Sahara Soul review – the true spirit of the desert

Barbican, London
Some of West Africa’s top musical talent throw an easy-going desert party, while headliner Aziza Brahim paid moving tribute to the region’s troubles

                 Cool, stately and soulful … Aziza Brahim. Photograph: Philip Ryalls/Redferns

 This concert – a celebration of west African music – is a good reminder of the troubled Sahara region’s diverse and inspiring talent. Last year’s inaugural event concentrated on Mali, but this intriguing event was broader in scope and attracted an impressive crowd, even though few of the musicians are known to British audiences.

Born in in the desolate Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria and now based in Barcelona, headliner Aziza Brahim uses her songs to bring attention to one of Africa’s forgotten tragedies. Playing hand drums and backed by a band dominated by Spanish acoustic guitarists, who brought a flamenco and jazz edge to her Sahrawi rhythms, she gave a cool, stately and soulful set that began with Gdeim Izik, an angry protest about disputed Western Sahara.
From further south, in Mauritania, there was an impressive appearance from Noura Mint Seymali. She comes from a celebrated griot family, and played the ardine harp, typically reserved by female musicians. She has shaken up traditional styles with help from her husband, Jeiche Ould Chighaly, who accompanied her with furious and bluesy improvised electric guitar. There was another rousing British debut from Nabil Baly Othmani, a Tuareg from southern Algeria who plays the oud, and whose laid-back songs often rose to a furious crescendo.
The concert opened with an historic Tuareg supergroup, as the Malian Tartit band were joined by Othmani and members of Tamikrest, Terakaft and Tinariwen. The result was like an easy-going party in the desert, with female drummers and singers joined by slinky instrumental work from the male guitarists, and the session ending with some furious dancing. This was the true spirit of the Sahara, so it was unfortunate that the show ran long, meaning they didn’t return for the expected grand finale.

 Robin Denselow

 The Guardian, Monday 29 September 2014 15.25 BST

African Business magazine: Review of my new album 'Soutak'

"It is an intensely personal recording, yet while the focus of Aziza Brahim’s creativity is bound up with her own identity, she embraces universal values and has an international approach ... there is the space for Brahim’s dignified voice to take centre stage and deliver nine songs that are at once noble, uncompromising and subtly inventive ... This sensational CD deserves the widest possible exposure – as does, it can be argued, the 40-year cause of the Saharawis people."

Get the album here: http://www.glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store.html

 

 

Empty Mirror (USA): A detailed review of Soutak.

"Aziza Brahim has created a CD of heartrending beauty which speaks to the plight of refugees everywhere without descending into the mire of politics. Instead of pointing fingers or blaming anybody, she has focused on the results of the world ignoring oppressed people everywhere. While this impressive in itself, Soutak is also an example of the simple and elegant way in which musical traditions can be combined and blended to create a sound which doesn’t compromise or insult anyone’s culture. There aren’t many people who speak for the voiceless among us, but here is one record which does so with intelligence and integrity."

 

 At first glance the Sahara Desert of North West Africa seems like one of the most inhospitable places on the face of the earth. Movies, and other Western media, usually show us images of trackless wastes, endless miles of sand dunes dotted with the occasional oasis and scrubby plants. However, this supposed barren land has been home to various nomadic people for centuries. When the Arab and Ottoman armies started to move into Africa and establish their North African kingdoms, they found the tribesman already firmly established. While there were occasional alliances between the new kingdoms in Algeria and Morocco, the Caliphs and Emirs were wise enough not to attempt to impose their rule on the nomads.

Even the European colonial rulers had the initial good sense to leave well enough alone. It wasn’t until the French and Spanish, the controllers of North Africa, discovered the wealth of natural resources buried beneath the desert they began to interfere. While the Kel Tamashek, (Tuareg) of Mali and Niger have been receiving most of the world’s attention recently because of the attempted takeover of Northern Mali by fundamentalist terror groups with their very narrow definition of Islam, they aren’t the only nomadic people who have seen their land and culture stolen out from under them in the past eighty years. The area now known as Morocco had been once been home to the Sahrawi people. Like their Berber relatives to the south they have been forced out of their traditional territories and into refugee camps and exile in Algeria through the new government’s policies.

