Pharaoh's Daughter is an American Jewish world music band from New York City. Formed in 1995 by Basya Schechter, their music is a mix of
History
Basya Schechter formed Pharaoh's Daughter in 1995 while attending Barnard College. The band's name is a reference to Schechter's given name, a Yiddish variant of the Biblical daughter of Pharaoh, Bithiah. They debuted in 1999 with the independent album Daddy's Pockets and were signed to Knitting Factory Records later that year. The label then released the band's second album, Out of the Reeds (2000). Their 2014 album Dumiyah was produced by Jamshied Sharifi and featured contributions from Steven Bernstein, Shir Yaakov Feit, Adam Levy, Mauro Refosco, and Marcus Rojas.
Group members have been involved in a variety of other notable projects. In particular, Basya Schechter has released two solo albums and has performed with the groups Darshan and The Epichorus.
Musical style
Pharaoh's Daughter's sound draws from American folk, Jewish klezmer, avant-garde, new-age, Renaissance, electronic, and Middle Eastern music.
Band members
Current
Basya Schechter — lead vocals, guitar, oud, saz, percussion
Daphna Mor — recorders, zurna, ney, melodica, vocals
Meg Okura — violin
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz — bass
Yuval Lion — drums
Jason Lindner — rhodes piano, keys
Mathias Kunzli — percussion
Uri Sharlin — accordion, vocals
Former
Daniel Freedman — drums
Noah Hoffeld — cello
Alan Kashan — santur
Discography
Daddy's Pockets (Orchard, 1999) Out of the Reeds (Knitting Factory, 2000) - rereleased on Tzadik in 2004 Exile (Knitting Factory, 2002) Haran (OY, 2007) Dumiyah (Magenta, 2014)