Artist: Various Title: Oh, Lovely Parrot - Jewish Women's Songs From Kerala (India) Category: Sephardic - India

Order #: 01395 Edited from the accompanying book: For centuries, Cochin Jewish women have been singing Jewish songs in the Malayalam language of Kerala, their ancient homeland on the tropical southwest coast of India. A few are typical Kerala Òparrot songsÓ addressedto lovely colorful birds like those portrayed in the Ketubba, pictured on the cover of this CD. Many of the songs are biblical narratives spiced with midrash. some songs are devotional hymns, and some are blessings for particular occasions, and a small group are 20th century Zionist songs in Malayalam, preparing the Cochin Jews for aliyah, immigration to Israel. While Kerala Jewish women and men shared and sang together a unique repertoire of Hebrew piyyutim, it was the women alone who performed Malayalam-language Jewish songs, performed without instrumental accompaniment. While in many traditional Jewish communities women have not been allowed to sing where a man might hear their voices, this was not so in Kerala Jewish life. Women sang at parties inthe presence of men, and though Malayalam songs were not ordinarily sung in the synagogue, women did join men there with full voice in singing Hebrew prayers and songs. Half the songs are from field recordings made between 1972 and 1981, when therewere still older Kochini women in Israel and India who actively remembered the songs. The rest are recent recordings (2001 - 2002) recorded at the National Sound Archives in Jerusalem by members of a new Kochini womenÕs group in Israel. This 43 song CDis contained in a beautiful deluxe hard-cover 126 page booklet --90 in English and 30 in Hebrew explaining the songs. All songs are translated in English.

Tracks:
1.   All Songs are in the Malayalam Language: Our Ancient Hope
2.   Parrot Song
3.   Dressed In Gold
4.   Golden Palanquin
5.   The Elegantly Adorned Bride
6.   Dwelling In The Field
7.   Gold Clad Body
8.   After The Bath
9.   The Nobel Bridegroom
10.   Our Bridegroom, Our Bride, Prosper, Prosper
11.   In The Ship
12.   Oh Singing Bird
13.   A Green Bird
14.   The Song of Evaray
15.   Tekkumbhagam-Kochi Palli Song
16.   Tekkumbhagam-Ernakulam Palli Song
17.   Song For the Dedication of a Torah Scroll
18.   Mother Sarah
19.   Yossef HaTzaddiq
20.   Baby Moses Taken From The Water
21.   Hidden God!
22.   Redeemed From Egypt
23.   When Moses Received Knowledge
24.   David and The Mosquito
25.   Ten Songs of King Solomon
26.   The Document Box
27.   Hanukkah Song
28.   Blessing Song
29.   Blessing For The Bridegroom
30.   Happiness To The Bridegroom
31.   Our Food
32.   Open Your Gate
33.   Each and Every Day
34.   Creator Who Gave Discernment
35.   The Messenger of Good Tidings Proclaims
36.   Our Country
37.   Herzl The Great And Glorious
38.   The Fifth of Iyyar
39.   It Is Dawning
40.   We Will Not Be Destroyed
41.   The Flag of Israel
42.   Golden Aliyah
43.   Our Ancient Hope