While the number of refugees living in the four camps in the northern Algeria is unclear (estimates range from the 40,000 claimed by the Moroccans to the 150,000 claimed by the Polisario Front the Sahrawi governing body) the fact remains they are people without a home whose plight has been ignored by most of the world. Unlike the Kel Tamashek (Tuareg) who have been very successful in exporting their culture, and by extension their circumstances, to the rest of the world through music, the Sahrawi representation on the world stage has been minimal. One voice who has been trying hardest to make herself heard has been Aziza Brahim. While a child of the refugee camps, she now calls Barcelona Spain home, and its there she recorded her new album, Soutak (translated as “Your Voice”), for Glitterbeat Records.
The title is very appropriate as the songs on the disc attempt to give voice to not only the plight of her own people, but people in refugee camps all over the world. While she sings in Spanish, the booklet accompanying the disc comes with both English and Arabic translations of the lyrics, so both the people for whom the songs are meant and people in other parts of the world can understand their meaning. In an introductory statement for the CD she says, “the album contains songs about worries – intimate and collective – that take on universal dimensions”. To that end she made the decision to incorporate both the musical traditions of her own people and those of other cultures in order to create a more inclusive sound.
Right from the opening track, “Gidem Izik” (Camp of Dignity), you can hear the results of this amalgamation. The solo guitar accompanying her has what can only be called a distinctive Spanish feel and sound to it. There’s nothing really overt you can put your finger on, but elements of Flamenco and other styles classically associated with Spanish music come through. Underpinning everything are percussion and electric bass. Anyone who has listened to any of the music of the Kel Tamashek of Northern Mali from the last decade or so will be familiar with the rhythm – the steady, trance inducing beat which drives music forward in an effortless fashion.
While with the Kel Tamashek the rhythm provides the undercurrent for the steady drone of their version of electric blues, Brahim has used it as the foundation upon which she builds her more complex vocal melodies. Although she has something of the same declarative style of singing – she is telling stories after all – her vocals show the influence of other cultures and styles. Whereas most of the music from the nomadic tribes of the Sahara region I’ve heard in the past the lyrics are almost chanted in time with the pulse of the beat, Brahim allows her voice to reflect the emotional content of her lyrics and uses the rhythm as the forge upon which she creates her own sound.

Reading through the English translations of her lyrics it quickly becomes obvious she has been true to her word about creating songs which not only speak of her own people, but also echo the plight of those in similar situations around the world. Track three, “Espejismos” (Mirages) is one of the most moving examples of this. In language that borders on the poetic she describes the effects of war and strife upon the land in a way which not only brings it to life, but evokes the suffering of those who have to continue living there. “Damn the seeds of graves/that beat among the stones of your homeland/that grow/nourished by rage,/sacrificing the worth of the crop/and its fruit.”
However, her songs aren’t just about desolation and horror, they are also about the potential for oppressed people to speak out and be heard. In the CD’s sixth and title track, “Soutak” (Your Voice) Brahim says “I want to hear your voice/and the sweet words/that have lived within me/ever since those days.” Within each person who has lived a life dominated by outside forces resides a voice which hopes for something better. Having been born in a refugee camp, and experienced what it’s like to have her homeland stolen, she’s in a position to say to others your story is my story and our voices are the same. She doesn’t make any assumptions about other’s experiences, but assures them their voices are as important as anyone else’s, including hers.
Aziza Brahim has created a CD of heartrending beauty which speaks to the plight of refugees everywhere without descending into the mire of politics. Instead of pointing fingers or blaming anybody, she has focused on the results of the world ignoring oppressed people everywhere. While this impressive in itself, Soutak is also an example of the simple and elegant way in which musical traditions can be combined and blended to create a sound which doesn’t compromise or insult anyone’s culture. There aren’t many people who speak for the voiceless among us, but here is one record which does so with intelligence and integrity.

 By Richard Marcus

 Empty Mirror

Midi libre (FR) review of 'Soutak'

"The voice emotion of Aziza Brahim is powerful, racy, poignant and exalted. She moves the heart with her rebellious poetry." 

 

Blogfoolk: review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak'.

