Dec 20th 2011 | NURIYA, PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER & HAALE
@ LE POISSON ROUGE

Event info: Nuriya, Pharaoh’s Daughter & Haale
Location: Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. Manhattan, NY 10012
Time: 7pm
Ticket: $18

• PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: Blending a psychedelic sensibility and a pan-Mediterranean sensuality, Basya Schechter leads her band, Pharaoh’s Daughter, through swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrachi and Sephardi folk-rock, and spiritual stylings. HAALE: Haale (as in halle-lujah or jalepeno), is a Bronx-born woman of Iranian descent whose name means the ‘halo around the moon.’ Her songs are trance-inducing, rhythmically propulsive, and lyrically engaging tapestries that draws on both Persian mystical and American psychedelic musical traditions. NURIYA: Imagine a fusion of Latin, Middle-Eastern and Arabic-Flamenco music with some hip-hop and reggae thrown in for good measure. Then imagine a melismatic voice that swoops and soars with seemingly effortless ease, delivering lyrics that tell of love, life and loss in Spanish, English and French. Imagine this being performed by a [green]-eyed Mexican-born beauty of Middle-Eastern Jewish Heritage.

Dec 21st 2011 | DAN AND AVIVA & DRORY YEHOSHUA
@ THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE SYNAGOGUE

Event info: Dan and Aviva & Drory Yehoshua
Location: 2 West 70th St. at Central Park West, NYC
Time: 7:30pm
Ticket: $15 Members/Students/Seniors | $20 non-members | $25 Door

inquiries: Alana Shultz alana.shultz@shearithisrael.org; 212-873-0300 x209

• In celebration of Hanukkah, SMF & The Spanish Portuguese Synagogue present one evening with two beautiful and festive performances showcasing traditional Sephardic music, in the historic Spanish Portuguese majestic sanctuary. AVIVA & DAN, international performers based in NY, present “Beyond Carmen, a mesmerizing and fiery program for voice and flamenco guitar, drawn from Spanish and Ladino repertoire. The performance melds interpretations of flamenco-inspired classical music with folk-oriented material, including songs from Andalusia, Argentinean tangos, and love ballads from the ancient Jewish-Hispanic tradition. DRORY YEHOSHUA is a renowned Jerusalem-based Hazzan and educator, involved in the recent renaissance of piyutim (sacred poetry) singing in Israel. A descendant of Kurdish Jews, he will perform and teach piyutim of his native tradition, as well as other Jewish liturgical poetry from Morocco, Iraq and Spain. Joining him will be Armenian-American master musician Souren Baronian on Turkish clarinet, kaval, and percussion, and Dan Nadel on flamenco guitar.

Dec 22nd 2011 | MOSHAV, SOULFARM & DESCRIBE
@ HIGHLINE BALLROOM

Event info: Moshav, Soulfarm & DeScribe
Location: Highline Ballroom – 431 W 16th St, NYC
Time: Doors – 7pm
Ticket: $20 Advance | $23 At the Door

* Packages & Discounts for Large Groups of 10 or more (Subject to Availability

– note: the after-party will feature Freddie McGregor, Andy Milonakis, Y-Love and Diwon, location will be revealed the night of the show

• After releasing and selling close to 50,000 of its self-produced albums, Moshav eventually caught the eye of producer Ron Aniello (Lifehouse, Guster, Barenaked Ladies). Together they released the album Misplaced in 2006 to highly favorable reviews. In 2010, Moshav teamed up again with Ron Aniello and Clif Norrell (R.E.M., Jeff Buckley, Sting) to create the group’s latest album, Dancing in a Dangerous World. The band fuses Middle Eastern melodies and religious music with American rock. Soulfarm was founded in Israel by Grammy Award-winning lead guitarist C. Lanzbom and guitarist and lead singer Noah Solomon Chase. The group’s sound has been dubbed as New American music, featuring full melodic songwriting and progressive modern arrangements. Soulfarm’s live shows are full of Mediterranean flavor with captivating guitar leads, dance rhythms, and strong percussion breaks. Rapping with redeeming words of struggle and redemption is the unmistakable sound of DeScribe. The observant Jew is opening the eyes of all religions and races to a new sound, successfully intertwining spirituality with the street. DeScribe’s unique soul-searching melodies, fused with bass-heavy hip hop and reggae beats, are pulsating and vibrant.

Dec 22nd 2011 | DIWON “GONNA LIGHT” FT. Y-LOVE & SARAH AROESTE
@ WORLDWIDE

Event info: Diwon “GONNA LIGHT (SHTETL CHANUKAH MIX) FT. Y-LOVE & SARAH AROESTE” SINGLE Release
Location: GLOBAL

• In time for the holidays, Brooklyn based Producer Diwon, drops a Chanukah club track that sounds like its from outer-space. The track titled, “Gonna Light (Shtetl Chanukah Mix)”, blends a high energy dance club feel with chopped and screwed vocals from multilingual hip-hop pioneer Y-Love, one of the decade’s most dynamic artists and Sarah Aroeste, the international Sephardic Ladino songstress. Imagine Spank Rock does the Hava Nagila with a Judeo-Spanish twist. Shemspeed is releasing the track to the public for a name your own price which means, fans can get it for free or choose to support the movement.

“Gonna Light (Shtetl Chanukah Mix)”, is based around “Ma’oz Tzur” (Hebrew: מעוז צור‎), which is a Jewish liturgical poem. It is written in Hebrew, and is sung on the holiday of Hanukkah, after lighting the festival lights. The name is a reference to the Hasmonean stronghold of Beth-zur. This Hebrew song is thought to have been written sometime in the 13th century.

