02/04/2008

Maurice el Médioni meets Roberto Rodriguez - Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions (2006)

«On first thought, one might be hard-pressed to find a common ground between Algerian raï music and Latin jazz. But for the pianist Maurice el Medioni, an Algerian-born Jew who left his home for France decades ago as an exile, and the Cuban-born, New York-based percussionist Roberto Rodriguez, the link connecting North Africa and Cuba is a direct one – by way of Spanish Andalusia. World music fusion exercises are more common all the time, and cultural distinctions often become so blurred that the sources are obscured rather than accented. Not on Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions, though: a septuagenarian at the time this was recorded, el Medioni's so-called “PianOriental” keyboard lines find the ideal balance between his raï heritage – the flamenco-influenced pop-folk style originated in Oran, Algeria and was in large part popularized by el Medioni – and the more familiar Afro-Cuban rhythms in which Rodriguez excels. The compositions all emanate from el Medioni, who first played Latin music as a teenager when Puerto Rican soldiers sat in with him in the cafes of Oran. But perhaps because Rodriguez arranged and produced the session, and presumably brought in the supporting musicians, the set tends to tilt more toward the Latin half of the equation than the North African. Instruments native to both Cuba (trés) and North Africa (darbuka) are incorporated into the mix, and elements of Spanish, French, and Jewish idioms all pop in and out. But the album's generous reliance on Latin-style trumpet soloing, Rodriguez's swinging rhythms, and el Medioni's career-long interest in Latin music, anchors the jams and never takes them too far from the island whose music has so influenced these players. It's an invigorating, inspired pairing, for sure, and one that makes even more sense when heard than when presented theoretically on paper.» (AMG)

Link in comments (always appreciated)

12 comments:

DJ Radu said...

Part 1:

http://sharebee.com/c84b65cb

Part 2:

http://sharebee.com/4add98b8

A L said...

merveilleux !!!

Anonymous said...

Great recording !!!!
BABE(B)LOGUE is one of the best musicblogs on the net. It introduces exciting and excellent music to a world to often fed the most horrid Top Forty crap. And I should know - I'm a working musician and producer.

Anonymous said...

i just stumbled on your website and only wished that i had discovered it earlier! thanks for putting much love into the site, totally awesome stuff.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this new (to me) discovery... wonderful music!

Anonymous said...

I've been a big fan of Maurice El Médioni since I discovered Café Oran on Piranha Records (great label, by the way, on recovering such gems) some years ago; just hope this one is as good as that one, 'cos is that kind of record that one can't keep sad listening to it. Mighty thanks! Also, I've been desperatly looking for a film I once saw on cable channel Mezzo (ence Muzzik) which had the most wonderful music plus beautiful lyrics I ever herd called "La Chanson Éternelle", does anyone know anything about it?

Anonymous said...

mirror :
http://rapidshare.com/files/128750562/Descarga_Oriental.rar

Anonymous said...

mirror:
http://rapidshare.com/files/
128750562/Descarga_Oriental.rar

Anonymous said...

this is new for me, but your explenation is very good thanks to take the time.

Anonymous said...

all this blog is wonderful!!!

keep it up (and on)!

J. From Venezuela

Unknown said...

Pretty excited about this one. Never heard el Medioni, but I love Rodriguez's albums on Tzadik.

troods said...

Love both of these musicians....together amazing!! Thank you!!