Sarah Aroeste's Sephardic Rock Band sizzles in Chicago.

With a bare midriff and Mediterranean eyes, singer Sarah Aroeste has been called the Jewish Shakira," reinterpreting music of her ancient Sephardic heritage from Salonika, Greece and Spain.

The recent Istanbul synagogue bombings remindes us of the precarious nature of the remaining Sephardic Jewish communities throughout the former Ottomon Empire.

The Jews brought their Ladino (medieval Castillian mixed with Turkish and Hebrew) language with them to Izmir, Istanbul and other centers where they became an important part of Turkish society following the explusion from Spain.

Yet this community is clearly under threat, and the nearby Greek Sephardic communities, nearly wiped out in the Holocaust.

KFAR Jewish Arts Center's presentation of Sepahrdic singer Sarah Aroeste at the HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo in the Loop (Saturday, December 6th, 9pm) reminds us of the beauty and importance of the community of the Turkish and Greek Jewish communities, highlighting their music and Ladino language.

With a bare midriff and Mediterranean eyes, singer Sarah Aroeste has been called the Jewish Shakira," reinterpreting music of her ancient Sephardic heritage from Salonika, Greece and Spain.

Aroeste performs in Ladino, the Spanish based language of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. It was used by Sephardic Jews throughout the Mediterranean, absorbing elements of Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Portuguese, French, Italian and Hebrew. Though easily understood by Spanish speakers, this sexy pan-Mediterranean tongue is now rarely spoken.

Aroeste revives this Greek Sephardic musical tradition with pop-rock takes on 500 year-old Romanceros, traditional Ladino songs. Like her family name, which means "of the West," Sarah fuses traditional eastern sounds of oud and dumbek with western electric guitar and a strong American rock and blues sound, the Sarah Aroeste band is as diverse as Sephardic culture itself.

Ethnic eclecticism from a sultry warbler of Greek-Jewish-Spanish ancestry...Shakira eat your heart out!" - The Village Voice

Saturday December 6th 9:00pm

$12 @ the door, $10 advance tickets on sale at:

·         HotHouse

·         Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

·         Rosenblums Judaica, and

·         Online at www.kfarcenter.com