If fans of raï, chaâbi, Arabo-Andalusian or even salsa, tarab and Amazigh culture (indigenous to the Maghreb) knew about the immense voice of Algerian singer Youba Adjrad, Fairmount would have been shaken. Such power singers are few and far between.
Youba Adjrad was born in Algeria in 1991, took his first steps in music at the age of 14, studied music at the age of 17, and was inspired by his chaâbi-singing father to enroll in a classical music school in 2009. On Algerian radio, Youba improvises a few Algerian chaâbi classics and even a song of his own. In 2012, at the age of 21, he took part in the national Alhan Wa Chabab (Algerian Super Star) competition, then reached the final of Arabe Idol (season 4). Some consider him to be one of the best Arab voices of the current period. The thirty-something certainly comes from pop and reality TV, but he frees himself from it and distinguishes himself from it.
Believe me, this is no show-off. I was there for the first set on Friday night and wow, what a voice! The groove is purely Maghrebian but also Afro-Latin, the result of Youba Adjrad’s encounter with percussionist Youcef Grim. Montreal musicians Bertil Schulrabe, Carlo Berri, Rafik Abdeladim and Ryan Kaouene are also mentioned as having taken part in the project.
The few dozen people on hand were very happy to be there, despite the low attendance for an artist of this calibre. Next time, we predict, it will be very different.
