Dec 1/06
Exiled Algerian Jewish Salsa
I don’t want to seem like a Rough Guide fanboy or anything, but the CDs they graciously keep sending me are consistently great. The latest, The Rough to Latin-Arabia, is of particular interest because lately I’ve been trying to pull my Arabic music knowledge out of the depths of ignorance.
I was going to post Rhany’s track, Chan Chan, but Paul over at Aurgasm beat to it. You also on the Rough Guide dist list? Either way, that’s cool, because I’ll post some Maurice El Medioni whose life story is conducive to a great post title. I also love any song that starts with the lyrics, “tu as assisté à ma naissance.”
Born in the Algerian rai hot-spot of Oran, Medioni got his start playing piano for American troops after Algeria was “liberated” from France in 1942. He had to flee in 1962 following a rise in intolerance towards Algeria’s Jewish population and he eventually settled in Paris.
Medioni blends rai and various Latin musical styles to create a sound very much appropriate for the Parisian cabaret scene.. or a Cuban salsa bar. There’s a good quote over at the Piranha records site that sums it up:
“The basis of my music is Andalusian, but I mix in Boogie Woogie, Jazz and Latin. Despite this my music still has the resonance of the Maghreb.”
The good people over at fly.co.uk have written much more about Medioni if you’re curious.
Maurice El Medioni – Oran Oran
Tags: algeria, jazz, piano
Yuri Buenaventura (who I believe is Paris-based) does a great song in this vein called “Rai y Salsa.” It’s a little more modern-sounding, but a similar concept.
Très agréable.
Merci pour toutes les fois où je ne l’ai pas fais.
Bien le soleil chez vous.
Fantastic! Thanks for this, and the rest.
I think Oran Oran might be a better tune on its own, and without the novelty factor. Cheers buddy. (and yes, apparently somebody at rough guide loves me, too
Comrades -
Medioni did a great little show-and-tell session at WOMEX in Sevilla this year talking about his career, his exile and the diaspora of North African Jewish artists, his recent mini-revival (including the recent neo-Judeo-Latin cd with Roberto Rodriguez), his life. An engaging charming fellow, who had to keep his day job a long time.
If anyone is curious Nili Belkind, who compiled the Rough Guide Latin-Arabia will guest on my radio show on WFMU (NYC-area FM / streams / archives) on Dec. 23 (http://www.wfmu.org/tsp).
Rob W / WFMU
good good good!!!
Thanks for an explanation, the easier, the better …