Soul singer Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui experienced her international breakthrough with her album Zarabi, a tribute to her nomadic roots. The title refers to the carpets woven by Saharan women from old garments. Much like these fabrics, Oum’s music combines is a colorful blend of very different elements: modern soul, acoustic jazz, bossa nova and gnawa, the Moroccan desert blues.
Oum recorded the album in the open air, in the desert. Her songs were inspired by the North African oral traditions and have themes such as femininity, nostalgia and love. They’re sung in the Arabic dialect darija. Her music sounds fresh and innovative, thanks to the unique line-up of voice, double bass, oud, trumpet and percussion.
Oum El-Ghait Ben Essahraoui vocals, Arno de Casanove trumpet, Yacir Rami oud, Damian Nueva double bass, Inor Sotolongo percussion, Leï Lacoste sound engineer