Pharaoh's Daughter

Over the last five years Pharaoh's Daughter has built their following in New York City, performing in the Knitting Factory, the Living Room and Makor. Basya has also traveled on a month long tour through Germany, Netherlands and Czech Republic, in May of 2000, with world percussionist, Jarrod Cagwin in coffee houses, jazz clubs, theatres, and Creperies. In July 2000 the full band was invited to Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of a weeklong UK Mini Tour in the Tenth London Biannual Jewish Music Festival. In June in New York, they played at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center in front of 6,000 people in the 25th Annual Yiddish Music Festival, as well as headlining at Symphony Space in a benefit concert for low income housing.

They are going to be part of documentary on ABC called Sacred Voices in December, and have been featured on WFUV, and on WBAI on a special program devoted to the discussion of Middle Eastern conflicts. Pharaoh's Daughter released their first CD, "Daddy's Pockets" in February 1999. They received critical acclaim from the Jewish Week, Downtown Music Gallery, and New Voices. The first track on that album, "Niggun," served as the opening song of Pearl Gluck's documentary film, "The Couch." Their second CD, "Out of the Reeds," was released on the JAM (Jewish Alternative Music) branch of Knitting Factory Records in April 2000.

The album and the band features band-mates Tracey Love-Wright (vocals, flute clarinet, kornermuse) a classically trained musician and a Renaissance street performer, Martha Colby (cello, vocals), a Berkley graduate versed in Jazz, classical, and World Music, Jen Gilleran, (tabla, vocals), a percussionist who studies with North Indian tabla master, Benoir (electric guitar, vocals), a jazz music graduate immersed in Brazilian and African styles, Jarrod Cagwin (dumbek, frame drums, hadjini drum), graduate of Berkley, who studied South Indian drumming with tritchi Sankara, and frame drums with Jaimee Haddad and Glenn Velez. Drummer/Percussionist, Tomer Tzur has recently joined the band, infusing the music with his groovy Middle Eastern musical expression. Each of these musicians brings an instrumental mastery as well as a sincere and individual, personal expression.

Together, Pharaoh's Daughter crafts music that comforts with its meditative qualities and energizes with exploding eclectic grooves. They are currently working on pre-production for their third album.

"... I've felt a keen desire to expand upon the contents of the songs rather than the beauty of the way they are performed, and believe me they are beautifully performed. So much so that the hypnotic and cyclical style of some items will have you reaching for the repeat button time and again. Older than the hills and younger than tomorrow, here is the ancient and most folk-oriented voice of Judaic expression - it is one you will remember ! There is musicianship here that had me riveted from the start because it has a raw, yet sophisticated flow and is of a calibre I've not heard in Jewish social music since the days of Hillel and Aviva.
I want more of this band, much more ! They are so good !"
-----Derek Reid, Folk Roots Magazine (August-September 2000)
http://www.pharaohsdaughter.com/

Exile
9/30/02
I was a little worried at first when I heard the new Cd advertised as …beautifully executed pop songs with a touch of Middle Eastern Melodies….all I heard was pop and got real nervous, thinking Donnie Osmond or worst The Bee Gees. Of course I knew my mind was playing games, Basya Schechter and her talented musicians can only produce the antithesis of western pop. It's a matter of how you define pop and in some context, other than mine, the above description may be fairly accurate.

To me the Middle Eastern part of this dominates, and that's what makes Pharoah's Daughter extraordinary. On the first cut "Change Your Mind", I actually sense a little Natalie Merchant in Basya's voice and phrasing, but the mood is a modern new age spirituality. Second up, Going Nowhere is a magnificent blend of exotic Eastern sounds and rhythms and just a touch of western pop influences perhaps defines the trend and direction of this recording.

"Exile" in particular and some other cuts had a vague familiarity about them that took me awhile to relate with Ingrid Karklins and her Riga background especially with respect to her classic recording…….."Animal Mundi."

All the selections have deep spiritual roots, mostly revealed by the lyrics. When truth or the divine is revealed you know immediately, no need to question, no need to ponder, just enjoy the connection. "Man In My Head" , "Off and On" and "Break It Down" are good examples of the wisdom and pitfalls of the spiritual path.

The music always has a haunting undefined and surprising twist to it. I feel the unfamiliar mixed with obscure familiarity that keeps me off balanced and not able to predict the next phrase or direction. "Paradise Hung" is a new and quite astonishing look at our concepts of creation and the relationship between man and woman and the origins of our myths and beliefs.

Exile was produced by Fred Rubens who put his whole heart and creativity into the project as well as Albert Leusink who put himself completely into the mixing.

I would say without question, this album is a masterpiece and will be high in my top ten selections for 2002. It's replete with surprises at every corner aided by exotic instruments melodies and ground breaking experimentation.

I do very few reviews, mostly because I don't have time, secondly because I don't think I'm very good at it, but when I do one, it's because the music really moves me and I want to some way express that to others.

Jack Sutton…harmony ridge music