>> Stephen Winick: Welcome.
I'm Stephen Winick of
the American Folklife Center of
the Library of Congress.
For many years we have
presented the Homegrown Concert
series featuring the best in
folk music and dance from around
the world at the Library of
Congress in Washington.
On September 14, 2023, we are
presenting Nani Noam Vazana,
a singer and musician who
performs in Ladino or
Judeo-spanish, the language
associated with Sephardic Jews.
Nani is also unusual in being
one of the very few artists in
the world to be writing new
songs in Ladino, which is mostly
associated with late medieval
ballads and traditional folk songs.
When we can, we like to do interviews 
with our homegrown artists,
so I am here with Nani Noam Vazana,
so she can tell us
about her tradition and her music.
Welcome and thank you for the interview.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Thank you for having me, Steve.
It's nice to be here.
>> Stephen Winick: So could you begin
by saying your own name for us so that
people will hear it pronounced
more correctly than I just did?
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
You did perfectly, actually.
That was perfect.
>> Stephen Winick: Excellent.
So, I'm going to ask you
some questions about
your background first.
So where are you from originally?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I was born in Israel,
in the north of Israel, in Haifa.
But my family comes from Morocco.
The-- Yeah, actually, 
they have several roots.
Some of them came from 
Casablanca. Some of them came
from Fes. Some of them 
came from Tangier.
>> Stephen Winick: Great. And we'll
talk about your ancestral home in a
little bit but in Israel,
did you grow up with family
members who sing and play music?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: 
No. I'm actually the only person
in my family that plays 
music. Funnily enough.
So I didn't have that 
inspiration, but I really wanted
to play music.
My parents actually tell me
that when I was a baby, when I
heard like classical music, I
would like, stop crying and
start listening.
So then I guess they played me
a lot of good music when I was a
child or a baby even.
So that was a good influence.
>> Stephen Winick:
That always helps. Yeah.
And what about sort of music 
education in Israel?
Do you-- Is music taught in
school and do you get good
exposure there?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Not really in 
regular school, but I went to music
school when I was five years old.
I asked to learn the piano and
I was lucky enough that my
parents were convinced it took
some time to convince them.
But yeah, so I just went to
like a private, or actually
municipal music school, which
is not the same as the regular
school. It's an after school activity.
>> Stephen Winick: And what styles of
music were you learning there?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Classical
music, like Bach and Mozart.
>> Stephen Winick: So were you 
initially a piano player or...
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Yeah, originally
the first instrument I've studied was
piano, but I also play trombone.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. And that's
kind of an interesting facet of your music.
And one of the things that we
noticed when seeing you perform
live was how beautiful your
trombone actually is.
So we wonder if you would show us your
instrument and talk a 
little bit about it.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Sure. I have it right here.
>> Stephen Winick:
All right, cool.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: So, I mean, it's 
in such a beautiful shape, isn't it?
And It has many facets.
Like, on my first album that
I released, you can see me
really holding the trombone
in front of the camera.
And then, you know, like, it
looks like a sun because the
spotlight was directed to the
trombone and it just looks so
beautiful. And we took that
photo and we used it for the
album cover, but also the tone.
I mean, I guess I started
playing trombone because
I wanted to sing lower.
And then like playing piano,
I was accompanying myself while
singing, but my voice is--
It has a big range, but I mean,
it sounds high.
And then I don't have the range
of a tenor and this is the way
that I can expand that range.
>> Stephen Winick:
That's great. Yeah.
So initially, were you also
singing classical music?
Singing, you know, sort of
mainstream classical songs?
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Well, not originally.
I only started studying
classical music-- classical
singing, let's say, 
at the age of 21.
So before that, I was more
focused on just transcribing
songs that I've heard on the
radio writing my own songs.
Funnily enough, in English.
Yeah, I wrote in Hebrew as well,
but I haven't written in Ladino
until I was like 27, 28.
That came-- This connection
came kind of late in my life.
>> Stephen Winick: So one thing that
might be interesting to people is some
background on the relationship
between Ladino and Sephardic
Judaism in general and Israel.
