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"Mabrouka" CD review June 07
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Mediterranean melodies and more.
The melting together of various ethnic musical styles is not jus...Mediterranean melodies and more.
The melting together of various ethnic musical styles is not just a theory or practice for Atlas Soul, the members themselves are literally from all kinds of different countries and backgrounds. The group came together in Boston and it is where they make their homebase. Atlas Soul are: Jacques Pardo (France, Israel): guitar, sax, vocals, Angela Rossi (Italy): vocals, Walid Zairi (Tunisia): electric bass, Oud, percussions, Lucas Leto (USA): drum set, percussions, Jon Simmons (USA): trombone, percussions, Nadwa Al Rifai (Lebanon): vocals. Alan Perez (Cuba): vocals, percussions. Anwar Souini (Morocco): vocals, percussions.Atlas Soul is an award-winning band performing original music that celebrates Afro-Mediterranean culture and rhythm heavily spiced with Jazz and Funk. On their 3rd CD, "Mabrouka" they continue their genre-busting music. On "Angelo Mio" the melody and mood is slow and sultry with a moody trombone floating around the vocal but then the Chorus suddenly features a Drum n' Bass-type drumbeat while everything else remains in the original slow groove. Other tunes such as "Sarah's Groove" and "Sole" and more hard-driving Funk with heavily syncopated rhythms and extended improvisational jams that would not sound out of place at an outdoor Jamband festival. "Quiereme y veras" displays the Oud and Nylon-stringed guitars truly evoking a Mediterranean landscape and all that it entails. In addition to songs being sung in a languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew and English, Atlas Soul as lo espousing a political mind set. The lyrics speak of love, natural wonders, oppression, poverty, and of the melancholy of immigrants longing for their homelands. Their motto is world-music-for-world-peace.- P.R. Brimstone -
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Global Rhythm Magazine
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"Atlas Soul's blend of jazz, funk and Middle-Eastern/Arabic grooves is a fascinating sonic stew that..."Atlas Soul's blend of jazz, funk and Middle-Eastern/Arabic grooves is a fascinating sonic stew that will catch any listener's ear. This is their second appearance on our CD's compilation. We like'em, and you will too". Global Rhythm Magazine
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CD reviews/Feedback from Radio Stations 2006/2007
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Media name: James Cervantes Company name: KWVA Date: 2007-11-12 15:40:38
Feedback:
Jacques, I lov...Media name: James Cervantes Company name: KWVA Date: 2007-11-12 15:40:38
Feedback:
Jacques, I love the album. I will play several tracks and put the album on rotation for the others DJ to play. I will let you know everytime I play the album.
Thanks for making the music possible.
James
James Cervantes
Jazz Format Director
KWVA
Media name: Dr. StrangeDub (Michael Rose) Company name: KFAI-FM Date: 2007-11-11 07:11:03
Feedback: An excellent release... Nice, tight, jazzy playing, with some very authentic Middle Eastern percussions (and vocals) on some tracks. I just love the track “L'Amour En Banlieue”....It reminds me of some of the best things done by Natacha Atlas.
This DJ is very much looking forward to the next Atlas Sould release.
Media name: Carlos Mantilla Company name: Universidad Industrial de Santander Date: 2007-11-10 01:29:03
Feedback: October 24th / 2007 Play List Jazz Club 10:00 PM 96.9 FM Bucaramanga, Colombia Tittle Artist L'Amour En Banlieue Atlas Soul Smooth Sailing Airborne Angel Mio Atlas Soul Festival Sunset Airborne Quiereme Y Veras Atlas Soul Can't Fight Love Airborne Sole Atlas Soul The Message Airborne Passa La Vida Atlas Soul
Media name: Graham J Barclay Company name: Soundwave FM Date: 2007-11-09 02:01:24
Feedback: Hi Jacques Many Sincere thanks for the Cd you submitted to us. We have played it, and think that it is well worth having tracks from the CD included into our playlists. The charactor of the music style presented gives this CD a unique feel, with an individual personality presented inside it's contents. Great work, and we sure look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Kind Regards graham@soundwavefm.co.nz
Media name: george young Company name: country club productions pty ltd Date: 2007-10-29 10:42:18
Feedback: Hi Jaques, Great work on this disc full of wonderful song's and music. One to be proud of.
