Toronto’s Aviva Chernick found herself drawn from the vague boundaries of her world-music band toward a more specific destination—the musical traditions of Sephardic Jewry. Forced from Spain in the 15th century and settling in the Balkans, the Sephardic Jewish repertoire is replete with yearning, suitable for the pure tones of Chernick’s voice. Although she studied with America’s most recognized proponent of Sephardic music, Nona Flory, Chernick casts the legacy in a contemporary electro-acoustic key. La Serena’s strongest track, “From the Narrows,” moves on a turbulent undercurrent as she sings a psalm in Hebrew and English.
