«The Molonja in Morocco flows into the vicinity of Melilla, not far from the promontory of the Three Forks. As if this luckier river exhausted the aspirations of the territory where it flows and of its inhabitants: (...) it is ready to withstand both sand and the desert and the sun of Africa, the most piercing and relentless of the Mediterranean.»
Predrag Matvejevic, Breviario Mediterraneo
The Tangeri Cafè Orchestra takes its name from the eponymous café in this city (Kahwa Tanja, a meeting place for musicians in the 1970s). It is a group of eight musicians, Moroccan, Spanish, and Italian, with different musical backgrounds. Starting from Arabic and flamenco rhythms and melodies, the ensemble develops a unique style of original compositions using strictly acoustic instrumentation. The Tangeri Cafè Orchestra has participated in prestigious festivals in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
On the way to Tarifa is a new musical project directed by Jamal Ouassini that emblematically connects the paths that lead from deeper-rooted Europe to the shores of the Mediterranean: from the Maghreb to Greece, from Sicily to Andalusia. The music and musical instruments used, representative of the diverse Mediterranean cultures, provide the truest entry into this universe where, in the words of Khaled Fouad Allam, «music is silence that has become light». This is also reflected in the art of zapateado, choreographed and danced by the bailaor from Granada, Augustin Barajas, and with the solo voices, Byzantine, Arabic, and Spanish, of Omar Benlamlih, Vangelis Merkouris, and Sensi de Carlos.
The truest teaching, then, even to those less attentive or attracted to these sounds, is the experience of sharing. As philosopher Luce Irigaray teaches, if the quality of being together prevails over quantity, then knowing how to share a cultural experience as rich as this one means already understanding alterity and being ready to share its world.
Jamal Ouassini, violinist and composer, was born in Tangier; he studies Arabic-Andalusian music and violin at the Conservatoire de musique et de danse de Tanger; he moves to Italy, to Verona, where he graduates and dedicates himself to classical music; in 1984 he founded the Ensemble Ziryab with musicians from various parts of the Mediterranean; he has participated in numerous projects as a conductor and violinist, as well as in his discographic productions. Since 2004, he has been the artistic director of a cultural association for the study and promotion of Mediterranean music, and in 2005 he founded the Tangeri Cafè Orchestra, releasing the CD Tingitana the following year.
www.ziryab.it