Thank's George Young
Media name: Maurizio Benvenuti Company name: Radio Incontro Date: 2007-05-28 08:53:31
Feedback: dear friend in good music : I received your cd : is very very good and now in airplay on my radio show and playlist .
Sincerely, Maurizio Benvenuti
Media name: Richard Good Company name: Radio One 91 FM Date: 2007-07-15 12:59:26
Feedback: A record review, and tracks played across several editions of Radio One's "Jazz Junction." Angela Rossi is possessed of a good voice. Interesting rhythms and instrumentation. an intruiging mix of jazz & world music, although on occasions (Love in the suburbs ) perhaps too little of the former.
Media name: Yanick M. Thériault Company name: CKUM RadioJ 93.5 MF Date: 2007-05-17 08:06:11
Feedback: Cool.
Media name: Mitchell Mendys Company name: WKNH Date: 2007-03-17 11:48:46
Feedback: HEY YOU GUYS GROOVE NICELY!!I'LL BE PLAYING YOU ON MY WORLD MIX SHOW NOW AND ON MY SUMMER "COOL JOOLZ" SHOW TOO. THANKS, MITCHELL MENDYS wknh
Media name: Gi Dussault Company name: Upper Room Radio Show Date: 2007-01-18 01:45:12
Feedback: You need to have this CD in your collection. Really good release. No excuse to not have this CD right on your CD player. We just love it here on The Upper Room Radio Show. Gi Dussault Upper Room Radio Show www.upperroomwithjoekelley.com
Media name: Louis Brunet Company name: CKMN-FM 96,5 Date: 2007-01-08 01:34:00
Feedback: Very good cd. I've played many times in my show.
Media name: Michael Criddle Company name: Triple H-FM Date: 2006-11-18 09:53:55
Feedback: What a great sound you have, I have played several of your tracks to date and plan to schedule more in future programs. Keep up the good work and please keep me up to date with your progress Regards Michael Criddle OzRadio ozradio@ozisp.com.au
Media name: Tony Wickham Company name: Radio Maldwyn Date: 2007-01-04 03:00:49
Feedback: I love the basic style of this recording: musically, the haunting trombone in the background 'makes it' for me, although anyone who thinks that mucking about with turntables makes music and deserves a credit (Mr. williams!) needs a period in a correctional institution. Great vocals from Angela, and overall a nice style for an early evening show. TONY WICKHAM RADIO MALDWYN, UK
Media name: Scott Stevens Company name: KAOS Community Radio Date: 2007-01-15 04:37:16
Feedback: Added to KAOS library, and has gotten spins on several "world music" and eclectic shows. Thanks!
Media name: Brad C Dedmon Company name: WMNF 88.5 FM ,Tampa Date: 2007-01-21 12:39:05
Feedback: Mabrouka has good blend of world and jazz on this CD.
Media name: Dioni Piatkowski Company name: JAZZ RADIO fm Date: 2006-11-30 12:47:34
Feedback: thank you very much for set of recordings and press-kits informations. I will back with additional details and offer as soon as I will get confirmation and budget details concerning ERA JAZZU for new season. Will be great to invite you here -- but be sure - I wish to make it on strong and professional way. Drop me a line if any more assistance and - be in touch... All the best: Dioni Pištkowski ERA JAZZU Strzelecka 37 62-050 Mosina POLAND fax:++61/813.25.66 www.jazz.pl erajazzu@jazz.pl
Media name: David Martin Company name: Martel Date: 2006-11-24 12:50:31
Feedback: Really enjoying Atlas Soul's "Mabrouka". It's amazing how the band's different influences manage to blend themselves into one tight sound. "Angelo Mio" is such a hauntingly beautiful song of longing. The vocals really stand up to the richly textured music. It's a song we will cherish in our collection for many years. Kate Martinelli Ozcat Radio 91.5 Vallejo, California www.ozcatradio.com PS added you guys to our artists page: http://www.ozcatradio.com/ozcat-radio-artists.html
Media name: John Reid Company name: Keith Community Radio Date: 2006-10-24 07:24:48
Feedback: Thank you for sending on this C.D. This is to use the old "cliche " something totally different. It is an exciting cornucopia of world music, and cultural rhythms blended and fused together to produce a sound which is both melodic and exciting. Superbly played, arranged, and produced this recording is highly innovative and listenable, and conjures up vivid images of exotic and far away places. I would certainly like to hear other work by Jacques Pardo and his group of talented Musicians. Great rhythms. Best Wishes John Reid Keith Community Radio 102.8 FM Keith Banffshire SCOTLAND
Media name: Alex Pijnen Company name: BRTO Radio Date: 2006-10-23 01:11:11
Feedback: Fantastic Album. Great stuff for our Radio Station.
