publishing
YAÏA
With Annette – De mare a hija, the ensemble Yaïa revives Judeo-Spanish songs passed down orally through generations, paying tribute to Annette Cabelli-Florentin—a Holocaust survivor from Thessaloniki, the last vibrant bastion of Ladino before the war.
The album draws from the Sephardic repertoire of the Balkans, Turkey, North Africa, and the Middle East—songs of love, mourning, lullabies, and resistance passed down "from mother to daughter" (de mare a hija). These popular romances were once sung in courtyards, homes, and alleyways, carrying a memory that is simultaneously intimate and collective.
Yaïa offers free reinterpretations of these works, blending Leïla Méndez’s clear, soulful vocals with arrangements featuring clarinet, electric guitar, double bass, and percussion. The album includes iconic Sephardic titles such as "A la una yo nací," "Una matica de ruda," and "La rosa enflorece"—folk songs traditionally performed at weddings, vigils, and departures.
