Baila Sahara Baila

This is the final album from one of the great voices of the Sahara: Mariem Hassan died in August 2015 in a refugee camp in Algeria. She had devoted her life and her music to the cause of the Saharawi people and her three previous solo albums were notable for their political songs. But the mood here is very different. It's an upbeat album of dance songs, and it was completed and released by her manager Manuel Dominguez as ‘a gift to the Saharawi people in the refugee camps.’ Most of the songs were recorded in 2009, around the time Hassan was recording her Shouka album, and they feature the backing vocals and traditional tebal (drum) work of Vadiya Mint El Hanevi, who toured with Hassan as a dancer. Even more potent is the rousing guitar work of Lamgaifri Brahim, which ranges from loping desert blues to a furious pitch, driven on by Hassan's powerful vocals. Also included are tracks from her earlier albums, and a recording from WOMAD New Zealand in 2010. A powerful reminder of a remarkable singer.