"The music is not only an artistic expression, but also a megaphone for the cause, narrating the drama of the people discriminated and without the state ... The voice of the people that we must listen to!"

Chissà se tra le giovani sahraoui incontrate a metà degli anni ’90 durante un mio viaggio a Cuba, sulla spiaggia di Bibijagua dalla meravigliosa arena negra, nell’Isla de la Juventud, c’era anche Aziza Brahim. Sicuramente l’artista nata in un campo profughi in Algeria nel 1976 nei pressi di Tindouf (un anno dopo l’occupazione marocchina dei territori dell’ex possedimento spagnolo), all’epoca studentessa nell’isola caraibica, con le sue connazionali condivideva fierezza e dignità, senso di appartenenza ad un popolo in lotta, consapevolezza visionaria di studiare nell’isola internazionalista non per ambizione personale ma per il futuro del Western Sahara, ancora oggi reclamante un’indipendenza che è negata, nonostante le risoluzioni dell’ONU. Dal 2000 Aziza vive a Barcellona, mentre la sua famiglia è ancora in un campo di rifugiati nel deserto algerino. La musica, che ha vissuto intensamente sin da piccola nelle riunioni familiari, oggi è diventata espressione artistica ma anche megafono per la rivendicazione, che è al contempo politica e identitaria, per narrare il dramma di un popolo discriminato e senza stato. Negli anni in terra spagnola Aziza partecipa a diversi progetti, tra i quali quello con la band basca di txalaparta Nomadak TX, è attrice e compositrice nel film “Wilaya” (2011), incide l’ EP “Mi Canto” (2008) e l’album “Mabruk” (2012, Reaktion) con il suo gruppo Gulili Mankoo.

 Chi già conosce la voce autorevole di Mariam Hassan, apprezzerà anche questa cantante e autrice che con “Soutak” (significa “La tua voce”) si erge ad interprete dei sentimenti del suo popolo, ma con una musicalità che lascia da parte il profilo rock dell’album precedente, imprimendo al lavoro un suono acustico a misura della sua voce robusta, che è il cuore del disco. Con un quartetto di musicisti composto dall’ispano-argentino Nico Roca (percussioni), il catalano Guillem Aguilar (basso), il maliano Kalilou Sangare (chitarra acustica), sua sorella Badra Abdallahe (cori), Aziza (voce, chitarra ritmica e tabal), sotto l’egida del Dirtmusic Chris Eckman (già produttore dei Tamikrest) ha registrato le nove tracce del suo nuovo CD in presa diretta nella città catalana. “Soutak” si apre ad influenze maliane, spagnole e latinoamericane; la poetica dell’artista riflette la malinconia e la frustrazione ma anche la resilienza, le aspirazioni e i sogni di un popolo dimenticato dai grandi della Terra. Musicalmente, il disco mette insieme le esperienze artistiche della Brahim, con le influenze della sua vita artistica, i modelli canori, come le grandi vocalist mauritane Dimi Mint Abba (scomparsa nel 2011) e Malouma, il chitarrismo di Ali Farka Toure.

Apre il disco la potente “Gdeim Izik”, canto di denuncia per la distruzione del cosiddetto “campo della dignità” nei pressi dell’oasi di Lemseid: una grande mobilitazione di protesta del popolo sahraoui contro la discriminazione in ambito lavorativo e lo sfruttamento delle risorse naturali del Sahara Occidentale repressa dall’esercito e dalla polizia marocchina; “Julad” è una canzone dedicata a sua madre che incarna simbolicamente la resistenza delle donne sahraoui (“Sei l’essenza della mia vita e la sua forza/ Sei l’orgoglio nelle mie parole che travalica le frontiere/ Resisti, immortale, resisti[…] Sei esempio di umanità e lotta”. […]). Chitarre, basso e percussioni accompagnano i tempi lenti di “Espejismos”, cantata in spagnolo. La voce si erge fiera in “Lagi”, un lamento per la vita trascorsa in una haimas, la tenda dei profughi. Il timbro secco del grande tamburo tradizionale tabal, strumento tipicamente femminile, sostiene la voce nella magnifica spirituale “Aradana”. Personale e politico si fondono nelle calde note di “Soutak”, in cui ritorniamo nell’alveo della canzone dalle sobrie coloriture pop, spagnole e nord maliane. Ne “La palabra” gli ipnotici profili melodici chitarristici del deserto si fanno più insistenti, punteggiando il canto, mentre le liriche sono pervase da un senso di nostalgia. Invece, tinte flamenco ammantano “Manos Enemigas”. Canto alla terra e aneliti di libertà in “Ya Watani” (“Guarda questi occhi innocenti che scrutano il cielo desiderando di raggiungere l’orizzonte dell’oceano […] Voglio vivere e danzare con tranquillità” […] ), brano che dà ampio spazio all’ugola di Aziza. La voce di un popolo da ascoltare! 