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Comments from fans 2006/2007
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hi you guys are the most amazing band in the WORLD!! I LOVE YOU!!!Sandra
Hi!
Ive never been more...hi you guys are the most amazing band in the WORLD!! I LOVE YOU!!!Sandra
Hi!
Ive never been more obsessed with a band ever for this long
You guys will never go outta style for me
You guys are awesome
Thanx for putting good music out there
Kim
Hi! That's awesome. Music soundin good...have to try and get along to see
you sometime. Rafael Chaves
I really love your music, so thanks for introducing me to it.
Elizabeth Hicks
Angelo Mio l is a wicked awesome song. You should try getting on CDusa sometime. You are gonna be huge
Peace. etienne
hey you guys freking rock i love *angelo mio * and i cant stop listening to it yeah have to buy your cd. Randall
i like your music (Angelo Mio is coool !) janet fan
excellent excellent music.
you made my day.
keep up the very good work.
Leona
I would have to say that you guys are the most amazing band I have ever heard. You guys have everything else down, amazing chord progressions, talented instrumentalists.
I have to see you live!
Irma Doherty
Hey there;) Love the music. Lisa Broderick
Angelo mio is my favorite!!!Bonnie
you guys really need to come to rochester ny! Austin Bullard
You guys are the best band ever. I love all your songs but especially "angelo ... its so awesome. OMG you guys are the best. Alpin Mc Veigh
you guys are AMAZING! i played Angelo Mio on here atleast a hundred times.. =] Valeire Holst
You guys ROCK!!! I am obsessed with Angelo Mio ...great song! :) Tom Alesia
You guys are simply AMAZING. Love "Angelo Mio ". Marie Shoemaker
i cant stop listening to you guys. John Young
amazing music!
trudee
Your talent blows me away!!!!!!!! OMG!!
erica
I've been listening to yall for a while and I like what I hear. Catch yall later! Jen
I can't stop listening to this music, it's great. Melissa Darwin
You guys def. have a unique sound and one that I love. As the daughter of a musician who has been in the studio most of her life...not only with my father but also with Tommy Lee on one occasion when making his latest solo cd.... I can appreciate talent when I hear it... I am not a musican myself but being around the industry from childhood has enlightened me and given me the ability to recognize and acknowledge talent when i see it and hear it. My future prediction sais that you guys are on the way to becoming something HUGE... I COULD NEVER COMPARE YOU GUYS SOUND TO ANYONE BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT ALL OF YOU ARE ON THE WAY TO A BIG HIT...SO I WON'T EVEN TRY TO MAKE A COMPARISON TO ANOTHER BAND OR ONE OF THIER RECENT HITS...JUST KEEP UP THE HARD WORK AND OF COURSE, THE INSPIRATION THAT FUELS THE FIREWORKS!!!!!! !!!
Kathy Scott
number1 band for the summer days.... David O
your too freakin talented! keep it up=) Elizabeth Sawyer
can't wait for ya'll to blowup HUGE. from what i've heard, after the CD hits -- yall will be household names. Sharon sweet kisses
I just wanted to tell you that you guys are AMAZING artist, and I love you music! Chloe
Do me a favor and never stop creating music...
I don't know what I would have done without your music in my life these past few months.
I look forward to a bright future with more of it. Rachael Pence
Your guys' music is absolutely amazing. You have to come to Seattle and play soon. I'll bring everyone that I know in order to fill the place. Eriica
you guys are awesome
keep it up. Barbara Fox
Your music is TIGHT! its hard for me to believe you guys arent signed yet - you should at least be getting major label interest...
