Sara Alexander profile picture

Sara Alexander

About Me


Musician, singer, songwriter... & peace activist… Born in Jerusalem, the daughter of Jewish, Gipsy, Turkish and Romanian immigrants, exposed since childhood to the traditional and contemporary music of the Orient and Occident, my music is a crossroad of many cultures, styles and traditions.Née à Jérusalem, fille d’immigrants juifs-tsiganes-turcs-roumains, baignée dès l’enfance par les musiques traditionnelles et contemporaines d’Orient et d’Occident, ma musique un carrefour de nombreuses cultures, styles et traditions.

SHERALE (klezmer) - FROM THE YA SALAM ! SHOW

How, being shared by musicians originating from all kinds of origins and cultures, a traditionnal Eastern Jewish song becomes universal. Joy without frontier ! --------- Un morceau Klezmer un peu special, enregistré à Aubervilliers en novembre 2005. La preuve que la Scène Saint-Denis ne brûle pas que comme certains voudraient nous le faire croire.

RIMON - FROM THE YA SALAM ! SHOW

A tribute to Al-Andalus and the times when Jewish and Muslim cultures enrich one the other.Lyrics based on the Song of songs.Discography
Cosmopolis - Cherry on top 2006
Cafe turc CD - Al Sur 1999,
Erga CD - IMP Kardum 1998,
Hamsin CD - IMP Kardum 1996,
Reves et revoltes CD - SAP 1991,
Nomade de l'espoir LP - Sapem 1984,
Shalom-Salam LP - Sapem 1980,
Ashequelon LP - EMI 1971,
The Seven species LP - Hayim Hefer Ed. 1966. Participations
at collective works

Paris-Grozny 2002 - Credo 2000 - Ballade pour une mer qui chante 1996, 1998 - World music of struggle 1990. Bibliography
Shalom! Salam! Salvator 1999 - L'urgence d'aimer l'Harmattan 1984. • Laureate of the "Ethics and Meaning Foundation", New York - May 2000.
• Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Paris - April, 2000.
• Laureate of the Smithsonian Institute of Folklife, Washington - July 1990. Some comments Miguel-Angel Estrella : "A visionary artist, through the force of her love, her courage and her talent, Sara disarms all hatred". Edmée Santy - Le Soir : "A voice sparkling with beauty and grandeur, forever dedicated to the most beautiful song on earth: the song of departure and of liberty." Federico Mayor - former UNESCO General Secretary : " It is with peace fighters such as you that the link remains unbroken". About Ya Salam Ester Riu - El Pais : "Su musica es como su misma, puro mestisaje, pura fusion" About Cafe Turc Bouziane Daoudi - Libération : "Between the mythical Central Europe and the legendary Near East...Sara Alexander blends different musical colors into new marriages, combining Balkan ritornellos, Klezmer gigues, Arabic languor, gypsy fervor and Anatolian blues". Olivier Bailly - Les Inrockuptibles : "What is one to keep of the dream when it becomes trappedin reality, without anybody being able to do anything about it? Bitterness? Or, like Sara Alexander, desire? The sensuality of her voice, accompanied by her accordion, is a perfect illustration of the latter. Musically, this translates into a rigorous allegiance to the delicate color scheme of the melodies and harmonies spread across all of the oriental part of the Mediterranean. Her knowledge of music, whether traditional or otherwise, easily transcends the rigid academic approach and permits herto play with the shapes without destroying any of them a sheer delight". Bertrand Dicale - Le Monde de la Musique : "A beautiful example of a world music that has its roots in the East of the Mediterranean basin, but which also opens itself to the East of Europe with its pan-slavonic or gypsy influences" Trad'Magazine : "Belongs to an oriental style, truely Mediterranean, between traditionnal,folk & classical, like some Greek composers. Beautyful".

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/9/2006
Band Website: sara.alexander.free.fr
Band Members: Every shows and records are different, but here are the names of most of THE friend musicians I performed with for the last years : Stephen BEDROSSIAN, Abdelmajid BEKKAS, Lahouari BENEDJADI, Philippe BOTTA, Philippe BRIEGH, Melchior CAMPOS, Anello CAPUANO, Javier CEREZO, Sophia CHARAÏ, Mathias DUPLESSY, Emek EVCI, Safian KENANI, Arach KHALATBARI, Safi KENANI, Khalid KOUHEN, Sébastien LETE, Manu LEHOUEZEC, Ravy MAGNIFIQUE, Thomas OSTROWIESKI, PierreRIGOPOULOS, Patrick SCHOUKROUN, Louis SORET, Hervé TEBOUL, Tzvika VOLTOCH…
(vocals, accordion, ud, saz, guitars, clarinet, violin, saxophones, bagpipes, flute, neys, hajouj, bendir, tabla, zarb, daf, derbouka, cajon, reqq, contrabass, drums...)
Influences: I was taught music by Sacha Argov. I love Leonard Cohen, Arik Einstein, Nena Venetsanou, Manos Hadjidakis, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pink Floyd, Violeta Para, Stravinsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Manuel de Falla, Paco de Lucia, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Edith Piaf, Barbara, Serge Reggiani, Hava Alberstein, Yudith Ravitz, Jacques Higelin, Shlomo Artzi, David Broza, Aric Sinai, Pablo Neruda, Nazim Himet, Paul Eluard, Oto Rene Castillo, Yonathan Geffen, Luc Romann, Habrira Hativeet, Israel Borochov, Luis Llach, Esma Redzepova, M'jid Bekkas, Kali Yag, Bruce Springsteen, Freedom Singers, Kamilya Jubran, The Klezmatics, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Okay Temiz, Nedim Nalbantoglu, Roberto de Brasov, Ehud Manor, Yossi Banai, Yehudi Menuchin, Ivry Gitlis, Mike Olfield, Al Di Meola, Sibelius…
Sounds Like: Thierry Titi Robin, Nena Venetsanou, Subramaniam, Joan Baez, East-West…
Record Label: Cherry On Top
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Rimon - Video excerpt from the Ya Salam show

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Posted by Sara Alexander on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 01:58:00 PST

EN PALESTINE

À Samer, Dina, Mahmoud, Ghidean, Imad..et tous mes autres frères et s..ursisraéliens, palestiniensmusulmans, chrétiens ou juifsqui persévèrent à tisser des liens d..amitié,par-dessus les barbelés. EN ...
Posted by Sara Alexander on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 07:05:00 PST

Non, mais sans blog !

Ok, me voici donc avec un blog. En français ? In English ? Be Hivrit. Pour ceux qui se retrouveront ici, je mettrai en ligne des extraits de mon livre Shalom ! Salam !, des poèmes et textes de chanso...
Posted by Sara Alexander on Sat, 14 Oct 2006 06:47:00 PST