Ciro De Rosa
Blogfoolk

UK Vibe review of 'Soutak'

Aziza Brahim is a singer who has cleverly fused her indigenous musical heritage with neighbouring Malian acoustic blues and Spanish flamenco." 4/5

 Saharan music has tended to be promoted internationally via the roots sounds of Tinarawen and the like, but Aziza Brahim is a singer who has cleverly fused her indigenous musical heritage with neighbouring Malian acoustic blues and Spanish flamenco. The result is a cohesive package and a fine debut album on German label Glitterbeat. Although born in the Western Sahara, Brahim was part educated in Cuba thanks to an exchange scheme and since 2000 has been resident in Barcelona. It is this cosmopolitan upbringing that has opened her eyes and ears to other sounds and exploring how they might compliment her own. Early musical experiments took place while Aziza Brahim was part of a band called Gulili Mankoo that released two albums on the French label Reaktion. Brahim has subsequently performed in her own right at the Caceres version of Womad in 2012 and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 2009. What really comes across on this debut solo recording is the beautiful melodic nature of the music that wins you over after repeated listens. Brahim sings in both Spanish and Arabic and the gentle, relaxed pace overall is typified by a song such as ‘La Palabra’ (The Word) which features some lovely acoustic rhythm guitar. Aziza Brahim has clearly soaked up myriad influences and these can be heard in parts of the album as on ‘Julud’ where he voice sounds a little like a female equivalent of Salif Keita, the flamenco-flavoured ‘Manos Enemigas’ where there are clear parallels with Souad Massi and which is a number that changes gear completely in the second half and develops into an uptempo groove of a piece. She repeats the stylistic transition on the more traditional sounding ‘Lagi’ which has echoes of Malian music while on the Arabic language song ‘Andana’ she is accompanied solely by percussion. It has to be said that her phrasing in Spanish is quite exquisite and conjurs up parallels with Nat Cole when recording his Cuban albums. With proper promotion, this new album may just take off in Spain. Inner sleeves lyrics are handily printed in Arabic, English and Spanish with the usual Glitterbeat flair for visual graphics.
Tim Stenhouse

ukvibe

Louderthawar's review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak'.

"There are few albums that will affect you the way that Soutak does. Original and gorgeous, and a very very talented singer." 9/10

 

The new album from Aziza Brahim features a mixture of Malian, Spanish and Cuban cultures. Louder Than War’s Paul Scott-Bates is enthralled.
It’s certainly an interesting proposition, a singer with Saharan roots who then moved on to Cuba and Spain whilst being refused the chance to follow a degree in music along the way. Not only that but being produced by Glitterbeat founder and original member of The Walkabouts, Chris Eckman, is something rather special given that another of his projects, Dirtmusic, received 10/10 from Louder Than War for last year’s Troubles album.
Aziza Brahim was born amongst Saharawi refugee camps along the line of Algeria and Western Sahara. With obvious political oppression, she moved to Cuba to further her education. Despite the refusal of her music degree she went back to Algeria and then to Barcelona where she founded Gulili Mankoo, a group with roots both in Saharawi and Spain.
Soutak (translated as Your Voice) was recorded live and focuses on her striking voice which is mesmerizing and beautiful and sings lyrics which are both intimate and universal. Despite words of incredible power, the tracks are woven together by her exceptional knowledge of song and sound.
Dedicated to her mother, standout track Julud, describes an undying belief in the Saharawi political struggle – ‘You are an example of humanity and of fight’. One of many tracks on the album with a familiar sound as though you’ve heard them many times before. Julud is haunting in its simplicity and the musicianship is sublime.
The Spanish element is obvious with some lovely acoustic guitars and tracks like Aradana showcase the extraordinary voice perfectly backed only by percussion and multiple voices towards the end. Again, the lyrics are powerful but retain the mystique and beauty throughout – ‘one day a storm came and took him away. Calmness reigned in the circle of tents and beyond