These are the best tracks i've heard on n1m site by far...
keep up the good work! 5!
Karmen
Hello
I've heard a few bands attempting to acheive similar things to you-but none so succesful at it- or so startlingly original sounding...
This band should be beyond Numberonemusic and looking for entertainment lawyers in NYC to shop their demo... hope you guys are touring around I'd love to see you live!
Onto my playlist,thanks for the inspiration and a rare 5 stars from me....
Barry
Awesome songs, gotta hear more from you guys!
If you dont get signed within a week or two then i would eat my guitar.
Best of luck !
Grant
Yeah!!!
Thisis a must listen.Those songs I heard on N1M are HUGE... performed dynamically incredible with power and grace. Your songs could top the charts in many generes. It's without a doubt a worldly hit to be. Instrumentally, arrangement, production - its so refreshingly original and HOT - These songs have something special - beyond most hits. It's absolutely..masterpiece.It screams to be on radio and as well it should be.
FANG YIN
Hi
Looks like I'm off my diet again after discovering your band on numberonemusic.
Lot's of things happening, and it all comes together so well. Very professional!
You have got a unique sound here that is making me happy as I listen.
... totally memorable songs. Now, go be a star so I can worship you from afar.
Jeannie
Great songs! Awesome production, great arrangements! I can't write 50 words
about this, because it's easier to condem then praise.
Heidi
See U at n1m!
Hi Jacques
Just a note to say Hello and Best Wishes with your group "Atlas Soul". May you all be highly blessed for working towards World Peace, through the Music. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do for you here in England.
Blessings
Rajesh Semrete Selassie Aggarwal
THESE SONGS ON N1 SITE ARE AWSOME! These songs should be on the radio. The arrangement is right on as well. I'm sorry. I have no constructive criticism for your songs. Theres nothing to say except, great songs. Loved it all.
Tanya
Superb!
The production is HOT! The performance is blazing. Very open and spacious arrangement and mix...Performance is strong and tighter than a lot of what I hear on the radio as it sits right now. I love your tunes, and it's going on my n1m favorites.
An exciting original work!!!
Lea (your Number One Fan)
Hi!!
This is staggeringly beautiful. Nothing short of breathtaking.
What I love about your music is how it is both smart, achingly beautiful,
and artful.
That's so gorgeous. It sounds so natural and flows wonderfully. (More proof
that you can use complex time signatures without alienating your audience!)
My only criticism is that you aren't on the radio or playing in my town.
See U on numberonemusic and hope to hear more from you soon.
Art
Yeah!!!
You've managed to put together very beautiful & catchy tunes. Those are
perhaps the most professional tunes I've laid my ears on Numberonemusic.com.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful music with the lot of us - music for
free is nice - but you ought to get paid!
William
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Reviews from our page at : http://www.cdbaby.com/atlassoul2
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Reviews from our page at : http://www.cdbaby.com/atlassoul2
Effortless cross-cultural blend with ...Reviews from our page at : http://www.cdbaby.com/atlassoul2
Effortless cross-cultural blend with enticing results!
Reviewer: Mike Crager
The hallmark of the North African musical tradition is an openness to others. Musicians from this culture effortlessly blend centuries-old rhythms, instruments and melodic concepts with modern ideas and innovations from the world over, creating a constantly changing panorama of styles. Jacques Pardo and Atlas Soul exemplify this spirit. In their second CD, Mabrouka, the group serves up a tantalizing stew of musical styles. The delighted listener hears the influences of jazz, Latin, flamenco, French hip-hop and the traditional North African music, all blended with the deft and sure hand of a master chef. Great vocals top off the warm and savory instrumental mix.
I have to see you live!
Reviewer: Irma Doherty
I would have to say that you guys are the most amazing band I have ever heard. You guys have everything else down, amazing chord progressions, talented instrumentalists. I have to see you live!
You guys are the best band ever!
