Following our successful show at the SV JCC, we’ve been invited to tape a studio concert for the Midpeninsula Community Media Center, based in Palo Alto. Our current studio date is August 5th; the resulting video would be available to local cable channels and posted in hi-res on YouTube. We’re working out songs to perform, and are trying to include a couple new pieces. It should be both fun and interesting; more details when we have them.
Sephardic Women of Turkey SVJCC show
Our show went well. We were in a room separate from the reception area, and had time for a quick rehearsal beforehand. That was fortunate- Lee was still having feedback problems with the acoustic bass, and had time to switch to the jazz bass. Everyone sounded good, though, and the room became packed once people heard us playing. The playlist:
- A La Una Yo Nasi
- Morena
- La Prima Ves
- Adio Kerida
- Avraham Avinu
- Una Pastora
- Los Bilbilicus
- A La Guerta
- Avre Tu
- La Torre / La Serena
- La Blanca Novia (only vocals, no instruments)
- Oshe Shalom
The Sephardic Healing Music Legacy
Our own Rivka Amado with Diana Rowan, recording under the name Dos Hermanicas, have released The Sephardic Healing Music Legacy today on CDBaby. The album contains three tracks of voice and harp music in the Sephardic tradition. Check it out!
June 17 gig for Sephardic Women of Turkey art exhibit in Los Gatos
We’ve been invited to play for an artist’s reception at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos on Sunday, June 17 (Father’s Day). Blue Hills will be focusing (somewhat obviously) on our Sephardic music repertoire, playlist TBD. We’re planning this to be a bit simpler show, instrumentation-wise- no keyboard, just guitars/bass, violin, recorder, and vocals. The JCC posted the following on their arts page:
Sephardic Women of Turkey
June 24th ~ August 24th 2012
This photographic exhibition documents a cultural renaissance and addresses the importance of women in carrying on the Sephardi tradition and culture. In the fall of 1991, Audrey Ray Daniel and Rachel Bortnick, two Sephardic American women, explored and documented their culture on a journey through four major Turkish cities. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Free artist’s reception is Sunday, June 17th 2:00pm-5:00pm featuring Sephardic music and treats! For further information please call Lisa Ceile at 408.357.7492 or lisacg@svjcc.org.
Eyal and Maytal’s wedding
We played at Rivka’s son Eyal’s wedding a few days ago, here on the SF Peninsula. It was nice- instrumental versions of Erev Shel Shoshanim and Sunrise Sunset for the ceremony entrance, and a few songs with Rivka singing later during dinner- A La Una and Avraham Avinu. People especially liked the ceremony music. It was fun, though LONG- things started at 4:00p, and were still going at 9:30p when we left.
Pre-release version of Nhama
Blue Hills has been recording some new music (at least, new to us). This is a pre-release version of Nhama: Rivka- vocals, Nathan- violin, Doron- guitar, Lee- bass, Vicky- piano, recording/mixing/mastering by Lee. We’re going to redo a few parts before a more-general release, but thought this would be an interesting preview:
Nhama3.mp3 2:47
Bread & Roses show at Oakland CEI a hit!
Well… they loved us. A little surprisingly, since it was unclear what the audience was going to be, but it worked out great. The Ladino songs went over particularly well, as did the more energetic tunes. We had one issue- Lee was using a new bass amp and had a lot of feedback issues with the vocals, and may not be able to use the acoustic bass guitar in these situations. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop the show from sounding good.
Arthur Javier, the Bread & Roses rep, had this to say:
This is the first time I have hosted a group like this. There were 5 members, Rivka – Vocalist, Doron – Electric Guitar, Nathan – plays the Violin, piano and guitar, Victoria or Vicky – plays the Guitar, flute and piano, Lee – Electric bass guitar. They have such versatility, passion and energy. Rivka is a statuesque lady with a lot of presence and even plays the hand drum and the castanets. Her vibrancy brought excitement as she sang a unique blend of songs dating back to days when the Jews left Spain and carried with them the style of songs called “LADINO” and still being sung today in different parts of the world.
Their repertoire was full of spirit especially with the harmony of the violin, the piano, the guitars and the bass. This was a combination of their love for music every time they played. Lee, the bass player and Doron, the electric guitar player carried the basic rhythm and beat as Vicky and Nathan joined with their flute, guitar and violin to compliment the melodies. A number of songs they sang energized the audience that some of them got off their seats to dance. At one point a lady who is partially paralyzed came to the dance floor walking with her cane and encouraged others to join her dancing. This was quite a sight.
Many who sat in their seats waved their hands in the air like conductors supervising a symphony rehearsal as the performers watched with joy in their faces. The violin added a special touch to their music, Rivka played the castanets and stomped her feet on the floor like a ‘flamenco’ dancer as she sang her heart out. This was a very special day. Angelique, a lady who works at the center told me this was the first time she has seen and heard a group perform like Rivka and her friends. It was like lighting up the center with fire.
They ended their show with a peaceful melody to bring the spirit of peace to everyone.
Bread and Roses show went great, doing it again
Our show for Bread & Roses at the SF Jewish Home went well. The audience was a little smaller than we expected, but they were enthusiastic. We sounded surprisingly good for playing in an echoey atrium, though we were playing with Vicky. One of the women came up to the piano and sang a couple songs with Nathan playing, including (if I remember correctly) God Bless America. Very sweet; Nathan in particular enjoyed himself.
Apparently B&R liked it, too, because we’ve been invited to do another show for them. This one is at CEI in Oakland on Monday, April 2. Middle of the day on a Monday, so a little tricky working around jobs and such. Hard to know what the audience will be, so… we’ll see what happens.
Bread & Roses at the SF Jewish Home
Rivka hooked up with the Bread & Roses organization, and they’ve invited us to play a show on February 22nd for one of their supported facilities- the San Francisco Jewish Home. This will be a smaller show for 25-30 seniors, in the atrium of their building. This is a cool opportunity- Bread & Roses is a great organization, supporting shut-ins and others who can’t get out to enjoy and experience the energy of live music. B&R have hosted some big names in their shows- Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Michael Franti, Robin Williams…
We should be able to play our full setlist this show, including Morena, which didn’t fit last time.
Dennis Kelly / Bnai Zion show
Well, the show went pretty well. Not surprisingly for a benefit with several speakers, the show went long, so we weren’t able to play the whole setlist. We got some great pictures, though, which are now showing in our header above.
This show was originally planned to have the following tunes; it would have been our first chance to play Morena for an audience, but that was one that fell off.
- A LA UNA
- LA PRIMA VEZ
- AVRE TU
- A LA GUERTA
- ISHA AL HACHOF
- DOS AMANTES
- LOS BILBILICOS
- FREYLACH
- MORENA
- DARKENU
- YERUSHALIAM