I was born in Casablanca, Morocco on the Northwestern coast of Africa, which is just across the Strait of Gibraltar at the very southern tip of Spain. When I was there last, the famous Rock of Gibraltar was covered with monkeys. I don’t know if they are still there.
I started singing at age 4, dancing and hamming it up for my family on my grandmother’s dining room table, which I used as a stage, when we still lived in Casablanca. I made everyone in the house come in to watch me perform.
I always loved music and dance from the time I first heard a 45 vinyl record of The Platters singing ”The Great Pretender.” Another powerful musical influence was my aunt Yolande who was a fabulous pianist. She was 13 at the time and studying classical piano. I would sit by her side for hours listening to her practice. My favorite piece was Mozart’s “Turkish March” which I would ask her to play over and over again!
I started occasional voice lessons at age 16. Up till that time I just heard songs I liked and learned them. I also started playing the guitar at age 9 so I could accompany myself when I sang. Playing the guitar became central to my musical life and I studied classical, jazz, flamenco and folk styles from all over the world. Music has always been my refuge and my deepest passion which always made the world right with me.
My mother had a great voice and sense of style so I think that I inherited most of my musical talent from her and the self discipline from my father who also loved music. He had a tin ear however, and though he was always picking up different instruments – banjo, mandolin, accordion, guitar, piano – he never became proficient at any despite his iron will. Everyone in my family always loved music. In Morocco we were exposed to a potpourri of musical styles and languages. First, Arabic music as Morocco is a Muslim country. But also Hebrew as there was a large Sephardic Jewish population living there at the time. Then, Ladino (an old Spanish spoken by the Spanish Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492). Most of the Sephardic songs I sing are in Ladino. We listened to a lot of French popular song – Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Yves Montand and many others – as Morocco was a French Protectorate at the time and everyone spoke French. I was also exposed to Argentinian music, tangos in particular, by my grandfather who spent the first part of his life in Buenos Aires. So we were always playing records, singing at our ritual ceremonies and it became just part of our musical experience to embrace all kinds of music. With this varied repertoire people often ask me which is my favorite song to sing. The answer is easy: “whatever song I’m singing at the moment.“ I know so many songs that it would be impossible to have a favorite. Numerous languages were also in the air, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Spanish. At age four I moved to Paris and at age eight to New York. So English is my third language after French and Spanish.
As a child music was not my only love. I was crazy about hoola-hoop! I could wiggle my hips faster than anyone and could keep three hoops going at the same time for a long time. We even have some home movies to prove it. Maybe I should have become a circus acrobat.
My favorite food growing up was just about anything my grandmother cooked. She was an amazing cook and I hung out with her, my grandfather, aunts and uncles a lot as a kid in Morocco. Cous-cous, and tajine, two traditional Moroccan dishes, were definitely some of my faves.
Over the years I learned to play many instruments - guitar, piano, harmonium, dulcimer, saz, psaltery, charango, cuatro, bass guitar, hand percussion - but the guitar is definitely my favorite. Of course, the voice which is by far the hardest instrument to ‘play’ is also my favorite. I need to sing and play like I need to eat and breathe.
I received my Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Operatic Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and sang over 30 roles in opera houses throughout the U.S. I started drifting away from the classical world in 1992, the year of the quincentennial commemorations of the expulsion of the Sephardim from Spain. I was invited to perform at many commemorative events and as a result became more interested in the music of my ancestors and in preserving a glorious heritage. I formed several musical ensembles and have been performing and recording ever since! I have given innumerable concerts throughout the world, released 20 CDs and a songbook and continue this work with the same energy and passion I began with 30 years ago!