Reviewer: Alpin McVeigh
You guys are the best band ever. I love all your songs but especially "angelo ... its so awesome. OMG you guys are the best. Alpin McVeigh
you guys have a unique sound and one that i love
Reviewer: kathy scott
you guys def. have a unique sound and one that i love. as the daughter of a musician who has been in the studio most of her life...not only with my father but also with tommy lee on one occasion when making his latest solo cd.... i can appreciate talent when i hear it... i am not a musician myself but being around the industry from childhood has enlightened me and given me the ability to recognize and acknowledge talent when i see it and hear it. my future prediction is that you guys are on the way to becoming something huge... i could never compare you guys sound to anyone but i do believe that all of you are on the way to a big hit...so i won't even try to make a comparison to another band or one of their recent hits...just keep up the hard work and of course, the inspiration that fuels the fireworks!!!!!! !!! kathy
Always good music we want more!
Reviewer: Annie Royer
I like the new style for some of the song but I am a fan of the Oriental style so deep! Please never stop to make our heart sing. I am so jealous! I'd like to sing with you some day, all my love Annie
Superbe musique metisse qui rechaufe le coeur et fait bouger les pieds!
Reviewer: Michael R. Crager
Ton CD est arrivé le week-end passé. Je l'aime beaucoup! Quel beau mélange de styles tu as créé! J'entends des influences maghrebienne, latine, de flamenco, de hip-hop, de jazz--c'est chouette! La production est très bien faite, le son est clair mais chaleureux, l'ensemble est très à l'aise mais il y a beaucoup d'énergie. Félicitations, mon ami! Mike
What a fresh sound!
Reviewer: Linda Blackbourn
I am so excited to hear this! The band is so tight. Love the vocals and the unique sound. I am buying this CD for my friends and looking forward to the next!
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world of local music
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The Boston Phoenix (January 4 2002) BY BANNING EYRE
On a recent Friday night at Matt Murphy’s ...The Boston Phoenix (January 4 2002) BY BANNING EYRE
On a recent Friday night at Matt Murphy’s Irish bar in Brookline Village, an unlikely jam was unfolding. Atlas Soul, a new Boston-based world-music outfit, laid down spacious North African funk grooves with passionate vocals, polyrhythmic percussion breaks, and trancy guitar and saxophone melodies that would be the envy of any jam band. Against the sound of neighborhood patrons lifting pints and tapping their feet, a few of the band’s loyal North African fans clapped out counter-rhythms, and before long strangers were joining them. If September 11 created an environment unfriendly to Arabic and North African culture, nobody told these people.
That night, the Atlas Soul line-up was pared down to a five-piece combo with Jacques Pardo on vocals, guitar, and sax and Lotfi Tiken on vocals and guitar. Pardo was born in France to Greek and Algerian parents; Tiken traces his Berber heritage to Casablanca. Boujemaa Razgui, who’s also from Morocco, played dumbek (hand drum) and nay (wooden flute); the sound was filled out by Scott Palmer pumping out fat bass lines and Andreas Brades playing excellent drums rich with complex, grooving North African rhythms.
Atlas Soul formed about a year ago, when the remaining members of two bands in transition — Cosmos Factor and Casablanca 6/8 — merged. Cosmos were Pardo’s group, a jolly, rambling world-music outfit that has been enlivening Boston clubs since the early ’90s. Casablanca 6/8 were an all-Moroccan jazz-fusion band that Lotfi Tiken started with his brother Majid in 1989. The Tiken brothers guested on Cosmos’s 1995 release, We All Live in a Jungle, and the two bands have remained close ever since. Majid has since moved to Switzerland, but his voice is heard on Atlas Soul’s impressive self-released debut, Chamsa, which means, "Give me five."
What hits hardest about Atlas Soul’s sound is the natural funk of North African music and also Lotfi’s powerful vocals, which span fluid, passionate Gnawa melodies and husky rai hooks. There is great wisdom in a world-music outfit that embraces divergent genres (but not so many that the sound loses its identity). At Matt Murphy’s, Atlas Soul finished the first set with a 20-minute rendition of Pardo’s homage to the Nigerian bandleader Fela Kuti. Pardo’s French-accented vocal sounded more like Satchmo than Fela, but the song kicks, and as they worked it through dumbek-driven percussion breakdowns, extended solos, and a chanting passage that got the whole bar calling out Fela’s name (whether or not they knew who he was), his venerable Afrobeat morphed into rhythms and melodies of North Africa and the Middle East and made sense in a whole new way.
