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".....Levi's angelic voice takes you on a journey through the mediterenian,combining sounds from spain and turkey..." Ynet review ,israel 2005

from Erez, Ynet Israel, 2005
Smadar Levi was born and raised in Sderot Israel, but her musical career took off in New York City. Tomorrow she is arriving for a rare performance in Israel.

Sometimes one needs to travel as far as New York in order to comeback to one's musical roots. Smadar was born in Sderot, Israel, and remembers herself singing from a young age. "My main source of inspiration came from the records that were at home. From Farid el-atrash, Um Kultum, and Abdel-u-hab. But mainly from my parents", she says, "my father would play Darbuka, mainly for joy and I would join in singing in front of the family and guests."

Her debute album, entitled Smadar, which was recently released independently, represents a fast paced eclectic musical journey of traditional and original scores. These include Egyptian, Hebrew, and Ladino songs, as well as Gypsy music peppered with an electronic sound. Smadar was blessed with an enchanting and powerful voice, and while her wide ranging musical repertoire is impressive, one gets the feeling that she would benefit from narrowing her creative focus and taking her love of Arabic and Spanish music to greater emotional hights. Tomorrow, Smadar will perform at the Camalot in Hertzleliya Israel, featuring the lgendery Ahova Ozeri.

Smadar spent most of her childhood at a farm school in Ben-Shemen, where she developed her musical talents. "My parents did not want me or my siblings to grow up in Sderot during that time, as a result most of us grew up in boarding schools and kibbutzem." After her army service, which stymied her creative development, Smadar decided, with the help of her family, to move to New York. "They made it clear to me that the road to success in art and music goes through New York." "So I packed myself up, said my goodbyes, and went to try my luck in New York."

Suprisingly, when she arrived in Manhattan Smadar decided to put her music career on hold, and concentrate her energy and efforts on acting classes. At the conclusion of her studies, Smadar managed to squeeze out a living by means of theater, commercials, and small movie roles. After eight years, Smadar lost interest in the acting profession, and decided to return to the world of music.

As fate would have it, during this time Smadar met Rashid Halial, a reputable Moroccan singer and violinist. "We connected really well, and he began to teach me songs in Arabic. Slowly, I remembered the music that I heard and grew up with at home. We decided to form a Moroccan trio, and for the next six months we performed traditional Arabic and Moroccan material in New York City to a mix audience. Our music was from the soul and I enjoyed the experience very much."

Gradually, Smadar incorporated herself into the music scene in New York. This lead to her being exposed to other like-minded artists and producers. Smadar participated in the recording of a number of projects, which include Spy From Cairo with Zeb and the Sultana Ensemble. In addition, she managed to get a financial investment which enabled her to record her debute CD. The moment that the window of opportunity was opened, Smadar began her journey to find musicians that would play on her CD. She collaborated with producers Shay Bachar (Ishtar) and Tamir Muscat from the band Balkan Beatbox.

After the completion of her debute CD, Smadar's passion took her to Spain where she performed with local musicians and came to the realization that Andalusian music with its linguistic fusion of Arabic and Spanish is her cup of tea. From then on, the majority of her artistic activity were directed towards the Mediterranean style. "I wanted to form a band whose members would all be from different parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. When I returned to New York, I went searching for my band in clubs that played this type of music. I listened to many amazing musicians, and shared with them my vision. To my delight, my musical direction resonated with some of them, and today the band is made up of Israelis, Turks, Lebanese, and Arabs. Our music is based on Turkish rhythms seasoned with a Gypsy sound. We try to remain tied to our Mediterranean roots, without religious or nationalistic boundaries. In the music everybody is equal."

Despite the short notice regarding her show in Israel, Smadar will perform with half her original band from New York, the other half consisting of local musicians. "In the show we will focus on traditional and original rhythm based Mediterranean-Gypsy music. I will sing in Spanish, Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew, and we hope that the crowd will be into it."

What is next? Smadar dreams of continuing to live off the music. "I hope to always create. I dream simple dreams, but for me they are big. I am happy to discover that in Israel people are undergoing a musical transformation. The talent in Israel is just as apparent as it is in New York. I am for opening up the heart to different styles of music, that is what deepens the connection between the musicians and the audience. It breaths life into the soul."

Erez, Ynet Israel, 2005