How has that facet of Jewish
culture represented in the
national culture?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I wouldn't
say it's mainstream at all.
I mean, it's kind of a secret language.
My dad was kind of anticlimactic
to everything that happened
in Morocco because his family...
They kind of came as
refugees to Israel.
I mean, not that they were
hurt specifically, but there was
a terrorist attack at the same
school that where my father's
brothers were studying.
And then they were not hurt,
but other kids got hurt.
And then they thought,
'Oh, this is the time to leave.'
And in the 50s, they just came
to Israel, I guess, to escape
persecution and, he felt
like he wanted to leave
everything behind. So then he
closed off and we were not
allowed to speak Ladino at home.
We're not allowed to 
speak Arabic at home.
So, I mean, I only spoke Ladino
with my grandmother, kind of in
secret, like when we were alone.
And she would-- we would cook.
And then she would say, 
"Hey, this is how you say pot,"
and "This is how you say pan,"
you know, and
"This is how you say beans,"
or something like that, you know.
And she would sing a song or
tell me a story that I've never
heard before because these
stories were unknown at school.
We never heard these stories.
Other kids-- When I told these
stories to other kids, they were
like, "Where did you hear that
story?" But apparently later on,
when I did some research to
write my own songs in Ladino,
I found out that these were like
traditional Sephardic fairy
tales. So I grew up in a world
that I didn't really know.
A part of it was not very
familiar to me, but at the same
time, it was interesting and
secretive and magical, so I
wanted to find out more about it.
>> Stephen Winick: Great. And
you've told a story before about
your grandmother and you are going
to Morocco to perform in a jazz festival
and just suddenly being struck
by a connection to your grandmother.
Could you tell us a little bit about that?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Sure.
My grandmother passed away
when I was 12 and I kind of lost
contact with that culture.
The Sephardic culture.
And I was studying classical music.
I was writing my own songs.
And then I started establishing
myself as a singer songwriter
and I could say maybe indie
jazz songwriter.
And then I was already having
quite a successful career, like
traveling the world with my songs.
And then at one point I was
invited to play at a jazz
festival in Morocco in Tangier,
and but it was the first time I
visited Morocco. I never went
there before, which is also
funny, you know, like you're
23, 24, and you never visited
your grandparents home 
country, hometown.
So then I thought like, Oh,
that's an opportunity to do that
and to look for a little bit of
roots, see the house where they
grew up, etcetera.
So I went to Fes, and on the
third day when I was walking
down the street, I heard people
singing a familiar melody.
It was some kind of a street party.
I don't even know what 
kind of holiday it was.
I tried to find out from people
who were like walking around,
but they-- None of them spoke
English, so it was difficult to
find out. But there was like
a procession and people singing
and more people joined.
And and then it then it came
clear to me that I've heard that
melody at my grandmother's house.
She's used to sing this 
when I was a child.
And this is how I got reconnected 
with Ladino, because
it kind of found me.
I didn't look for it, 
but it found me back.
And when I came back home, I
started researching some
more songs, trying to find out
more about my heritage.
And luckily enough, I was 
drawn to the materials.
So I just started jamming with
friends, you know, just trying
to find out what I feel about it.
It was not a plan to release 
a record or anything.
We just did a little jam at home.
We put two songs on YouTube and
it blew up, blew up.
It was like half a million
views right away,
and it felt right.
It's-- But then we played 
like these covers, these
standards, like all time favorite 
Sephardic songs for
about two years on tour.
And then it became apparent to
me that I can't continue to do
that without writing my own songs.
And then I thought I'm not
able to do that because I didn't
believe in myself that I could
learn the language well enough
and do that.
And then again, I was lucky.
The Amsterdam Roots Festival
approached me and they
asked if I could suggest a
program revolving around Ladino.
And then I came up with that
idea that, 'Well, I want to
write, so if they're offering
me a year of residency, why
don't I just go study Ladino
with a scholar and then learn
how to write in Ladino?'
