Music - CD/DVD "Live"

Far removed from the usual raï stereotypes, Djamel Laroussi presents a truly global mix of rhythms, harmonies and melodies. Tricky rhythms from Eqypt and Morocco feature in his absorbing, catchy songs alongside salsa and samba references married to grooves from Guinea and Cameroon. The ritual ceremonies of the gnawa, the mystical sufi brotherhoods that live in the Maghreb as a black minority, are embedded in pop structures. Jazz rock, rap, raï and ballads are all infused with colourful Arabic love poetry and parables.

Fans expressed their wishes for a live recording and Djamel didn't need to be asked twice, releasing one of his undoubted concert highlights from last year on both CD and DVD, an undeniable delight. From the first minute to the last, the perfectly tuned sextet and the man from Algiers sparkle, showing how much they enjoy playing live. Djamel proves he is excellent not just with the guitar, but also the goumbri (sahara bass) and as a percussionist with traditional instruments such as the t'bel and the bender. The hand-picked band he has assembled and shaped show a multi-instrumental mastery, a fun of playing, and a stage presence every bit as powerful as his own.

The show starts with a ceremonial entrance on stage to the percussive gnawa ritual "L,afou". ìMazalî follows with Laroussi providing a breakneck guitar intro with winding arabesques before cabylic elements meet salsa patterns. In "Aho" the band unites into a powerful trance percussion orchestra and choir, which turns to gospel towards the end. By providing a clever mix of ch,abi, Algeria's pop music, and a gnawa intermezzo, "Toumba" impresses with its accelerating tempo. The chart success "Etoile Filante" features Momo Mazouni's saxophone, delivering clever interjections, and in the second part of the track the catchy song changes into an exceptional extended version with a newly rhythmitized melody. "Mani Man" serves as a balladic interlude which leads into the earthy "Hasna"; inspired the Ahl-El-Lil Bedouins, the band unites into a Sahara choir over the sound of the swinging desert lute goumbri. There is a hard-rock-like interlude in "Maal Maa" before Djamel and the band feature the show's highlights in a turbulent medley by way of an encore.

To see the enthusiasm in the crowd is to want to be part of it. And the performance of the band members adds sparkle to the musical colours from the Maghreb, the Caribbean, the Sahara, jazz rock and funk.