(Ethnic Jazz, World Fusion, Morocco) Malika Zarra - Berber Taxi {Motema Music MTM-60, USA} - 2011, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 27. August 2011, 1:29
Malika Zarra / Berber Taxi
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REM GENRE Ethnic
REM DATE 2011
REM DISCID B40B4A0B
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.99pb5"
PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
TITLE "Berber Taxi"
FILE "Malika Zarra - Berber Taxi.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Tamazight"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Berber Taxi"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 04:04:68
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Houaria"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 08:14:01
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Prelude to Mossameeha"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 00 13:55:61
    INDEX 01 13:55:74
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Mossameeha"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 16:15:56
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Little Voice"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 00 22:46:10
    INDEX 01 22:46:57
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Issawa's Woman"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 00 24:07:40
    INDEX 01 24:08:05
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Leela"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 00 29:48:65
    INDEX 01 29:51:42
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    TITLE "Amnesia"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 00 34:14:03
    INDEX 01 34:16:11
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "No Borders"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 39:34:22
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "Mon Printemps"
    PERFORMER "Malika Zarra"
    INDEX 01 43:17:23

"Morocco's Jazz Jewel... redefining the term fusion and adding her unique sound to the world"
--CNN International "African Voices"

06/02/11
Malika Zarra
Berber Taxi
Motema
Jeff Tamarkin reviews new album from Morroccan-born jazz and world music singer
By Jeff Tamarkin
The operative prefix in describing Malika Zarra is multi-: A multilingual, multi-octave vocalist fronting a multinational cast of musicians and drawing from multicultural influences, Zarra has crafted a sophomore recording that offers multiple delights. Born in Morocco, she grew up in France and now resides in New York. Like many expats, she initially eschewed her roots and soaked up new influences as she moved around, only to rediscover her cultural core.
Berber Taxi, which follows 2006’s indie release On the Ebony Road, celebrates those roots—instrumentation includes oud, cajón, tahrija, darbuka, etc., in addition to the standard Western array—but is, at the same time, unquestionably a contemporary jazz recording. Zarra’s lithe voice, though never used ostentatiously, has an impressive range, and her improvisational acumen is undeniable; her ease in shifting between several North African and European languages (among them English) only adds to the diversity already resident within the grooves. The polyrhythmic title track, a traditional folksong appropriately sung in Berber, tells the tale, as Zarra explains in her liner notes, of “finding love in distant places” and serves as the ideal representation of what the singer has created here. Swooping from soprano downward and back again, Zarra’s timing is sharp, her command irrefutable and her instincts, among them the knowledge of when to lie back, the mark of a leader.
“Issawa’s Woman,” in French, is alternately dense and airy, and its segue into the sensual Arabic ballad “Leela” reiterates the album’s array of moods and rhythms. Berber Taxi’s tour de force, “Mossameeha,” shifts dramatically—a spare two-minute prelude of voice and lone exotic stringed instrument gives way to urban buzz. Layers of voice, insistent drums and echoey electronic keys draw lines, not only from East to West, but also from the ancient to the postmodern.

Editorial Reviews:
Redefining the term fusion and adding her unique sound to the world of
jazz. --CNN International
Product Description:
Motéma debut from NYC -based, Moroccan-born vocalist and composer
Malika Zarra is rich in rhythm, melody, and culture. The sensual,
multilingual, and supremely sophisticated Zarra weaves North African chaâbi
and Berber/Gnawa polyrhythms together with New York-style groove jazz into
a luxurious sound that showcases her seductive voice and imaginative lyrics.
CNN International featured Zarra on their African Voices program, calling
her Morocco s Jazz Jewel.
Previous self-released CD, The Ebony Road, sold over 2,000 units and
gained international media attention.
Customer Reviews:
3.0 out of 5 stars - A little over-sanitised & over-produced - July 27, 2011
By: David J. Ohanlon
Malika Zarra is of Berber heritage from Morocco & this album comprises both traditional Berber and original songs.
In the liner notes the artist states, inter alia, that "you will hear influences from traditional Moroccan music........woven into American jazz".
And herein lies a problem for me - as the artist's concept of "jazz" is of the safe "smooth"-ish variety, there is often an annoying over-use of Electronic keyboards and drum kit (ie. instead of more "authentic" african drums), which spoil the raw "earthiness" of the underlying material. Add to this some instances of heavy-handed over-production & the overall effect will probably fail to satisfy either hard core "jazz" or "world music" officianados.
Luckily, however, there are three delightfully under-embellished, stripped-down tracks ("Houaria", "Issawa's Woman" & "Leela") which, due to their simple authentic beauty, not only merit several repeated listens but also enable me to give the album overall a "conceded pass".
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5.0 out of 5 stars - Excellent Reording!! Beautiful Voice! - March 21, 2013
By: Bill Gosa
Malika has a beautiful voice, even though I did not understand the language, the music and arrangements were superb!
Its true, music is universal.
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5.0 out of 5 stars - Very well put 2gether. - March 7, 2013
By: Miles lilfello Waters
the Music was very smooth, and I loved every moment of this CD.. You can feel the Heart & Soul of the Band and Malika Voice. I'd recommend this as a Must hear Must buy Item for sure.
All Customer Reviews @ Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Berber-Taxi-Malika-Zarra/product-reviews/B004NHRGW6