And that's what I did. I did it
for two years, took some lessons
in Leiden. It's another city in
the Netherlands.
And I got reconnected to
the language and now I write
songs in Ladino.
>> Stephen Winick: All right, So, in that
first phase, when you were getting
into Ladino and Ladino songs,
where do you go if you
want to become a ladino singer?
What's your pathway?
want to become a ladino singer?
What's your pathway?
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
For me, it was very...
associative.
I mean, I wasn't really--
I wasn't thinking I want to
become a ladino singer or I want--
I did know at a certain
point I wanted to write my own songs.
And then when I did that, I
went to study with a scholar,
to learn the language better.
I visited the Etz Hayim
library, which is like the
oldest Jewish library in the
Netherlands, and to look for texts.
So ancient texts because not a lot 
of modern people write in Ladino.
So ancient texts because not a lot 
of modern people write in Ladino.
So it's not like you can go 
and buy a poetry book.
So I had to go back to the
original manuscript, like really
religious texts, to get 
some references.
It was very hard to find
secular texts.
There was a professor I
studied with that helped me find
some secular texts. And then I
started composing existing texts.
And then and then I based
new songs, new texts that
I wrote on like the same
template, you could say, of
the old text. So I would just
take an old sentence.
It's not really a language that
has like a distinct grammatical
structure, right?
So I would just take a sentence
from an old poem or from an old
play, and then I would say, "I
want to say something else, but
can I fit these words into
this template?"
And then I would show it to the
professor and he was like,
"Oh, that's correct," or 
"That's incorrect,"
"You need to change this and that."
And I sent him back and forth
my texts for reviews, and he did
some corrections and eventually
it was ready to be composed.
some corrections and eventually
it was ready to be composed.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah. All right. Yeah.
I mean, that's-- I think that's a
common way for folks who are
starting out in a musical 
tradition to
compose new songs is to take
the old texts and kind of rework
them or write new words that
fit in that same template.
But it's great that you have a
mentor, a professor, who can
look at these texts and tell
you whether, you know, you pretty
much have it. Because of
course, Ladino is quite an
unusual language. There aren't
that many people around who are
studying it. So what's your
professor's name, if you don't
mind telling us?
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Yonatan Benavides.
Well, thank you for helping Nani
with these great songs because
it's a great gift to the world to
have new songs in Ladino.
And one of the things that I
was driving out there and
I'm glad that you talked
about it was the importance of,
you know, archives and
libraries, because that's what
we do here at the Library of
Congress.
So we're always glad to
to find out how people,
you know, use library resources in
in their performance life.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: So I was
excited when you invited me, by the way.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: So I was
excited when you invited me, by the way.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, we are
super excited to have you, absolutely.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, we are
super excited to have you, absolutely.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I'm basically
a nerd in disguise. [Laughing]
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, I think
all of us at the Library of Congress are
nerds, and I don't disguise it
as well as you do.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
I'm not trying to disguise it,
but like, people who
see you as a musician, they
think, 'Oh, you're cool.'
But when when we strike up a
conversation, you're like,
'Oh, you're kind of intellectual.'
'What's that about?'
[Laughing]
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
So you've you moved to
Amsterdam to pursue your career.
So talk about the scene in
Amsterdam and how it supports
such a wide variety of music,
including yours.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: The scene
in Amsterdam is very much changing,
especially in the last four
years, because the priorities
have shifted, government wise.
There are different funds and
different festivals that support
different kinds of art.
And in the last four years you
see a lot a big shift towards
pop and urban music.
Before that, there was more--
I felt that there was more room
for experimental and-- Well, I
wouldn't call it folk because
they don't really encourage
folk. They encourage crossover,
or they used to encourage
crossover jazz in particular
experimental jazz and some...
Global roots? I wouldn't even
call it global roots because
it's really like a crossover--
a fusion of pop and global roots.
And then at the moment, it
feels like there is a big shift
towards pop music and rock
music and urban music that is
more-- I don't know if that's a
fashion thing or
that's because that's how they
feel they will actually get
connected to the younger generations.