Shemspeed is releasing the track to the public for a name your own price which means, fans can get it for free or choose to support the movement.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD “GONNA LIGHT”

Dec 24th (1st event) 2011 | MIKI GAVRIELOV, LILY HENLEY & GUESTS
@ LE POISSON ROUGE

Event info: Miki Gavrielov, The ISRAMERICA House Band & Lily Henley
Location: Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. Manhattan, NY 10012
Time: 6:30pm
Ticket: Standing $25.00 | Seated $40.00 | VIP $60.00

• The Godfather of Israeli music himself, Miki Gavrielov, performs at this 7th Annual Sephardic Music Festival at Le Poisson Rouge. 
Miki Gavrielov is one of the most loved, cherished, and popular singers in Israel. He is one of the founders of Israeli music and continues to play a major role in the development of the cultural and musical life of Israel. Come see this Living Legend LIVE!
Opening up the evening will be The ISRAMERICA House Band with Judah Gavra and Omer Shaish and a special set by Fiddler extraordinaire, Lily Henley.

Co-sponsored by FORWARD & Dor Chadash

Dec 24th (2nd event) 2011 | HEEBONISM FEATURING DIWON, TESLY SNIPES, Y-LOVE & GUESTS
@ LE POISSON ROUGE

Event info: HEEBONISM featuring Diwon, Tesly Snipes, Y-Love, Tj Di Hitmaker, Krowd Pleezr & guests
Location: Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. Manhattan, NY 10012
Time: 10:30pm
Ticket: $15 Advance / $20 Door

• Heeb Magazine teams up with Shemspeed for the legendary Heebonism party. Tauted as ‘one of the largest, glitziest, rowdiest and most untamed shindigs in the world’ by the Travel Channel, Heeb’s Xmas Eve ‘Heebonism’ event is back and this time with a World music spin as part of the 7th Annual Sephardic Music Festival.

Dec 26th 2011 | GERARD EDERY, ASEFA & OUDBLUES
@ SIXTH ST. SYNAGOGUE

Gerard Edery, Asefa & Oudblues @ Sixth St. Synagogue
Event info: Gerard Edery, Asefa & Oudblues
Location: SIXTH STREET SYNAGOGUE
CENTER FOR JEWISH ARTS AND LITERACY – 325 E. 6th St. NYC
Time: 7pm
Ticket: $15

more info at sixthstreetsynagogue.org/special-events/#sephardic

• GERARD EDERY: Spirit of Sepharad, led by singer, composer, guitarist, and living exponent of Sephardic music Gerard Edery, traces the unique migration of the Sephardim from medieval Spain, across North Africa, to the Middle East and beyond. Combining music, dance, narration and illuminating projections, this dynamic, mixed-media performance brings to life all the rich cultural strains of the Sephardic Diaspora. ASEFA:, meaning “a gathering or collective” in Hebrew, was founded in 2001 as an ensemble to bring together elements from Moroccan and jazz-based musical traditions, re-imagining the soundscapes of North African and Iberian Abrahamic cultures. ASEFA reinvigorates Sephardic poetic texts from Medieval Spain and the Islamic world through original composition, improvisation, and a diverse instrumentation, including saxophone, nay, vocals, oud, guitar, guimbri, bass, drumset, and myriad African percussion. OUDBLUES: With influences from around the world and right here at home, this Middle Eastern Balkan Blues Sextet is comprised of Oud, Upright Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Trumpet, Percussion and Drumset. Fusing styles from the Gypsy mountains of Romania to the Saharan and Middle Eastern Desserts and back to the streets of Philadelphia, Oudblues takes you on a journey through the Diaspora and evolution of ancient music from the fertile crescent to the blues of modern life.

Dec 27th 2011 | SEPHARDIC STORY SLAM
@ THE TRIAD THEATER

Event info: Sephardic Story Slam featuring celebrity judge Vanessa Hidary aka The Hebrew Mamita and hosted by Comedy Central’s Ophira Eisenberg
Location: The Triad Theater – 158 West 72nd Street ~ (Between Broadway & Columbus Avenue) on the 2nd Floor.
Time: 7pm
Ticket: $12 (2 drink min)

• Join us as storytellers from far and wide, actors, poets, writers, comedians and other doe-eyed hopefuls try their hand and taking home the most coveted prize of all time: The legacy of being crowned: “Story Slam Champion” !!!
Come hear riveting stories of Arabian Nights, where the caravan camels roam. When the wind’s from the east and the sun’s from the west and the sand in the glass is right. Come on down, stop on by, hop a carpet and fly, to another Arabian night.
You will hear mesmerizing stories of middle eastern upbringing, exotic travels , family traditions from Morocco, Persia, Tunisia, Yemen and so much more!

10 Stories – 6 Minutes – 1 Champion. YOU CHOOSE THE WINNER!to enter please email smf@shemspeed.com

Dec 27th 2011 | SHI 360 “SHALOM HATERS” SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEO RELEASE
@ WORLDWIDE

Event info: SHI 360 SHALOM HATERS SINGLE & MUSIC VIDEORelease
Location: GLOBAL

• Shemspeed, 360 Music and The Sephardic Music Fest will be releasing the title track off the most anticipated Israeli Hip Hop CDs of 2012, “Shalom Haters” by Shi 360. SHI 360 has sold platinum records in his collaboration with rapper Subliminal and TACT. Significantly influencing the modern Israeli hip hop scene, his appeal is international. His collaboration with the TACT All-Stars album was a ground-breaking, commercial triumph that captivated Israel’s music world, selling gold in its first day of release – making music history in Israel.

“Shalom Haters” will hits stores world-wide on January 3rd 2012. You could stream the full album during the festival right here on www.sephardicfest.com (Dec 20th – 27th).