The title track too is stunning. Inventive music and angelic voice carry the tune from start to finish. Articulate guitar work and a lovely melody make this as enthralling as anything you will hear this year. For over two minutes, album closer Ya Watani (My Land) is nothing more than Aziza and her amazing voice. Subtle hypnotic guitars then come into effect to accompany her dulcet tones.
There are few albums that will affect you the way that Soutak does. Original and gorgeous, and a very very talented singer.

Louderthawar

BR - Bayerischer Rundfunk review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak'.

"The modern sound of the nomadic peoples currently sounds more exciting than ever. And 'Soutak' is the best proof." ★★★★★

We absolutely agree with this BR - BR - Bayerischer Rundfunk review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak'.

 

Soutak bedeutet so viel wie „deine Stimme“. Aziza Brahim hat gelernt ihre Stimme zu erheben, denn sie ist eine Stimme der Sahrauis, die seit Jahrzehnten für einen unabhängigen Staat in der Westsahara kämpfen. Geboren wurde Aziza Brahim 1976 in einem Flüchtlingslager.

Vor fünf Jahren veröffentlichte sie ihre erste EP, 2012 erschien dann ihr Debutalbum "Mabruk", eine Mischung aus traditioneller afrikanischer Musik und Blues: Afroblues also, den Aziza mittlerweile zu einem ganz eigenen, eklektischen Sound weiterentwickelt hat. An der Stelle muss man das mal sagen: Es ist ein großes Verdienst manch engagierter europäischer Labelbetreiber, diesen seit einigen Jahren immer populärer werdenden „Wüstenbands“ wie Tamikrest oder Tinariwen oder eben auch einer Aziza Brahim Gehör zu verschaffen. Mit so einer Musik zieht man zwar nicht in die Charts ein, Album-Veröffentlichungen sind jedoch nicht zuletzt das Resultat politischen Engagements: Gut für diese Musiker, aber auch gut für uns. Der moderne Sound der Nomadenvölker klingt momentan spannender denn je und „Soutak“ ist der beste Beweis dafür.

Veronika Schreiegg

BR - Bayerischer Rundfunk

fRoots Magazine review of 'Soutak

"This second album from Spanish based Saharawi (Western Saharan) singer Aziza Brahim more than fulfils the
promise of her debut ... This one puts Ms Brahim in the desert blues premier league." fRoots Magazine

Awesome review of 'Soutak'. Get the album here: 
http://www.glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store.html 

The Irish Times review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak'.

"Soutak – a voice for the voiceless – tells of injustice, oppression, loss and resistance, eloquently and poetically expressed. Singers from the region often have a harsh and wild edge to their sound, but Aziza – her style modulated perhaps by her travels and her current residency in Spain – has an easy-paced and internationalised sound that doesn’t scare the horses." ★★★★

 

Aziza Brahim: Soutak

Nigel Wood

Born and raised in the refugee camps outside the disputed territory of Western Sahara, Aziza Brahim has much to be angry about. Soutak – a voice for the voiceless – tells of injustice, oppression, loss and resistance, eloquently and poetically expressed. Singers from the region often have a harsh and wild edge to their sound, but Aziza – her style modulated perhaps by her travels and her current residency in Spain – has an easy-paced and internationalised sound that doesn’t scare the horses. The vocals are central and authoritative, the melodies memorable, and the band of acoustic guitar, bass and percussion (from Mali and Spain) solid and supportive. Gdeim Izik is a fierce condemnation of prison camps, the voice-and-drum Aradana a tale of loss, and Ya Watani a moving statement of aspirational nationhood. glitterbeat.com

Download: Gdeim Izik, Aradana, Lagi

The Irish Times

The Epoch Times (USA) wondrous review of 'Soutak'.