But I feel that our type of
music is getting overlooked a
little bit at this day and age.
little bit at this day and age.
In 2018, there were still
grants available for our
type of music on a larger scale, 
and now it's a little bit
less inclusive.
And I hope to see more projects
like that rise up and claim
their turf really, because
there's so much beautiful
diversity in the Netherlands in
terms of cultural backgrounds.
I don't know if you've
heard that recently
the Dutch government offered
their apologies for--
reparations for slavery,
and this was a big event for the
first time. Ketikoti, which
means cutting the chains.
And it has always been an
event for me because I always
went to these events, but they
were always small, and this year
was the first time that it was
a big event and also receive
national recognition.
So I hope that we will follow
in the path of admiring and
recognizing these cultural
groups and try to support them
as much as we can.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, and that
will entail political action, but also
cultural musical action as well.
And so, yeah, so we
certainly hope that musical
diversity continues to be
supported in the Netherlands and
throughout the world.
I'm sorry to hear that,
it seems to be getting tougher
for artists who do the kind of
music that you do.
But I also know that you're
involved in sort of cultural
activism in general, but, you
know, music activities that
support music as well as the
music itself.
So I guess we'll talk about
that in a little bit.
But I do want to talk about
your musical career a little bit more.
I mean, I know you
mentioned that you started to
get involved in both traditional 
Sephardic songs and
then later in writing your own
Ladino songs, and I wonder how
you came to have then a
recording career.
So I know, you know.
Tell us a little bit about the
genesis of your first Ladino
recording project.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
It happened right here in this
living room, and maybe that's
why I chose to broadcast from here.
It was really nothing
that I expected.
I thought we were going to
record a demo.
We recorded a live.
I was with guitar singing and
an instrument from the 80s that
was called ewi. It's like an
electric saxophone kind of
thing. And we just jammed
and then we thought like,
'Okay, we'll record a bunch of things,
then we can listen back and then
we will rearrange them and make
an actual production.'
And after listening to the
tracks, we thought it was-- it
could stand alone on its own.
But then it wasn't--
It wasn't in a quality that you
could mix it to be a
fantastic recording because
everything was recorded
at the same time.
And we couldn't separate the
channels because there was
bleed. So we actually put it
out as is for free online and we
got a lot of downloads.
And then at a certain point
people said like, "Why don't you
do like a crowdfunding project
and just produce a better
recording?" And we did that with
the new record, "Ke haber" which means
"what is new" in Ladino,
if you don't mind,
I have the vinyl here.
I'm very, very proud of it.
>> Stephen Winick: Oh, please show us.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Artwork is amazing.
>> Stephen Winick: Oh, there it is.
Beautiful. Wow, that's great.
Yeah.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
And, it's--
I think it's like the most
amazing artwork I've ever had.
It's made by liquids and...
And it's like, really capturing
What I'm trying to do, like
looking into the past to see the
future. And this is why you can
see also this emerging character
from the darkness, but
then into something that is very
lit that looks like a sunset 
at the same time.
So you're like, 'Something is
coming out of this world, but
something is coming into this
world at the same time.'
So, this is-- This was kind
of the atmosphere that I
want to create with the record.
The first one, the one we've
discussed previously that was
recorded in this living room
was called Andalusian Room.
And that was just the
standards, the 12, you know,
most known songs of 
Sephardic tradition.
So from Monica to Adio,
Querida, every single one of
them is a hit. And in the
new record, it's all
unknown songs that I've 
written myself.
And one of the most
beautiful compliments that I
that I received ever about this
record was actually in a review
in a magazine in the Czech Republic.
And they said, "Nani managed to
write an album of new songs that
sound familiar, although she
wrote it herself."
So like, I hope that it does
justice to the tradition
somehow, or at least let people
think about what is old and how
you can recreate that in--
And connect to people, you
know, in my generation.
I guess it's also kind of 
my inspiration.
It's not only about inspiring
myself, but also trying to
inspire others to follow their
own story because...
>> Stephen Winick:
Absolutely. Yeah.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Yeah.
