Susan Gaeta & Gina Sobel in concert

Susan Gaeta and Gina Sobel collaborate for an evening of Sephardic ballads and romances passed down through the centuries via the oral tradition.

Sephardic ballad singer Gaeta accompanies her new apprentice, multi-instrumentalist and Strathmore Artist in Residence alum Sobel, for an evening of Sephardic music, which originated among Jews in premedieval Spain and picked up influences from Portugal, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey after they were forced into exile in the 1400s. These songs were originally performed by women as they carried out their household duties.

Gaeta has mastered the traditional singing style of this unique musical heritage, which she performs along with new compositions from National Heritage Fellow Flory Jagoda.

Sobel defies categorization. Leader of both a jazz quartet (the Sobel 4tet) and a rock band (Gina Sobel and the Mighty Fine), she is equally proficient on flute, voice, sax, and guitar. Together, Gaeta and Sobel are carrying on Jagoda’s legacy and bringing this ancient tradition into the modern age.

Watch Susan Gaeta and Gina Sobel play Buena Semana.