European Traditional Music For Weddings

Klezmer, traditional Eastern European Jewish music, is said to have originated in the city of Odessa (Ukraine). The klezmorim were professional (and usually poor) musicians, who would travel through villages entertaining at festive occasions such as weddings and social events. The group Odessa specializes in klezmer music enriched by non-Jewish influences: Greek, Ottoman, Gypsy, and Macedonian.

Delving into the deepest recesses of raï, this compilation serves as a tribute to its roaring years, but also as a rejuvenation of the genre in its sulphurous, subterranean version. It seemed like a good idea to dig into nearly untraceable cassettes, thus confirming it’s in the oldest of Oranese pots that the very best of raï is to be found. Just 50 years ago, no one would have believed even a bit in a genre seemingly bound to forever turn round and round in its native Oran, laying low in one of its many coastal road clubs.