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RECORDS: THE JOURNEY
Genre: | Jazz Blues Afrofunk |
| Instrument: | Female vocals |
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Maryam Mursal left her homeland, Somalia, with her five children during the civil war. She had to flee sitting on the back of the occasional lorry. It took her seven months to reach safety. Out of that exhausting trek comes the material for her disk, "The Journey". One of the lyrics says, "I stumble and fall but continue on. The day I left Mogadishu the air was filled with the exchange of gunfire, dead bodies everywhere and blood on the hands. I had to close my eyes so as not to see...".
She insists though, that there must be peace in the land, so that Somalians can move again. Before the war, Maryam Mursal was employed at Somalia's National Ballet, and it seems as though this lady has stepped onto the world music stage for good.
Relevant artists: Aster Aweke Faytinga Gigi
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Last Modified:
22 nov 2009
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THE JOURNEY 
Realworld/1998
One would think that Maryam Mursal's background would make this a depressive disk, but it isn't. On the contrary, hope shines out of this swinging music. It's modern, well-produced music in a style reminiscent of Aster Aweke, with North African and Arabic elements running beneath its surface.
Maryam Mursal composed most of the songs herself, some in collaboration with Danish Soren Kjaer Jensen, who also plays bass and keyboard in the band and arranges. A Somalian vocal group, "Waaberi", backs Mursal and plays African ludt or oud and gives the disk a fine, authentic atmosphere. I must admit to being skeptical about how Danish backing musicians, supplemented by Peter Gabriel and Simon Emmerson among others, would be able to function in this concept, but Mursal and Jensen have been able to create a lovely album out of all this material. As one of the song titles says, "Somalia, don't shame yourself". Maryam Mursal has certainly no reason to do so.
KJØP PLATE Editor: Bjørn-Erik Hanssen
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