It's not only about yourself.
Like you're a part of a
community now, once you've
released these songs,
They're a part of the world.
They're not yours.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah. 
Could you say a little about that?
About the sort of global
Sephardic community and how
they've accepted or
commented on your work?
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
It depends who you ask.
Some some people find it
amazing and exciting.
The new music is being written
in Ladino and they are really
appreciative of what I do.
And you can see them in the shows.
They come, and they come to
talk to me afterwards.
And some of them have like a
tear in their eyes.
And it's fantastic to see.
And the fact that we can strike
up a conversation about
something so old and make it so
relevant is amazing to me.
And then there is also a minority
of people that would
say that it's not the way to do
it, that it's not tradition.
Some of them say that I don't
pronounce the words in
the correct way, which is
actually a choice.
I decided to go with more
Spanish Castilian accent rather
than the old, older accent
because I want to make the music
accessible for everyone.
And it's more important to me
that it will reach as many young
people than that it will be
like the exact replica of what
we used to do in the past. I
also don't sing in the same way
that other Ladino singers sing.
That's also maybe something
that has to be mentioned that
most Ladino repertoire or
recordings, they focus on the
embellishments of the voice and
not so much on the beautiful
melody. And I guess maybe
that's also because I've studied
opera singing that I really
like focusing on the bel canto,
like the beautiful singing, the
real melody, and not so much
about the ego of the singer
that wants to be heard or show
off in a way. I'm not interested
in showing off.
I'm interested in, I don't
know, being emotional?
Is that something? For me,
it's more genuine that way.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, it is-- There are
different approaches and you
have to pick one and go with it.
But one thing that I
noticed that you said was that
you go with a more Castilian
kind of Spanish approach to
Judeo-spanish. And of course
it's a language that's
spoken in so many countries by
people who are bilingual in so
many different languages that
there are so many different ways
of speaking it across the world.
And is that one of the reasons
why you chose this Spanish
path, the Castilian path?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I really don't 
think that we know what it sounded like.
And and for me, it has to be
accessible and beautiful at the
same time. I don't know if you
know, like in the 14th century
when there were Jews,
there was this council that came
together to choose the most
beautiful strand of Italian, you
know, And they were like, 
"Yeah, we're going to go with
443
00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:55,670
Dante's work because that's
the most beautiful Italian we know.
And after that, everything was
written with that dialect.
I mean, for me, the Spanish 
Castilian accent, you
know, it's the most
beautiful accent that that
exists and that-- maybe I don't
know them all.
It's also possible, you know.
I'm not saying that I know
everything, but when I chose 
to sing this music, I felt
like I want to make it as
beautiful as I can.
And then I chose this accent
because I liked it.
And is it right? Is it wrong?
I don't know. Why do people
still shoot in black and white
when they make film?
It's a choice.
It's because it's cool, you know?
You also have to do
something that means
something to you or feels right
to you, because otherwise it's
not art. it's becoming
less subjective and you
want it to be subjective in arts.
want it to be subjective in arts.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, I think also there's a--
There might be a danger that
if you chose to try to do
it in a specifically Moroccan
way, let's say, that, you
know, Serbian Sephardic Jews
might see that as foreign in
some way or as different from
what they do. So there's also
that, that the community itself
is not monolithic and there's
just different varieties out
there. So by coming at it as a
kind of an outsider with a
family connection, it kind of,
you know, you're kind of in the
middle of all of these
traditions in a certain way.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Yeah, I mean, I'm always an
outsider, I think.
It doesn't matter what I do so...
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Yeah. And also, one thing that
I speak about are, like, not
exactly mainstream, right?
They are... They're pregnant.
They raise questions like--
the professor that I mentioned,
They raise questions like--
the professor that I mentioned
before that I took lessons with.
He showed me some texts, like
ancient texts from the 13th
century and in the 11th century
that portray homo erotic poetry
that were written by rabbis.
I mean, it's like-- And then I
went and composed the song out
of a combination of these texts.
