Once upon a time there was a people. And there was peace. It was medieval Spain - Jews living side by side Muslims and Christians for 800 years. It was a time of art, music, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, medicine - a flowering of civilization.

Then in 1492, the Christian kings reconquered Spain and the Jews were cast out. Fleeing across the deserts of North Africa, east to Turkey and as far north as Hungary, they carried their culture and their language with them. Their language was Ladino, the original mixture of Hebrew and ancient Spanish. As they settled in each new land, the language grew and deepened, taking on the richness and customs of the new culture. Although Ladino is rarely spoken today, it survives through the songs of these many lands.

I sing these songs today, not as they once were, but as they now live in me. I have lived in Spain. i have wandered the ancient streets, read the inscriptions scratched on abandoned ghetto walls, heard the singing in the silent stones. i sing my influences. Not just my passion for Spanish culture, but my Eastern European, Italian, New York, folk, rock 'n roll, doo wop, blues influences,

But most of all, I sing the spirit of a people. It is a spirit of peace, of harmony, of understanding. I hope you feel it too, and will sing, dance, cry, meditate with me as we keep this spirit alive, now, together.