"A voice that transports you from the ancient markets of Morocco to a modern London jazz club in one breath.” -BBC RADIO 3

A forgotten language to a revival: Nani Vazana helps revive Ladino through songs.

Eurovision for Minority Languages winner, Nani Vazana, comes to Arcata, California to play
a concert on Tuesday February 24th at Arcata Playhouse. With a tour of 30+ shows in the USA and Canada, Nani is building a bridge between the past and the future, celebrating her Sephardic heritage while bringing Ladino to the spotlight.

"A voice that transports you from the ancient markets of Morocco to a modern London jazz club in one breath.” -BBC RADIO 3

Nani Vazana celebrates her Sephardic heritage with beloved traditionals but also, uniquely, with original Ladino songs of her own. “I play Ladino because when I look at the past, I see the future.” she told Songlines magazine. A millennial Ladino singer-songwriter, she hopes to inspire the audience to connect to their own roots. She is one of the very few who writes original music in Ladino, the ancient language of Sephardic Jews.

Building a bridge from the past to the here and now, Nani sings the beloved Ladino traditionals that feature passion, love, cooking, family and even fairytales. These songs are filled with drama and yearning, sadness and happiness and then her original Ladino songs touch on millennial themes like migration, woman empowerment and gender. Revisiting tradition from a contemporary view point.

An irresistible stage presence with warm and versatile flamenco vocals, soft choral trombone and haunting piano, Nani captures the sounds and scents of the marketplace, propelling an almost extinct culture into the 21st century.

About Nani: Growing up, Nani’s father, an immigrant from Morocco to Israel, forbade speaking Ladino at home, wanting to leave the old world behind. But still Nani’s grandmother taught her songs in hiding. She would teach her Ladino sayings, songs and even recipes in the kitchen when her father was away. But her Nona (grandma in Ladino) passed away and her link to Ladino was gone. She rediscovered it decades later while playing at the Tanjazz festival in Morocco. Traveling the country, she found herself walking in Fez (her father’s birthplace) and hearing a melody sung on the street. It was familiar and stopped her on the spot. “Hearing that same melody sung on the street felt like destiny,” she recalls. “It was as if I was meant to lose my roots and find them again when I was ready.” Now, she’s bringing that journey to stages all over the world.

Nani’s work was archived in the Library of Congress (USA). She has performed at the Kennedy Center (USA), London Jazz Festival (UK), Jazz in the Park Festival (Romania), Jodhpur RIFF Festival (India), and many more.

Nani has been a featured speaker at TEDx Amsterdam, WOMEX, Colours of Ostrava, Music Finland, and other global industry events.