"Aziza Brahim’s haunting vocals at times recall those of Arabic fusion diva Natacha Atlas, with a mood that captures both desert bleakness and uplifting triumph ... This beautiful acoustic album transcends cultural boundaries." ★★★★

A review of Aziza Brahim's new album 'Soutak' in Swedish Smålandsposten.

"The curious world music fans will discover a lot on that album"

Aziza Brahim: Soutak

Det är så mycket­ världsmusik något bara kan vara, och både den inbitne diggaren och den nyfikne har mycket att upptäcka och uppleva på Soutak.

Aziza Brahim har sina rötter i Västsahara, och hennes musik är i mycket lik den ökenblues som har varit omåttligt populär i väst i ganska många år. Men även om Aziza Brahims musik har samma sugande rytmer och ödsliga melankoli som exempelvis Tinariwen, Bombino och Toumani Diabaté är den också tydligt uppblandad med musik från hennes nya hemland Spanien, och inte helt utan doft från den folkmusik från Kap Verdeöarna. Det är med andra ord så mycket­ världsmusik något bara kan vara, och både den inbitne diggaren och den nyfikne har mycket att upptäcka och uppleva på Soutak.

Magnus Nilsson

Smålandsposten.

London Evening Standard (UK) review of 'Soutak'

"Through her music, she is trying to re-awaken awareness in this seemingly forgotten conflict. Aziza Brahim has a sonorous voice with just a touch of desert grit, accompanied here by an acoustic band of guitars, electric bass, percussion and tabal, the Saharawi hand drum ... Hers is certainly a voice worth hearing." ★★★★

fip Radio review of 'Soutak'

Aziza Brahim nouvel album "Soutak"       ©Guillem Moreno

la chanteuse sahraouie Aziza Brahim sort l'album soutak

  Après son EP "Mi canto" en 2009, la poète et chanteuse Sahraouie Aziza Brahim Maichan sortait l'album "Mabruk" en 2012 aussitôt en sélection fip. Artiste engagée, elle a épousé avec exaltation la cause sahraouie. Un engagement poétique et politique que l'on retrouve dans son nouvel album "Soutak" sorti sur le label Glitterbeat Records.
La chanteuse Aziza Brahim est née dans les campements de réfugiés proches de Tindouf, en Algérie. En exil depuis toujours cette artiste a commencé ses tournées avec le Groupe National Sahraoui puis avec Leyuad. Après des études à Cuba, elle s'installe en Espagne en 2000 et rejoint Yayabo Latin Jazz. En 2007 elle fonde son propre groupe Gulili Mankoo avec qui elle sort "Mabruk". Pour son troisième disque Aziza Brahim s'est entourée de musiciens maliens et barcelonais pour un son plus épuré, plus acoustique afin de “faire ressortir le chant et souligner ce que disent les textes”. Une musique très influencée par le blues malien mettant en exergue la puissance émotionnelle de son chant magnifique qui oscille entre pureté vocale et toute-puissance de

"Influenced by the Malian blues, Aziza Brahim is highlighting the emotional power of her beautiful singing that oscillates between purity and unlimited power of words and music."

A fantastic fip Radio review of 'Soutak'. Get the album here: http://www.glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store.html

Financial Times (UK) review of 'Soutak'.

"Aziza Brahim's journey has taken her from the refugee camps of the western Sahara to Cuba and now to Barcelona. Soutak sets her commanding voice against the fluid, bluesy Spanish-infected guitar work of the Malian Kalilou Sangare and the central pulse of Brahim's own tabal, a Saharan hand-drum. The songs deal with the refugee experience, with artillery fire, and desert sands full of landmines." ★★★★

Review of 'Soutak' from Funkhaus Europa.

"Where Tamikrest, Bombino or Tinariwen approach the blues via the detour of rock music with distorted electric guitars, Aziza Brahim leads her way for blues, not on rock, but on Spanish and Latin American folk music. 'Soutak' is desert blues and the anger is intimate and fragile."

