www.morkarbasi.com

unique gravity - Management only Bookings -edwinatsummertime@kpnmail.nl

Biography

Mor Karbasi, still a tender 22 year old, burst upon London’s global music scene earlier this year with the release of her first album “The Beauty and The Sea” – heralded by fRoots and later The Guardian – whose Robin Denselow wrote…..

“This album establishes the London-based Israeli singer Mor Karbasi as one of the great
young divas of the global music scene, alongside the likes of Mariza or Yasmin Levy”

Mor Karbasi sings in Ladino, Spanish, Hebrew and on rarer occasions, English. Fortune has brought her a wonderful singing voice and she puts it to most excellent use - as Ian Anderson at fRoots puts it…

“She’s able to effortlessly switch from a breathy intimacy to that hard edged, intense open
throated style…..pulling you deep into songs, taking the senses and emotions on an addictive
roller coaster .”

Mor has been winning fans to Sephardic music with her wide-ranging repertoire – from traditional songs dating from or inspired by the Jewish culture of fifteenth-century Spain to striking new Ladino-influenced compositions of her own. Mor is bringing some of these songs back to a wider public. “We don’t want Sephardic music to be a museum piece covered in dust,” she says. “We’re not trying to revive it; it’s not dead. We’re trying to make it more accessible to a broader range of people.” Her own writing has been considerably shaped by her interesting Sephardi lineage: descending from Moroccan and Persian Jews. She has been and indeed still is, an avid supporter of Flamenco which also adds a strong flavour throughout her songs. Her mother played Moroccan piyyutim (liturgical poems) and sang Andalucian Jewish ballads at their home and continues to be a constant influence on her young daughter.

This heritage already made for an inspirational Middle Eastern melting pot, when Mor met British guitarist Joe Taylor three years ago. Joe is a gifted guitar player already recognised as such within his band Blackbud, (signed to Independiente - label to Tinariwen and Travis). The Times, as well, are converts, their David Sinclair referred to Joe’s group as “stunningly inventive” and to Joe as “a guitarist with a quicksilver touch, an encyclopaedic knowledge of chords ….and an outstanding command of rhythmic and harmonic nuance”. His compositional input, delicate instrumental flourishes and musical direction add a modern dimension to the whole atmosphere and is an important element in the artistic offering which is Mor Karbasi..

Mor Karbasi performs over 40 concerts in the UK, USA, France, Spain and Italy in 2008: including WOMAD, Wychwood, Larmer Tree Festivals, UK and the Chicago World Music Festival and in New York, US.

Jon Pareles, NY Times: “…. with a voice infused by Middle Eastern music and the quivering intensity of Iberian flamenco and fado”.

Night Life, The New Yorker: “If the sound of young London-based Israeli singer Mor Karbasi doesn’t make your pulse race, make an appointment with your cardiologist immediately—not since the late Ofra Haza has a voice soared so sweetly in music of the Jewish diaspora”.

Elizabeth Kinder March 2008

“Mor’s voice fills the room. It's got a range and fluid flexibility……. It's rich and warm with a finely delivered emotional intensity. The Beauty and the Sea is a remarkable debut.”

Dennis Marks June 2008 ****

Mor Karbasi’s debut CD is in a different league of invention confidence and sensuality. She tours the UK during the Spring and her wide ranging repertoire is certainly worth catching live. Highly Recommended.

Mark Hudson May 10 2008

Young,female and dramatic looking with a powerful voice and with roots in a rich and ancient tradition, Sephardic, Jewish, Israeli singer Mor Karbasi , ticks all the boxes for world music success

David Honigmann March 2008 ****

You wait 500 years for a Ladino singer to mix medieval Sephardic songs with a twist of flamenco, and then two come along at once. Songs such as "Shechahoret", have the familiar Ladino swoops up and down the octaves; the modern songs, with music by Karbasi and her musical partner, Joe Taylor, are recognisably their descendants.

Forthcoming Tour Dates

july 2010

• 09 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Cantaya, Spain
• 10 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Cadiz, Spain
• 11 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Azinhaga, Portugal
• 12 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Manta Rota, Portugal
• 14 Ted Global Conference, Oxford
• 16 Colours of Ostrava Festival, Ostrava, CZ
• 20 Sala Bonifaz, Santender, Spain
• 22 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas,Sicily, Italy
• 23 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Rome, Italy
• 24 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Pontedera, Italy
• 25 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Frontignan, France

   

aug 2010

• 13 Tavernes de la Valldigna, Valencia, Spain
• 14 Festival Sete, Sois Sete Luas, Castril, Spain

nov 2010

• 13 Vreden Burg, Utrecht
• 18 Korzo, Den Haag
• 19 Podium Mozaiek, Amsterdam
• 20 De Doelen, Rotterdam
• 21 Theaters Tilburg, Tilberg
• 23 De Oosterpoort, Groningen