Oran Pamuk

Once upon a time in Algeria… a streetwise teenage boy started playing piano in the bars of Oran’s Jewish Quarter. It was 1942 and American GIs were in town bringing with them the sounds of Boogie-Woogie, Jazz and Cuban rhythms. Maurice El Médioni was that boy, soaking up those musical influences and, adding French chanson, Andalusian and Arabic styles to the mix, growing to become one of the pioneers of Algerian Raï music, playing for some of the biggest names of the golden era and his influence acknowledged by the stars of today such as Khaled and Rachid Taha. Now, with a band featuring Salamat’s Mahmoud Fadl and the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, the man is back in the spotlight at the Café Oran.

Israeli Oran Etkin is clearly influenced by various cultures of the African diaspora and the jazz born in the Americas that stemmed from those cultures. Playing tenor sax, alto clarinet, and most notably bass clarinet, Etkin assembled different combos of musicians from around the world to play music that combines elements creating a new music that simmers with subtle rhythms and muted melodies that do not overwhelm or nullify each other, but work beautifully in balanced symmetry. The flattened wooden balafon sound of Balla Kouyate, vocals of Makane Kouyate and Abdoulaye Diabaté, guitar of Lionel Loueke, and bass of Joe Sanders or John Benítez surround and embrace Etkin's .

O. Pamuk retrace sa vie intime dans une grande famille bourgeoise de la ville, laïque et progressiste. A travers le récit de la décomposition progressive de cette famille, qui va perdre à la fois son mode de vie traditionnel et son statut social, c'est la société stambouliote et la société turque des années 1950 et 1960 qu'il décrit, encore très proche de celle de l'Empire ottoman. …