Unrest engulfed Tunisia on Saturday, January 15th after a popular rebellion forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country Friday for Saudi Arabia. Then the head of the Constitutional Court declared that Ben Ali has left office for good, not temporarily & also rejected the prime minister's move to assume power. The speaker of the lower house of parliament, Fouad Mebazaa, took the highest office instead, & was given two months to organize new elections.
Anger over corruption & the lack of jobs ignited a month of protests, but Ben Ali's departure, a key demand of demonstrators, has not calmed the unrest. While the protests were mostly peaceful, after Ben Ali's departure rioters burned the main train station in Tunis & looted shops. There is always the real price & bitter side of the struggle for freedom.
The success in Tunisia fueled the faith & desires of the entire Arab World.
Every jazz enthusiast is familiar with "Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. Well, here is some jazz you might actually hear some night in Tunisia.
For more than forty years Fawzi Chekili has been making musick in his native Tunisia. He primary instrument is the guitar, but he also plays piano, oud & udge (an instrument that Chekili himself invented which has the combined characteristics of the Arab lute & the guitar). During his studies of English Letters in the U.K., Fawzi Chekili became impassioned with the world of jazz. Currently he is both a professional musickian & musick teacher in Tunis, active both in the local musick scene as well as the international stage. Chekili has recorded more than ten albums. In his compositions, he likes to mix the sounds of his native Tunisia with the sophisticated harmony from the more traditional Western jazz. In 2007 Fawzi was awarded the "National Prize of Music ".
This recording is a great example of truly Tunisian jazz, a meeting between more conventional jazz & traditional Tunisian sounds such as the ney, the oriental accordion, the udgé along with a more Arabian styled percussion, all led by guitarist Fawzi Chekili.
Hopefully the freedom expressed by the very formlessness within form that is jazz will be realized by the people of Tunisia.
Anger over corruption & the lack of jobs ignited a month of protests, but Ben Ali's departure, a key demand of demonstrators, has not calmed the unrest. While the protests were mostly peaceful, after Ben Ali's departure rioters burned the main train station in Tunis & looted shops. There is always the real price & bitter side of the struggle for freedom.
The success in Tunisia fueled the faith & desires of the entire Arab World.
Every jazz enthusiast is familiar with "Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. Well, here is some jazz you might actually hear some night in Tunisia.
For more than forty years Fawzi Chekili has been making musick in his native Tunisia. He primary instrument is the guitar, but he also plays piano, oud & udge (an instrument that Chekili himself invented which has the combined characteristics of the Arab lute & the guitar). During his studies of English Letters in the U.K., Fawzi Chekili became impassioned with the world of jazz. Currently he is both a professional musickian & musick teacher in Tunis, active both in the local musick scene as well as the international stage. Chekili has recorded more than ten albums. In his compositions, he likes to mix the sounds of his native Tunisia with the sophisticated harmony from the more traditional Western jazz. In 2007 Fawzi was awarded the "National Prize of Music ".
This recording is a great example of truly Tunisian jazz, a meeting between more conventional jazz & traditional Tunisian sounds such as the ney, the oriental accordion, the udgé along with a more Arabian styled percussion, all led by guitarist Fawzi Chekili.
Hopefully the freedom expressed by the very formlessness within form that is jazz will be realized by the people of Tunisia.
Year of Release: 1993
Label: Blue Jasmin
Genre: Jazz, Tunisian Jazz
Bitrate: 320kbps
Label: Blue Jasmin
Genre: Jazz, Tunisian Jazz
Bitrate: 320kbps
Tracklist:
1. Hijez
2. Malouf Funk
3. Ashtar
4. Selma's Mosaic
5. Metis
6. Hafla Jazz
7. Mawel
8. Taqasim
1. Hijez
2. Malouf Funk
3. Ashtar
4. Selma's Mosaic
5. Metis
6. Hafla Jazz
7. Mawel
8. Taqasim
Sounds cool. Just in time for friday night, too! Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteTonight...we're gonna...fuk shit up!
Thanks, Digital Meltd0wn!
ReplyDeleteIt promises)
Thanks, Digital Meltd0wn!
ReplyDeleteIt promises)