Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Ladino East Meets American West

Though she has been involved in the Ladino music scene since Neil Armstrong strode the moon, Ljuba Davis’s new release, “East and West,” is her debut album. The 43 years Davis has spent kicking these songs around orally before committing them to permanence rings throughout the album. “East and West,” unlike comparable recent ladino records (like Sarah Aroeste’s “Gracia”), eschews contemporary sounds in favor of what seems, at first blush, like canonical melodies.

Image by Courtesy of Rock Paper Scissors

It’s an artistic choice that emerges from a personal one. “My kids put me up against a wall,” Davis told the Forward. “They said, ‘record these songs so that we have a legacy from you.’”

“East and West” is also a reminder that even attempts to hew close to tradition are still fraught with change. “Adir Hu,” a Seder hymn, is revved up with an propellant acoustic rhythm, as is opening track, “Et Dodim,” a Mizrahi interpretation of the Song of Songs that underlines the sultry lyrics — a trilled duet closes on the words “Henesu rimonim” (“pomegranates budding”). Here, and elsewhere on the album, Davis tries to build a bridge between her Sephardic heritage and a stealth, practically unacknowledged, American folk tradition. On “Durme,” a lullaby backed by Davis’s son David on cello, she sings in the timbre of gothic Americana, striking the most haunting moment on the album.

Unusual for such releases, “East and West” is a double album. On one disc Davis sings and on the second she has been excised for the benefit of Orthodox men who refrain from listening to female vocalists. Though the instrumentals and male vox are intact on the second disc, curious listeners should stick to the first.

The most interesting things about Davis’s work all come from her almost half-century twisting American and Sephardic folk traditions together, a synthesis she alone vocalizes in spare moments. Her decision to expose this music to the broadest possible audience is commendable, but by so easily cutting herself out, she sells her own material short. “East and West” is not just the exercise in recording classic Ladino tunes – it’s something more special, and it’s something that requires Davis herself.

Watch Ljuba Davis play ‘Hamavdil’:

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.