Pardo says the North African identity brings a crowd response you don’t get with garden-variety world beat. When the band first formed, they played Sundays at the Kirkland Café in Cambridge. "We had people from the North African community coming to see us every week. They go really nuts. They throw money at you. Sometimes we had North African pop stars coming and sitting in with us. We had Cheb Nasro for a while. When he’d be coming, they’d be throwing between $400 or $1000 at him in a night." The clapping heard at Matt Murphy’s is a standard part of the North African response. "It becomes like a rhythm section. At Francofolie in Montreal, we had hundreds of people clapping their hands together. Kids were jumping on stage. I rarely saw anything like this in my life."
And Pardo’s own musical roots? "I come from a family of music lovers. In Paris, the first gramophone ever possible to buy, my father and mother bought it and played Greek and Arabic music on it all the time. They bought me my first guitar when I was six years old. I was playing three chords and singing. I sang in my first band when I was about 11." After a stint in Israel playing in a mixed Jewish and Arab band, he made his way to the US and ended up in a touring blues band for a few years. When he settled in Boston, his real desire was to play Middle Eastern songs. That was a part of the mix in Cosmos Factor, but tossed in with Latin grooves, Afropop, and New Orleans funk, it never came through with the clarity he’s getting in Atlas Soul. He even sings a respectable Arabic vocal on "Ya Willie."
Pardo is drawn to the spiritual depth of Moroccan trance music. In Atlas Soul, their visions harmonize, both on Chamsa’s varied tracks and in the band’s spirited live shows. Watch for them on festival stages next summer.
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Incendiary Baaba Maal plays smoking grooves. By Bob Young
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Anyone interested in the roots of groove music got the most fiery master class imaginable at the sol...Anyone interested in the roots of groove music got the most fiery master class imaginable at the sold-out Paradise on Wednesday night courtesy of Senegal’s Baaba Maal……….
……..The salsa-feed “African Women” turned into a sweaty party, a towering musical bonfire that burned even higher when local tenor saxophonist Jacques Pardo joined the band, punching out infectious riffs of his own……….
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CD review
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewer: CD Baby
Moroccan Rai, Shaabi, West-African Hilife, Socca, Reggae, Sa...
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewer: CD Baby
Moroccan Rai, Shaabi, West-African Hilife, Socca, Reggae, Samba, Jazz, Funk and Rock. This album will get you addicted to world music, rock your soul and get you up on your feet. Party dance on the islands kinda stuff. Great mix of traditional and modern party. DEEPLY FUNKY.
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Banning Eyre.
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“What hits hardest about Atlas Soul’s sound is the natural funk of North African music and also po... “What hits hardest about Atlas Soul’s sound is the natural funk of North African music and also powerful vocals, which span fluid, passionate Gnawa melodies and husky Raï hooks. There is great wisdom in a world-music outfit that embraces divergent genres (but not so many that the sound loses its identity)" writes world music journalist Banning Eyre.
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12-Song CD Review
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Atlas Soul - "Chamsa" (Cosmos Productions)
YourSound.com CD Review by
Michael Baldino, 09-06-20...Atlas Soul - "Chamsa" (Cosmos Productions)
YourSound.com CD Review by
Michael Baldino, 09-06-2001
It's a rare joy to find an album that can be wholeheartedly recommended to fans of every type of music, and I'm thrilled with Atlas Soul's Chamsa. They've got it all: James Brown/Fela Kuti-style funk workouts, a multitude of Latin rhythms and percussion, catchy hooks and vocal melodies, and some smokin' soloists in Lotfi Tiken (guitar/vox.) and Jacques Pardo (sax/vox.). There's just short of a million guest players in addition to the group's six core members, but the sound is never cluttered, no one ever plays a superfluous note, and the groove is never lost. The whole affair reminds me of a wacky foreign Steely Dan or Los Amigos Invisibles and the Buena Vista Social Club jamming with Baba Maal and Orchestra Baobab. The liner notes explain it best: "Atlas Soul music incorporates many genres: Moroccan Rai, Shaabi, West African Hilife, Socca, Reggae, Samba, Jazz, Funk, and Rock. It might sound a bit ambitious but it comes to us very naturally. Our goal is to transcend over the genres, styles and music trends and to communicate to you-the listener-the passions, emotions, and fun that we share while composing and playing it."
