Israeli Group Baladino Performing in Atlanta

Mediterranean folk band Baladino will perform at the Atlanta JCC on September 11 at 7 p.m.

Baladino

The Israeli group features stunning vocals, unexpected instruments, and a pitch-perfect sense of arrangement. Baladino offers fresh, yet deeply authentic interpretations of Sephardic and Ladino melodies.

With its members hailing from Berlin and Tel Aviv, Baladino is a Mediterranean folk band that melds everything from Egyptian darbuka to Armenian duduk, from Ladino classics to rarely heard tunes, into a sonically vibrant, organic whole. During Baladino’s live performances, songs often form a jumping-off point for instrumental improvisations driven by Mediterranean-Gypsy grooves, yet embracing rock and electronic influences.

Baladino was conceived by multi-wind instrumentalist Yonnie Dror and string player and producer Thomas Moked. After years of working intensely with Israel’s most respected performers, the two band members were in search of a different musical vocabulary. Enhancing the band’s musical identity is the singer Yael Badash who bought with her an important collection of Ladino songs belonging to her ancestors. Both Daniel Sapir, a double bass artist, and Yshai Afterman, world percussionist and educator, produce the unique musical beat of Baladino, combining rhythms from Turkey, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

In 2013 Baladino released their first album, Dos Amantes, to international acclaim and in 2016 released its second album, Nedudim, with the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble and Grammy-winning producer Steve Rodby on Cedille Records.