Jazz has been called one of America’s greatest contributions to the world’s culture, but it’s important to remember it’s an art form that has grown from countless cultural exchanges with artists and styles outside the U.S. An inspiring new international voice, who is both influenced by jazz and is bringing her own culture and creativity to the melting pot, is MALIKA ZARRA. Born in Morocco, raised in France, and now thriving in the polyglot metropolis of New York City, this gifted composer, producer and singer has invented a new Moroccan urban-world-jazz by tastefully using traditional North African chaâbi, Berber and Gnawa polyrhythms to underpin her distinctly contemporary urban compositions, all the while maintaining a sophisticated improvisational modern jazz approach.
Joining other fresh New York faces of the international jazz scene, such as Afro-Latin bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding, Zarra’s sultry multi-lingual vocals move effortlessly between Berber, Moroccan Arabic, French, and English.
With the release of Berber Taxi on April 12th, 2011 by Motéma Music (home to legendary innovators Randy Weston and Geri Allen, and powerhouse newcomers such as Gregory Porter (GRAMMY®-nominated for Best Jazz CD on his debut release), Zarra takes her rightful place as an important world-jazz artist on New York’s multicultural music scene. Berber Taxi takes up its journey following Zarra’s self-released 2006 debut, On the Ebony Road, which has sold over 2,000 copies, largely from her gigs and by word of mouth reputation. Whereas that first album was recorded jazz-style, mixed and mastered in two days, Zarra has, in her words, “fought” long and hard to make this one sound exactly the way she wanted it to.
Born in the southern Morocco village of Ouled Teima, near Agadir, Zarra left at age three when her parents immigrated to France, where her father first worked as a coal miner and then later at the Renault car manufacturing plant. Like many immigrants, the family held on to its culture at home, speaking their native language while their daughter faced the complicated mix of difficulties and expectations surrounding the assimilation into French culture of young persons of North African origin.
“It was a long process,” Zarra says of her journey to become a singer. “Because I’m the eldest of five, my mother really counted on me to help out. Plus, even though music was important in our home, like it is for people from many countries, it is so hard to become a professional musician. In the mind of my parents it just wasn’t a very realistic job.”
As the westernmost nation in the Arab world, Morocco’s culture is a vibrant mix of influences from the U.S., Africa and Europe. Moroccans are proud of their broad-minded and active music scene -- one that has already begun to embrace their new urban-world-jazz star.
“For them it isn’t strange to hear Moroccan music mixed with other styles because the country is really a crossroads between different cultures,” the singer explains. “So what I do isn’t all that mysterious – also, there’s been jazz musicians like Randy Weston who have been doing this kind of thing for a long time, collaborating with Moroccan musicians.”
Already considered a rising star in Africa, Zarra and her multi-national band recently appeared at Dakar’s prestigious International Black Arts Festival, where heads of state mingled with major African musicians like Youssou N’Dour and Angelique Kidjo. Now with Berber Taxi, it is time for the rest of the world to catch on.
The CD’s title comes from a traditional Berber folk song that Zarra’s mother taught her. According to the song, the only way for young people to find love in their isolated village was for a mythical taxi to deliver someone to them.
“I really wanted to have a Berber song in this album and especially a traditional one,” she explains. “Plus, I liked the fact that it is a song that young people used to sing about love in a very isolated place.”
Malika Zarra brings her own experiences to bear as a composer as well, touching on such themes as one’s place in society as a woman and as an immigrant. There are also other more personal and romantic thoughts, too. She names influences like Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, and Thelonius Monk, and yet Zarra’s sensuous vocal instrument, which has the musicality and flexibility of an accomplished jazz improviser, also has an intimate and emotional dynamism, as she moves from language to language, that puts her in league with her pop and singer/songwriter contemporaries. It all comes off as completely natural because that’s exactly what it is.
“My songs sometimes change between two or three languages, but this is how I speak with friends,” the singer explains with a laugh. “We go back and forth between French, English, Arabic, and Moroccan dialects – everything at the same time. Sometimes this happens in one sentence!” It’s no wonder that she also transitions so effortlessly between musical styles.
She first came to New York in 1996 and stayed three months, meeting many of the friends and musicians that she now works with. It was then, thanks to the encouragement of Arnie Lawrence (founder of The New School’s jazz department) that she had her creative breakthrough while sitting in with his student band.
“He was the first person to encourage me to explore more of my Moroccan heritage and to sing only in Arabic and French in that ensemble. I was surprised that an American person would be interested in knowing more about this culture that I grew up wanting to downplay.”
Relocating to New York in 2004, Zarra worked hard to establish herself on the crowded jazz scene, and now plays festivals including the London Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival and such leading clubs as The Blue Note, The Jazz Standard, and BAM Café. Zarra has even opened for Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall.
Malika Zarra’s music is a postcard from the places she’s been, but more importantly it’s a vehicle to exciting new destinations, and Berber Taxi will take you to all of them.
http://motema.com/artist/malika-zarra