Aziza Brahim: Soutak (Glitterhouse)

Wenn man im Atlas mit dem Finger die Küste von Nordafrika in Richtung Süden verfolgt, dann kommt man ungefähr auf Höhe der Kanarischen Inseln auf ein schraffiertes Gebiet: Das ist die Westsahara. Dort ist Aziza Brahim in einem Flüchtlingscamp aufgewachsen. Mittlerweile wohnt sie in Barcelona, in ihrer Musik ist die Heimat aber immer präsent. "Gdeim Izik" ist der Titel des Openers von Brahims zweitem Album "Soutak". Es ist der Name eines Protestlagers der Sahraui, der Bewohner der Westsahara, nahe der Grenze zu Marokko. 2010 wollten die Sahraui mit diesem Camp für die Unabhängigkeit der Westsahara von Marokko demonstrieren. Das Camp wurde nach kurzer Zeit von marokkanischen Sicherheitstruppen gestürmt, die Anführer wurden vor ein Militärgericht gestellt. "Gdeim Izik" ist Aziza Brahims persönliches Denkmal an diesen Moment, der von der Weltöffentlichkeit unbeachtet, den Beginn des arabischen Frühlings markierte.

Funkhaus Europa.

Aziza Brahim et l’héritage sahraoui Soutak, nouvel album de la chanteuse du Sahara occidental

Aziza Brahim                                                    © G.Moreno

Issue d’une génération déracinée qui n’a jamais eu l’occasion de fouler la terre de ses ancêtres et vit en exil, la chanteuse sahraouie Aziza Brahim s’est chargée de reprendre en musique le flambeau de la révolte poétique porté par sa grand-mère. A travers Soutak, son troisième disque, elle donne à sa mission un ton plus acoustique.

 “Le temps défile comme les kilomètres sur une autoroute, mais c’est un voyage irréversible. Si les choses ne sont pas réglées bientôt, cela fera quarante ans que nous, le peuple du Sahara Occidental, aurons pris cette route, depuis que notre pays a été envahi, ravagé, volé.” En quelques lignes, en guise d’introduction au livret qui accompagne le CD de son nouvel album Soutak, Aziza Brahim plante le décor. La chanteuse trentenaire a épousé la cause sahraouie avec une détermination qui confère à sa musique une dimension autre qu’artistique.

Le sang de la révolte, mais aussi celui de la poésie, coule dans ses veines par hérédité. Mabruk, son précédent album paru en 2012, rendait hommage à sa grand-mère, Ljadra Mint Mabrouk, que ses compatriotes connaissent pour ses poèmes et son exaltation du sentiment patriotique. L’illustre aïeule a d’ailleurs fait l’objet d’un épisode de la série documentaire Poets in Protest diffusée l’an dernier sur Al-Jazeera, revenant sur la situation dans laquelle se trouve ce territoire dont la superficie équivaut à la moitié de la France, situé entre le Maroc au nord et la Mauritanie au sud, bordé par l’océan Atlantique à l’ouest et partageant ses frontières à l’est avec le Mali et l’Algérie.

Autrefois colonie espagnole, le Sahara occidental est occupé dans sa très grande majorité par le Maroc qui y revendique et exerce sa souveraineté, en dépit de l’opposition armée menée par le Front Polisario avant qu’un accord entre les belligérants soit signé, prévoyant un référendum d’autodétermination dont l’organisation a toujours été repoussée par le royaume chérifien.

 La musique pour s’amuser
Aziza est née en Algérie, près de Tindouf, où elle grandit avec ses neuf frères et sœurs. “Je pensais que cet endroit était mon pays. Je ne savais pas que c’était un camp de réfugiés. L’innocence d’un enfant s’avère parfois appropriée pour résister, se protéger dans les contextes les plus durs. Comme on n’avait pas de jouets, on faisait de la musique pour s’amuser. Le jeu consistait à faire des chansons avec les poèmes de ma grand-mère. Ma mère et elle ou d’autres femmes du voisinage formaient le jury. Je faisais tout mon possible pour gagner”, confie-telle, rappelant au passage avoir vécu ses premières expériences musicales lors de ces vendredis où les familles musulmanes se rassemblaient pour prier et chanter les louanges au Prophète.

