Sarah Aroeste is the founder of the NY-based Ladino Rock group, the Sarah Aroeste Band. American-born Aroeste, with family roots in Spain and more recently in Salonika, Greece, launched her band to help bring Sephardic music to a new generation. Most influenced by the music and language of her Spanish origins, Aroeste grounds her music in Ladino, an ethnic form of Castilian Spanish developed by Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Although this mysterious pan-Mediterranean language has, unfortunately, been fading away, the musical legacy of Spanish Jews highlights the strength of an oral tradition that spans many centuries and crosses many geographic boundaries. Determined to help keep Ladino music alive, Aroeste updates and reinterprets the tradition by fusing it with more modern sensibilities. With its unique Ladino Rock sound, the Sarah Aroeste Band (Sarah Aroeste: vocals; Yotam Bary: electric bass; Yoel Ben-Simhon: oud, piano, backup vocals; Yaron Eilam: electric guitar; Liron Peled: drums, percussion) takes traditional Ladino music from across the Mediterranean and combines it with contemporary influences such as rock, funk, and blues. Since Aroeste launched her band in 2001, she has toured and amassed a loyal following across the nation and abroad, and has worked hard to bring an updated, exciting new sound to Ladino and Sephardic music.
www.saraharoeste.com