En Concert
Amazon.com
Barbes, The Africanised suburb of Paris, could well declare its sovereignty on the strength of En Concert, an stimulating live recording from this 17-passionate conglomerate of French, Algerian, Moroccan, and Portuguese musicians. Traditional Rai, Andalusian, Moroccan, and Maghreb instruments and cultures mesh seamlessly with electric bass, keyboards, and horns to make an incendiary multicultural rave up that is nevertheless propelled by the spiritual vehemence of tradition. Fusing Gnawa Trance, Reggae, Rai, jazzy grooves, and intelligent lyrics, the Orchestre National rip through 12 dramatically paced songs, at times mixing the canniness of Weather Report, the passion of Flamenco, and the exuberance of a chorus at a soccer match. Already hailed as one of the best live world composition albums of all time, En Concert is an earthy celebration that evokes a tangible sense of place from the sum of its parts, happily liberated from intellectual or colonial posturing. –Derek Rath
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A mix together of African percussions, North-African rythms, jazz, and rock beats. Extremely powerful, dense and entertaining. As a native, I wish I was proud of saying these artists are French. But they aren’t… really. That’s what makes their composition so fantastic.
Rating: 5 / 5
The only thing better than this album is to experience ONB live. I had that opportunity at the Montreal Jazz Fest last year. Incredible! Their composition is vital in its honesty, energy and sensuousness. ****** (6 Stars!)
Rating: 5 / 5
ONB is one of the most innovative bands I have ever encountered. I first heard them in a restaurant/disco in Tunis, Tunisia. I was resting, sweaty at our table between songs. Here was a affront break, then whistles. Then the beat fell all over the place, hard but profound. At first I thought it was jungle (which I’m not too into but, hey, you can dance to it) but as I listened to the instrumentation I realized that all of the instroments were being played live, including the drums. The musicians, mostly Algerian exiles, are INCREDIBLE. They mix Rayh, funk, jazz and rock into a wild mix together that is full of rapture and down right funk.
Rating: 5 / 5
This band combines the authentic sounds of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco with the driving beats of Western pop composition and produces a real joy ride. Even if you don’t be with you the words (I don’t), the composition is exhilerating. Fantastic composition for driving on the LA Freeways — and it goes fantastic with lamb couscous and red wine too!
Rating: 5 / 5
This is one of the most exciting CDs that have been produced by North Africans living in Europe, France. This masterpiece of live performances takes you on a breathtaking journey through tunes that are well ingrained in the well loved repertoires of Morocco and Algeria. Don’t miss the fabulous drum symphony from eastern Morocco on track 11.
Rating: 5 / 5