And when I published it, people
were like,
"Hey, are you outing our rabbi?"
"Like, What is going on here?"
[Laughing]
And they didn't like it.
Even that same professor, he
renounced the connection between us.
He said, "I've never shown
her these texts."
These texts don't exist.
Of course they exist. So,
like what--
But what is the point?
I mean, like, how closed off
are we if we cannot discuss,
openly, things like that?
And were they more advanced
than us in the 13th century if
they already had this in the open?
So I don't know.
We say that we are advanced, but
sometimes I'm not so sure.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah.
Well, that opens the question of
if you want to talk about more
contemporary issues and your
initial way of writing
songs was to go to old texts
and kind of update the
language within them, but keep
the same structures.
Did you find you had to go
beyond that in order to speak
about more modern subjects?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I'm not sure. 
I mean, I guess I always write from
a modern point of view because 
I live in this world.
And even if...
I would write a time piece.
I would always write it with my
own perspective because
otherwise I'd be copying and
pasting stuff.
And if I read a novel
and it's a time piece,
I would always want to have the
author's point of view because
they cannot write from the
point of view of a person that
was living 500 years ago because 
they haven't had the experience.
So yeah, I guess...
And also maybe because-- I spoke
Ladino with my grandmother when
I was four years old, and
until 12, sort of.
So I have the perspective of a child.
So when I write in Ladino, I am
in awe with certain things that
I'm probably not in the same or
about when I write in English or
when I write in Hebrew because
I'm way too sarcastic to look at
them like this, you know?
So that's another beautiful
thing that-- That's why I also
love writing in Ladino, because
it flows so easily, because I
can just wander, and it comes out.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah.
Great. Well...[Crosstalk]
>> Nani Noam Vazana: I don't know the language
as well, but that's also liberating
at the same time.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, well, it
helps you keep a childlike perspective,
for one thing.
So that's great.
So we've talked a lot about the
songwriting and the language.
We haven't talked as much
about the music yet, and how you
arrange these songs.
So what's your approach to
arrangement for your new Ladino
songs?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Yeah, 
that's a good question.
I think that every song
is different, like every song
poses a different perspective
and hence also a different mood.
And then for me, I see musical
style as a tool to manifest emotion.
So I don't really think,
'Oh, I need to arrange it
in this style because this is
the style of the record.'
So if you look at the at the
new record, you see that it has
like three different...
Let's say sub division.
So it starts with
three songs that are more kind
of traditional...
Turkish Spanish music.
And then we go to a whole
middle part that is dominated by
Caribbean and classical
trombone music.
And then it ends with
something that is more
Crossover with jazz.
And then actually the album
closes on a thank you note.
So it's not really it's
more of a journey.
It's not like the whole record
is arranged in a certain way.
Like, for instance, I just
released a single this week.
It's called "Derecho" and it has
only four tracks of trombone and
vocals. It has nothing else, so
there are no other instruments.
And that's like a foreign
point on the album almost.
But because it's segmented in a
way that the subdivision of the
record falls into the trombone
part, it feels very natural
within the soundscape when you
reach that part of the record.
So in a way, Shuffle had
destroyed the music industry.
So I would recommend that you
listen to the record, that you
would listen to it like, you
know, in a flow and flip the
side, you know, when you have to.
But there is a reason why you
make a record and don't
only release singles, I mean
I released it as a single, but as
a single out of the record.
And there was also an order to
the release of the singles.
So yeah, they are ordered
in a certain way.
Yeah.
And then some of the other songs,
like for instance,
we have one song with Charango,
which is a Chilean string
instrument, a little bit like a
mandolin, but made from the skin
of an armadillo.
We actually have a Chilean
guitarist who also plays the
charango on the record, and 
we have this piano and
trombone and there is a cello.
Somebody asked me if it was an
electric guitar because on one
of the tracks we did put some
distortion on the cello.
What else?
Yeah, I guess that's it.
It's a pretty basic rhythm
section album.
Not a lot of strings, not a lot
of huge productions,
no electronics, percussion,
a lot of percussion from different
places. Bombo Legüero and so a
lot of Latin American instruments.
