he was of his culture and I knew I couldn’t let it die out. It’s just tragic that my peer group doesn’t know very much about Sephardic culture today, so I want to do my part to ensure that it lives on.

I didn’t have many role models growing up (at least in America) of young, proud Sephardic Jews who were wearing their heritages on their sleeves. That always saddened me. I’m so proud of my identity now and that’s completely why I do what I do.

Do you believe you would still be a singer if you were not Ladino? If so, what type of music do you imagine you would be singing instead?

That’s an easy question to answer. I grew up as a musician. At 13 I started going to music school and training really seriously in opera soon after. Everyone growing up knew me as the opera singer. I was sure throughout college that that’s what I was going to be!

It was my junior/senior year of college while singing at a summer program at the Tel Aviv opera that I had this epiphany. One of my coaches was Sephardic and we shared the same background. On the side, he was teaching me the Ladino songs I grew up with, but in a classical way. I started to integrate these songs into my recitals and at the end of each concert people would come up and tell me that the Ladino portion was their favorite part of the program. I agreed with them!

I took a break from music and when I decided to come back, I realized I didn’t want to do opera and I didn’t want to do traditional Ladino music either. I knew I wanted to work with Ladino music, but in my own style. I wanted to combine the traditional tunes with more contemporary influences such as rock, funk, jazz, blues. I wanted to reach younger generations and I knew this was one way to make the music more accessible. People thought I was crazy when I announced I wanted to start a Ladino Rock band. But seven years later, I’m still here to tell the story...

What message would you like people to get from your music and style?

The main message is exposure. I want people to know that this culture exits, and it rocks! The music, and story behind it all, is so beautiful, exotic and relevant to today.

It represents so many different cultures, and it crosses so many different ethnic and cultural boundaries. People tried to declare it a dead culture years ago, but I can tell you it’s still here today and growing.

Do you ever think of broadening your musical genre or are you dedicated to Ladino?

I’ll give a concert and sometimes people will shout out, “Do something in Hebrew! Do something in Arabic!” That always perplexed me. We do Ladino!!! I have become known, and I think people respect me, because I am one of the very few singers out there dedicated solely to Ladino music. This is what I do fully and I think people appreciate me for it.

As if you weren't hot enough, you threw in four Israeli guys into your band. What's it like performing with these guys?

People who read this who have experience with Israelis and Israeli culture, know that sometimes it can be a challenge. But there’s a reason why my entire band is Israeli. It’s mostly a musical one. I feel that Israeli musicians realize the tension between “ethnic” music and “rock.” Israelis naturally understand Middle Eastern rhythms, yet at the same time, they also grow up with a really strong rock tradition. So yes, given that my music is all about finding an honest balance between traditional and contemporary sounds, it’s very purposeful that I have Israelis in my group.

And I have men specifically because I don’t want anyone taking my spotlight!! No seriously, the music I do is very sensual and playful, and I just think there’s a powerful dynamic having one lead woman in a group of men.

What is beautiful and sexy to you about being a Jewish woman?

We come from such a rich background—which is so strong both in terms of Jewish tradition and also as a women’s tradition. Sephardic women (which is obviously my viewpoint) definitely come from a hot, Mediterranean region and the music I do simply expresses that. When I first started out, critics would say I was “sexing” up the music. But what I was doing was only taking poetry from 500 years ago --which clearly I didn’t write- and the lyrics are right there! They’re incredibly expressive and sensual. Some of the songs even make me blush!

Not all Jewish history is about keeping order and modesty in the home. Sensuality is part of the Jewish experience and anyone who says it’s not, is not being honest about the tradition. It’s right there in the music.

I can’t stand a lot of the stereotyping people make of Jewish women. What I know of Jewish women is all positive. The Jewish women I want to emulate and I admire are all strong and sexy women.

What are your plans for the future? What can we expect next from Sarah Aroeste?
My next big project is the one im currently working on. Over the past six months, I’ve been writing completely original music based on the Sephardic experience, half in Ladino and half in Spanish. My collaborator isn’t Jewish, he’s Cuban. It’s a chance for me to get my music and Sephardic culture out to a much wider audience.

I’m really excited about it-- so stay tuned! When I started a Ladino rock band I had no idea I would be here six years later, two albums later, talking to you. I really had no idea that I’d be able to have a career of it. So hopefully there’s still a lot more in me!

Sarah Aroeste is still making Ladino rock six years later harder than ever. To learn more about Sarah and her band, check out their site at http://www.saraharoeste.com/.

Know of someone else who rocks that should be spotlighted on this site? Write to me at FindMyJewSpot@gmail.com.