Andalussyat

French-born of North African Jewish parents, Françoise Atlan was one of the first singers to explore the Andalusian repertoire shared by Arabs and Jews. This is a reissue of an album she first released nearly 20 years ago in 2003 – and one of the selected albums in our Beginner’s Guide on Atlan in July 2017 (#129).

What makes it special is, first, the fact that it’s recorded with the excellent Moroccan Arab-Andalus orchestra of Fes with their long-time conductor Mohamed Briouel. It means there’s a rich texture of (mainly) bowed string instruments behind Atlan, bringing a power and depth to the music. And, second, that on most of the tracks she juxtaposes a Jewish song (in Ladino) and Arabic song in the same mode, showing their common sound world. While the music belongs to the convivencia of Muslims and Jews in medieval Spain, most of the songs are secular – about love and beautiful women – and some, like the familiar ‘Uskudara’, actually come from Turkey or Balkans when the Sephardic Jews resettled there after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. It’s coupled with ‘Anta El Falak’, an Arabic love song, which isn’t quite as catchy but sits very well alongside it. After the expulsion most of the Muslim Arabs (and many of the Jews) went to Morocco, where the tradition has survived quite strong. A very worthwhile reissue.