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Purists were skeptical when Sarah Aroeste debuted her Ladino rock 'n' roll band back in 2001. Most artists singing in the fading Sephardic language were traditionalists, performing classical versions of songs dating to the Jews' expulsion from Spain in 1492.
But here was Aroeste, mixing rock and jazz with the flamenco and Middle Eastern-tinged music of her ancestors, singing those same lush romances accompanied by electric guitar as well as oud. And, the New York press noted, she was doing so while performing with a bare midriff and gyrating hips -- moves that led several publications to label her "The Jewish Shakira."