Yeah, but also darbuka, you know,
so we connect the East and the
West at the same time.
It's eclectic, I would say, but
I think, in a good way.
It's interesting.
[Crosstalk] you won't get bored.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, Yeah.
So are there, you know, either
on your local scene or
globally, any specific groups
of musicians that have
influenced your approach in
music and in arranging your own
songs?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: This is something 
that is perhaps funny to hear, but when
I was 21 years old, I made a
decision not to listen to music
anymore because I felt it
influenced my writing as a
composer.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
So I do listen sometimes.
Like, for instance, if there's
an artist that I like that
released a new album, then I
would go and listen to it once
and I won't repeat it.
I listen to new records of when
friends release a record and I
go to live shows, but I don't
play like-- I used to play on
repeat records all the time.
But because it influenced me, I
decided not to do it.
So then I couldn't say that
there is one person
specifically that inspired me
to arrange the record in that way.
Pretty much went with my
association
and what the song demanded.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, that's
an interesting approach.
And you know, the "Not
listening to music" decision is
very interesting. I think, as
you say, it's something people
don't expect to hear, but it
makes-- There's a logic to
it. That's interesting
to think about.
So now since you started
doing Ladino songs, you've had a
touring career as well, which
was , to some extent, interrupted
by the global pandemic but...
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Absolutely.
>> Stephen Winick: But what-- Do 
you have any highlights of your
touring career that you'd like
to tell us about?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Well,
the Kennedy Center was amazing.
I'm so happy that we were able
to perform there and also very
lucky that we received a
fantastic recording of the
concert. So-- It's actually on my
YouTube channel.
It's accessible for free for
everyone.
And it's really, I think, a
good representation of what
we do in order to try and
preserve the language and I also
tell a lot of stories in that
concert, try to explain why are
we doing this and how did we do
that.
So each and every-- I think
almost each and every song gets
a story or a little bit of an
explanation of what we're--
What kind of path are
we embarking on?
And I love that.
I'm happy that I had the
opportunity to play there.
I would say that the tour
we did in Vietnam in 2019 before
the pandemic started was also a
very defining moment in my
career, because for the
first time, I met an amazing
culture that was so foreign to
me that I've never met that before,
but it influenced my psyche
in such a beautiful way.
And they're so warm, so
beautiful people, so wise, so
fast and slow at the same time.
And the fact that I didn't
even know I had fans there,
you know, that's fantastic to go.
And you do three concerts
and three of these concerts are
sold out. And then people are--
I have this little clip
because they made it.
I was invited there to
represent the Netherlands at the
European Union Music Festival,
which is a little bit like the
Eurovision, but not the
popular songs.
It's like the more traditional
songs.
So then I went there to do
that and then I found out that
they used one of my songs in a
local campaign to support
transgender youth.
I did not know that, you know,
like your songs are getting used
somewhere and you don't-- You're
not always aware because
they do not necessarily
approach you.
They just do it through the
publishing company.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah.
>> Nani Noam Vazana: And it's not like
you get a contract sent out, you know, and
then like all these people
singing that I have a song
called "Hey You" that was used
for that campaign.
And then people lit the
torches on their phone and
600 people were like doing this
with their phones.
And I was like, 
"What is going on?"
"How did they know that song?"
And then later on, I was told
that this was a story and I was
like, 'Wow, what an amazing
moment to witness without
even knowing that your song
touched so many people.'
And that's why I also say it's
not so much about me.
It's not so much about us as
the songwriters, because I
believe that the ideas come to
us because they want to be
created and then we are the
ones who help them get, I don't
know, a body in this world,
that we need to collaborate
with the ideas because otherwise
none of us have a goal in this
life.
But once the ideas are born,
they're not us.
They're not ours.
So this whole ego thing,
you know, about saying,
"This is my song," or "You cannot
do this with my song," "You cannot
cover," "You cannot do this."
I don't really relate to it,
because, the song has its own entity.