Si elle commence à faire entendre sa voix dans les récitals avec sa grand-mère, c’est à Cuba – où elle est envoyée à onze ans pour suivre ses études secondaires – qu’a lieu sa première prestation en solo. Devant ses camarades d’école sahraouis, elle interprète une chanson du Libanais Walid Toufic. “J’ai écouté Ali Farka Touré, mais aussi Warda, Oum Khalsoum, Salif Keita. Je me souviens du raï : Cheb Khaled, Cheikkha Rimitti, Cheb Mami… Du reggae, avec Bob Marley et Alpha Blondy et des cassettes arabes que mon oncle rapportait d’Alger. Et aussi de Dimi Mint Abba, la référence du haul (la musique traditionnelle, NDLR), avec Malouma”, liste la jeune femme qui joue des percussions, comme sa mère et ses sœurs.

De La Tierra derrama lagrimas à Soutak

Forte de toutes ces influences, elle se met à composer ses propres titres lorsqu’elle retourne au milieu des années 1990 sur le sol africain, huit ans après l’avoir laissé. Son style ne tarde pas à attirer l’attention, à l’échelle locale. Avec La Tierra derrama lagrimas, devenu un morceau phare de son répertoire, elle remporte le premier prix du concours organisé dans le cadre du festival culturel de la République arabe sahraouie démocratique, État fantôme créé par les indépendantistes.
Tout en étant enrôlée au sein de l’ensemble national sahraoui avec lequel elle part en tournée dans les pays voisins, elle fait ses premiers enregistrements, qui atterrissent sur des compilations remarquées, et monte un groupe baptisé Leyuad pour l’accompagner sur les scènes de France, d’Allemagne et d’Espagne, son nouveau pays de résidence. L’équipe changera en 2006 pour devenir Gulili Mankoo, formation afro-latino. Le son d’Aziza se fait résolument moderne.

Cette fois, pour Soutak, son nouveau disque conçu à Barcelone et emballé par le producteur américain Chris Eckman (Samba Touré, Tamikrest…), elle a eu envie de revenir à un mode plus traditionnel, acoustique afin de “faire ressortir le chant et souligner ce que disent les textes”. Avec en filigrane un second objectif : voyager, en partant de sa culture pour aller vers celle du Mali, “le plus naturellement, sans problème, parce que ce sont des cultures proches”.

 Par Bertrand Lavaine

rfi MUSIQUE

The video for the song 'Julud' from my upcoming album 'Soutak' is #1 on World Music Network!

Thank you!

http://www.worldmusic.net/charts/video/2014-02-04/february-video-chart-aziza-brahim-mosaik-da-lata-more/

Aziza Brahim, femme de parole

Le désert a ses frissons et nulle mieux qu’Aziza Brahim, poétesse et chanteuse sahraouie née dans un camp de réfugiés, ne sait les provoquer. Qu’on en juge à partir des premières paroles de Gdeim Izik, évocation sans fards des affrontements ayant opposé, en 2010, à Laâyoune, des manifestants sahraouis aux forces de police marocaines : “J’ai été témoin de l’horreur et de la torture / dont les voix vous accusent / J’ai vu les jeunes victimes / Dans vos prison funèbres.” Femme de parole, Aziza Brahim sait toujours magnifier avec précision sa révolte et ses émotions intimes. Dans Soutak, la dureté des mots s’allie ainsi à la clarté de la mélopée, bercée par des mélodies aux accents blues, maliens et espagnols plus souvent qu’arabes. Discrètement accompagnée, Aziza fait passer un souffle de liberté, de dignité et d’intelligence dans chacune des chansons qui le composent.

http://www.lesinrocks.com/2014/02/04/musique/le-monde-des-musiques-du-monde-28-11467792/

Mondomix reviews Soutak

"Soutak es imponente con su refinada implementación (guitarra acústica, bajo eléctrico, percusión tradicional) la cual deja el centro puro como el aire al extraordinario sentido de la melodía de Brahim. Una de las voces femeninas actuales más conmovedoras del Norte de África, sin sombra de duda."

Una maravillosa crítica Mondomix ***** (cinco estrellas) para mi próximo álbum "Soutak" disponible a partir del 7 de febrero, en el sello Glitterbeat Records.