Sefarad was a Sephardic music band from Turkey. The band's name is an ancient Jewish name for Spain, the homeland of Sephardi Jews and the Ladino language that derived from Old Spanish, and which is in danger of language extinction among the Turkish Jewish community. Its members were Sami Levi (soloist), Cem Stamati (bass guitarist) and Ceki Benşuşe (guitarist).
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Sefarad’s repertoire consisted of two versions: the original almost forgotten Ladino songs they know from their Sephardic heritage, and Turkish translations of these songs, which some of them were translated and written by them. Musically speaking, Sefarad mixes Goran Bregovic's Balkan style with trumpets, kanun, tumbek, duduk and other Middle-Eastern instruments, typical Turkish pop music passages, and the unique quality of Turkish vocal style of the soloist Sami Levi, making it what they describe as Jewish ethno-music.[1]
Among their hit singles are "Osman Ağa", "Istanbul'dan Üsküdar'a Yol Gider", "Bodrum", "Ben seni severim", "Los Bilbilikos", "Vakti geldi", "Si veriyas a la rana", "Los Kaminos de Sirkeci" and "Seni ne çok sevdiğimi."