Arabesque 4 - Arba'a (2CD)

Ray Lema/Tyour Gnawa : a Congolese musician born on a train travelling through his home country, Ray Lema spent his life influencing and being influenced by very diverse musical worlds from rock to Cuban salsa. Mariem Hassan: Mariem sings music from the Western Sahara. In the intensely personal album Deseos , produced under the direction of arranger and guitarist Baba Salama, Mariem is also accompanied by her brother Boika on guitar, both great musicians coming out of the refugee camps of Tindouf. Mulatu Astatke: Ethiopian Jazz pioneer Mulatu was the first African musician to study at The Berklee College of Music, Boston. He then went on to work with Duke Ellington and can count Jim Jarmush as one of his many fans. Fethi Tabet is an Algerian musician who grew up in Oran. He acts as a big band leader, with musicians from Cameroon, Brazil, Algeria, France, Mali and Tunisia. The originality of his productions is a testimony to the different cultures that influenced him: Jamaican, African, Cuban and of course, Middle Eastern and North African. Referred to as the godfather of Nubian music, Ali Hassan Kuban incorporated modernity in his country s traditional music by using instruments such as bass and keyboards, combined with Cuban and African rhythms and James Brown s soul. Gaada Diwane de Bechar: Ziara translates as paying a visit and expresses a journey towards a recovery. The band comes from Bechar in the West Algerian Sahara. They sing in the Diwane tradition, which encourages trust in people s natural kindness and the individual quest for the truth outside places of worship. Cheb I Sabbah began his career as a resident DJ in a Parisian club on the famous Champs Elysees and subsequently settled in San Francisco. He then went on to become a major figure in the New York world music scene by ensuring that the audience could broaden their musical horizons without ever feeling too far away... Soapkills is a Lebanese band anchored in the Middle East s new underground electro scene. Yasmine, the singer, is a chiia from Southern Lebanon and Zeid, a druze from the Chouf Mountains. Together they compose original sounds heavily inspired by classical oriental repertoire and electronic music. Smadj is a French - Tunisian musician who now lives in Istanbul. His inspirations spring as much from his childhood as from the cultures encountered during his travels: oriental and Brazilian music, Indian, funk, soul and jazz. Khaled is recognized internationally as being the king of Rai (Northern African popular music influenced by rock music). His popular lyrics often promote freedom, democracy and the emancipation of women. Madioko n Rafika is an unexpected ethnic and rhythmic encounter between Africa, North Africa and the West. Ellelli is an upbeat track with an afro-funk oriental sound, which is brought upon by the musicians of the Malka Family, combined with the delicious voice of Rafika. Natacha Atlas is well known for mixing African and Arabic melodies with electronic music. Her Egyptian father taught her the oriental music tradition /while her mother introduced her to rock culture. Natacha participated with musicians as groundbreaking and diverse as Transglobal Underground and Jah Wobble. In Ma Kayen Walou Kima L Amour, Cheikh Sidi Bemol sings that there is nothing like love...The musicians, led by Algeria s rocker Hocine Boukella, have opened their repertoire to various styles: rock, blues, salsa and Celtic music. From techno to rock, punk to rai, Rachid Taha explores many different worlds in his performances. The Clash s cult track is revisited by the Franco-Algerian rock star, joined here by producers Steve Hillage and Brian Eno. In 2007, this track featured in the film The Future is Unwritten', a biopic about the late Joe Strummer of The Clash.