This Algerian chaabi ensemble have drawn inevitable comparisons to the Buena Vista Social Club, which, given the story, are somewhat valid. Chaabi (an Arabic word meaning 'for the people') was a once vibrant and very popular music in Northern Africa, in music schools, parties and bars of occupied, post-WWII Algeria, where its Spanish, Middle Eastern and North African lineage infused with the Mediterranean soundtrack of that era — jazz, snatches of tango, a little boogie-woogie. The orchestra began when pianist Abdel Hadi Halo tracked down graduates (all aged 60 to 90) of h… read more
This Algerian chaabi ensemble have drawn inevitable comparisons to the Buena Vista Social Club, which, given the story, are somewhat valid. Chaabi (an Arabic word meaning 'for the people') was a once vibrant and very popular music in Northern Africa, in music schools, parties and ba… read more
This Algerian chaabi ensemble have drawn inevitable comparisons to the Buena Vista Social Club, which, given the story, are somewhat valid. Chaabi (an Arabic word meaning 'for the people') was a once vibrant and very popular music in Northern Africa, in music schools, parties and bars of occupied, post-WWII Algeria, where its Spanish, Middle Eastern and… read more