Winter Jazz: Songs We Carry

Songs We Carry invites the audience on an immersive journey with warm songs about history, culture and heritage through music. At the heart of the duo is a deep partnership that demonstrates Palestinian and Jewish unity and solidarity in practice. For this concert, the duo is expanded with Danish double bassist Jasper Høiby and Syrian percussionist Haneen Kiwan.

The music

Songs We Carry captivates audiences through a seamless blend of the emotional melancholy of Ladino songs and the complex maqams of Arabic music, reflecting Ana Silvera's and Saied Silbak's respective Jewish and Palestinian heritages. Høiby's dynamic bass lines add a captivating improvisational vitality, while Kiwan's authentic Middle Eastern rhythms further enrich the quartet's soundscape. This formation adds musical depth to Songs We Carry, while representing a plea for unity and common humanity through the universal language of music.

The musicians

Acclaimed British singer and multi-instrumentalist Ana Silvera and Palestinian composer, oud-virtuoso and singer Saied Silbak make up the duo Songs We Carry. For Ana Silvera, this project is deeply personal, as it is rooted in her family’s history as Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition who settled in Aleppo (at the time a part of the Ottoman Empire) in the 18th century. Ladino, the language Ana sings in, is a UNESCO endangered language, and many of the songs she will share have been nearly lost to time – until now.

Saied Silbak's journey from Shafaa'mr, a town located in the Lower Galilee of occupied Palestine, to cosmopolitan London has given his artistic expression a deep understanding of diverse musical traditions. With his virtuosity, Silbak masterfully fuses Arabic, Turkish and Indian influences with Western styles, creating his own distinctive genre-crossing soundscape.

The duo have already proven their broad appeal with appearances at venues including Amare Den Haag (NL), Sibelius Museum (FI), Melahuset (NO), Vortex Jazz Club (UK), Round Chapel, Clapton and the Royal Opera House (UK). They have also played live sessions on BBC Radio 3's In Tune and Late Lunch with Max Reinhardt on Soho Radio. They released their debut album in the autumn of 2024, culminating in a sold-out launch at Kings Place in London.