Pharaoh's Daughter @ HotHouse, Bnai Tikvah

Growing up in Ashkenzic Orthodox Boro Park NY, Basya Schechter longed for the exotic culture of the eastern Jews and found it in the melodies and rhythms of Jews from Algeria, Kurdistan, Syria. She retuned her guitar like an Turkish Saz and assembled Pharaoh’s Daughter, which like its namesake, plucks elements of Jewish cultures from the river of obscurity. With the presence and lyrical intesity of a singer/songwriter, Pharaoh's Daughter marries exotic middle-eastern sounds to Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and English in a riveting, contemporary fashion.

Basya Schechter formed Pharaoh's Daughter after returning from Morocco in the Spring of 1995. It was her last trip to the Middle East and Africa which included Israel, Egypt, Central Africa, Turkey, Kurdistan and Greece. Inspired by these new cultures, she began playing her guitar to sound like a cross between an Arabic oud and a Turkish saz, with harmonic minor melodies, and odd rhythms.. And in doing so, she created a brand of music that combines her religious Jewish spiritual music background, world beat, and the intense lyrical detail of a Pop singer/songwriter.

Over the last five years Pharaoh's Daughter has built their following in New York City, performing in the Knitting Factory, the Living Room and Makor. Basya has also traveled on a month long tour through Germany, Netherlands and Czech Republic, in May of 2000, with world percussionist, Jarrod Cagwin in coffee houses, jazz clubs, theatres, and Creperies. In July 2000 the full band was invited to Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of a weeklong UK Mini Tour in the Tenth London Biannual Jewish Music Festival. In June in New York, they played at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center in front of 6,000 people in the 25th Annual Yiddish Music Festival, as well as headlining at Symphony Space in a benefit concert for low income housing.

The band has been featued at numerous Jewish music festivals throughout the world and is reagularly featured at New York venues like Makor and Knitting Factory. Pharaoh's Daughter released their first CD, "Daddy's Pockets" in February 1999. They received critical acclaim from the Jewish Week, Downtown Music Gallery, and New Voices. The first track on that album, "Niggun," served as the opening song of Pearl Gluck's documentary film, "The Couch." Their second CD, "Out of the Reeds," was released on the JAM (Jewish Alternative Music) branch of Knitting Factory Records in April 2000.

The album and the band features band-mates Tracey Love-Wright (vocals, flute clarinet, kornermuse) a classically trained musician and a Renaissance street performer, Martha Colby (cello, vocals), a Berkley graduate versed in Jazz, classical, and World Music, Jen Gilleran, (tabla, vocals), a percussionist who studies with North Indian tabla master, Benoir (electric guitar, vocals), a jazz music graduate immersed in Brazilian and African styles, Jarrod Cagwin (dumbek, frame drums, hadjini drum), graduate of Berkley, who studied South Indian drumming with tritchi Sankara, and frame drums with Jaimee Haddad and Glenn Velez. Drummer/Percussionist, Tomer Tzur has recently joined the band, infusing the music with his groovy Middle Eastern musical expression. Each of these musicians brings an instrumental mastery as well as a sincere and individual, personal expression. Together, Pharaoh's Daughter crafts music that comforts with its meditative qualities and energizes with exploding eclectic grooves. They are currently working on pre-production for their third album.

Sound Clips

• Im Ein Ani Li Mi Li
• Hamavdil
• Shnirele Perele
• Ija Mia

Tickets: $15 on secure ticketweb.com

Presented as part of KFAR's concert series