And once it's out, it's out.
It's like a child. You can't
control it, you know,
after it's out there.
>> Stephen Winick:
Right. Sure.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: So, normally we 
do these interviews either right after
the concert or at least after
the concert's been recorded, if
it's one of our video premieres. 
But in this case, we
are speaking in advance of the concert.
So with the understanding that
things might change.
Could you tell us some of your
plans for your concert at the
Library of Congress?
>> Nani Noam Vazana: Well, 
I'm playing with my trio,
which are beautiful people.
And we're going to bring a lot of
interesting percussion
instruments. We have like a
whole list of notes because
we've discussed the backline
back and forth. And we're
going to do a lot of explaining
because I think the audience
there will be very receptive to
storytelling. I'm a big fan of
storytelling, so I want to tell
stories with each and every
song, and I think we will do
mainly original work, but maybe
also two traditional songs or
perhaps a cover to enhance the
experience for the audience.
But I think it's always good
to connect with something that
is familiar because then you go
straight to the heart.
>> Stephen Winick: Absolutely. Well, 
we're so looking forward to it.
And you mentioned that when you
played at the Kennedy Center,
you ended up with a nice concert 
video which will be on--
which is online. And that's
going to be the case at the
Library of Congress as well.
Yes, it will be on our YouTube
channel, on our web page and on
our blog. So we're looking
forward to presenting your
music both in person at the
Library of Congress and online
for the world to see. So we're
really looking forward to that.
So often when I end these
interviews, I ask the artist if
they have anything else that
they wanted to say that I didn't
get to. I know you have other
projects and other goals in life
besides just making music, and
I wonder if you wanted to talk
about any of that, so...
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Other goals in life, I don't
know.
This is pretty much my goal.
[Laughing]
Yeah.
I mean,
I love communication, so for
me, music is a way to make the
world better in-- Also in a
communication kind of way.
Because when you sing,
when you play music,
it's transcending a lot of limitations.
You don't necessarily need to
understand the language.
I sing in a language that
hardly nobody speaks.
And then like people literally
ask me, I was-- I did an interview
two weeks ago on Dutch radio
and the presenter literally asked me,
"Why don't you sing in English?"
Isn't that more accessible?
And I was like, "Yeah, but no,
because I'm doing this, and this
is special," and "This is why 
this is more accessible."
Imagine that I would just do
another record like Lady Gaga.
Would that be special?
It wouldn't be special.
I want to do who I am,
and then, like I said before,
inspire people to find their own
stories. And perhaps if
people want to stay in touch,
I would love to invite them to
sign up for the newsletter
because a lot of people follow
me on social media and because
of algorithms, you don't get
to see my messages.
So if you want to stay in
touch, please go to
nanimusic.com/news and sign up
for the newsletter.
Thank you so much for having 
me and for watching.
>> Stephen Winick: Thank you. And
I will say, you know, something that
you just said about communication
reminded me, you know, and
people asking, "Why don't 
you sing in English?
One of the great things about
what you've done in terms of
using Ladino, but sort of
in a Castilian way, is that
so many people in the world do
speak Spanish, that it's not a
foreign language to a vast population.
It's just a different dialect
of a language that they speak.
And so you really can communicate
with a lot of people.
And of course, for those 
of us for whom Spanish is
a second language, it's not
really that different.
It's not-- It's not really that
much harder to figure out what's
going on in Ladino than it is
to figure out what's going on in
Mexican Spanish song or
Venezuelan Spanish song,
you know, so it's just
another challenge, but it's
also a form of communication
that is very healthy, I think,
for people to be hearing things
in other languages besides
English. So we thank 
you for that as well.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Thank you.
>> Stephen Winick:
So, Nani Noam Vazana.
I guess the only thing left is
to thank you so much for doing
this interview with us and for
your concert, which we really
look forward to. So thank you
so very much.
>> Nani Noam Vazana:
Thank you so much
for interviewing and for
inviting me to do this in
person. I'm very, very honored
and happy to be a part of the
Homegrown series at 
the Library of Congress.