Howard Bass, Tina Chancey, and Susan Gaeta are the members of Trio Sefardi, a group they formed in 2010 to perform traditional songs of the Sephardim – the descendants of Jews exiled from Spain in 1492. They draw on their individual experience and expertise in many different genres of music, including jazz, folk, and early music, and they mine the rich song traditions of Sephardic communities from the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and North Africa. Trio Sefardi has a special place in their hearts for the traditional and original songs they learned from their mentor, Bosnian-born singer/composer and 2002 National Heritage awardee Flory Jagoda. Suzanne spoke with Tina Chancey and Howard Bass about their work with Trio Sefardi, and why this music is so personally important to each of them.