À Jordi, pour l'âme de Montserrat


Moroccan oud virtuoso Driss El Maloumi's latest album Makan is dedicated 'À Jordi, pour l'âme de Montserrat' [To Jordi, for our soul mate Montserrat]. The new album is a delightful example of Maghreb-lite and was in heavy iPod rotation during my recent travels. Stand out track is a new interpretation of the traditional Berber lullaby (Berceuse Amazigh) that was recorded so movingly by the desperately missed Montserrat Figueras with Jordi Savall and Driss El Maloumi on her 2002 CD Ninna Nanna - an album that, incidentally, also contains two little known Arvo Pärt premieres. Driss El Maloumi was born in Agadir in southern Morocco, which is where the Berceuse Amazigh originates from. As my 2012 Agadir inspired post askedif Fair Trade works elsewhere, why not in music?

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