Zarabi

The Moroccan/Saharawi singer Oum El Ghaït has followed up her 2013 album Soul of Morocco – her first international release – with a deft and eclectic fusion of Moroccan forms. Opening track ‘Nia’ features a spectral oud and jazz vocals, while the second, ‘Lila’, rides on desert blues guitar with bowed bass and percussion weaving in and out of the musical theme. Yelfris Valdés’ muted, skeletal trumpet calls from some distant clime on the likes of ‘Hna’, which both brings the musical horizon into close-up, and provides a sense of some epic, rolling landscape at the same time.

Zarabi was recorded in the Moroccan desert of M’Hamid El Ghizlane, and is rooted in the sound cultures of the Sahara, while Oum's voice, fusing Saharawi styles with Western jazz and soul inflections, is backed by an atypical but finely balanced septet focused on oud, double bass, percussion and trumpet. There are guest spots from Cherif Soumano's kora on ‘N’nay’ and Anana Harouna's guitar on ‘Lila’. ‘Wali’ features the qaraqab (metal castanets) of Gnawa music, while ‘Mansit’ has a bowed double-bass melody that harks back to classic Middle Eastern songs styles. Zarabi shows Oum's attachment to specific, local Moroccan arts and musical traditions while pushing open the windows to North African modernity and the influences of soul and jazz.