David Saltiel

David Saltier has been called "probably the last of the old-style Judeo-Spanish singers from Salonica." Accompanied by oud, violin, frame drum, and cymbalom, Saltier takes a fresh approach to centuries-old songs, singing in Ladino, a Yiddish-like blend of Hebrew and Spanish. A native of Thessalonkia in Salonica, a port city in Greece between Athens and Istanbul near Macedonia and Bulgaria, Saltier has been recording since the 1950s. His 1997 album Berlin, Germany was followed by Jewish-Spanish Songs of Thessalonika the following year. ~ Craig Harris