- Michael Baldino, YourSound.com, Inc.
(c)2001, Michael Baldino
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Atlas Soul makes worlds collide — and party
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WATERTOWN – As Anwar Souini/Maghreb describes it, he was browsing the North African section in a Cen...WATERTOWN – As Anwar Souini/Maghreb describes it, he was browsing the North African section in a Central Square record store in Cambridge one day in 2006, when he came across a CD that intrigued him, by a group called Atlas Soul.
That the shop even had a North African section was refreshing for Souini, who left Morocco to study in the United States in 2001, arriving at the University of Wyoming, of all places, a few weeks before 9/11.
“I wasn’t lucky,” Souini says of the timing. Lonely and isolated in Wyoming, he had moved to Florida after two years, before finally landing in Boston — a place where, he found to his relief, many people had at least heard of his home country.
Better yet: After listening to Atlas Soul and enjoying its unexpected mix of North African music with funk and jazz, Souini — an accomplished singer who had recorded in Morocco as a teenager — noticed the CD listed a contact number with a Boston area code.
“So I called,” Souini says. “And half an hour later he was in my home.”
That “he” was Jacques Pardo, Atlas Soul’s saxophonist and leader, a longtime figure on Boston’s world music scene who cofounded the group in 2000 with Moroccan brothers Lotfi and Majid Tiken, after leading a predecessor act called Cosmos Factor.
Pardo hired Souini as the group’s lead singer at the same time that the Tiken brothers were leaving for other projects. Now, after six years and some more personnel changes, Atlas Soul is an eight-member band with three self-released CDs.
The fourth will be out this summer; they’ll preview the new songs Saturday at Regattabar.
They continue to blend North African music, primarily the raï and shaabi styles, with jazz, reggae, and more. Chicago-raised Regie Gibson, a recent addition, brings a hip-hop element, rapping in poetry-slam style over crisp funk grooves.
It’s an eclectic crew, mixing immigrants and locals — trombonist Jon Simmons and guitarist Pericles (Perry) Bakalos are Boston guys — with songs in Arabic, French, and English, though snippets of Hebrew and Italian also creep in.
This makes for a wacky, polyglot family feel, much in evidence when a photo shoot with seven members (drummer Nadjim Kebir was on family business in Algeria) turns into a brunch and jam session at Pardo’s home, with his wife, Sarah, their adult daughter Maya, sound engineer Graham Tobias, a dog and a cat all in attendance.
“This is my indirect family,” says Pardo, surveying the scene. “I’ve played with many different bands but this is my passion, this group is my baby.”
Pardo’s personal history reflects some of the strands in Atlas Soul’s cultural explorations. A “wandering Jew,” as he describes himself, from a French Sephardic family with roots in Greece and Algeria, he studied music in a French conservatory.
He then decamped to Japan to study Zen and karate, but decided music was the stronger calling. Along the way he bought land in Israel and lived there a while, before putting down roots in Boston.
Boujemaa Razgui, who has been with Atlas Soul from the beginning, is another nomad who settled here. A native of Marrakech, he left for Spain in 1985, then immigrated to Canada before getting married and moving to Boston in 2000.
A talented multi-instrumentalist, Razgui plays percussion, violin, and the flute called ney in Atlas Soul, and performs in other groups around the area. “I play all kinds of music, Arabic, traditional, but what we do with Jacques is African soul,” he says. “All these guys put together, it sounds great.”
Gibson, meanwhile, brings an American flavor and a way of communicating with the audience that Pardo says he especially appreciates.
Gibson returns the compliment. “The thrill of working in a different kind of rhythm that I grew up with is a great challenge,” he says. “These guys play music that has that funky North African feel. It harks back to a very ancient music but it has a modern sensibility, and that mixture is a big pull for me.”
Atlas Soul’s
supersonic
