Driss El Maloumi
{{Short description|Moroccan composer and oud player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Driss El Maloumi
| image = File:WOMEX Daycase Driss El Maloumi Trio by Jacob Crawfurd (15003655124).jpg
| caption = Driss El Maloumi
| background =
| origin = Agadir, Morocco
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|05|25|df=y}}
| genre = Arabic music, Berber music, African popular music
| occupation = {{plainlist|
- oud player
- composer
- singer
}}
| years_active = 1990–present
| associated_acts = 3MA music group
| website = [https://drisselmaloumi.com/about Official webpage]
}}
Driss El Maloumi (born 25 May 1970) is a Moroccan composer and performer on the oud, the Arabic short-necked lute. He is mainly known for playing solo or in trio formations under his own name, for his long-standing cooperation with Catalan musician and musical director Jordi Savall, as well as for being a member of the group 3MA, comprising three popular African string instrumentalists.
Life and artistic career
El Maloumi was born in Agadir, in southern Morocco, and comes from a Berber family.{{Cite web|date=10 November 2017|title=3MA (Ballaké Sissoko, Driss El Maloumi, Rajery)|url=https://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/3ma/|access-date=8 February 2021|website=Six Degrees Records|language=en-US}} After studying Arabic Literature at Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, he finished his academic studies with a thesis on the philosophical approach to musical expression in artistic discourse. At the same time, he devoted himself to practical training on the oud and to his studies in both Arabic and Western classical music. In the early 1990s, he won several national awards for the oud, for example the Prix d'Honneur from the National Conservatory of Music in Rabat.{{Cite web|title=Driss El Maloumi - WOMEX|url=https://www.womex.com/virtual/contre_jour/driss_el_maloumi|access-date=3 February 2021|website=www.womex.com}} Apart from his work as musician, he directs the conservatory of music in Agadir.{{Cite web|title=Driss El Maloumi - Odyssée|url=https://www.accr-europe.org/en/residencies/residents/odyssee/odyssee/driss-el-maloumi|access-date=15 February 2021|website=ACCR - Heritage Sites for Culture}}
In several of his musical projects dedicated to musical affinities between Europe and the Mediterranean, musical director Jordi Savall invited Driss El Maloumi to his ensemble Hespèrion XXI to represent Middle Eastern musical traditions with his oud playing.{{Cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|date=23 February 2009|title=A Comparison of the Old and the New (Published 2009)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/arts/24look.html|access-date=3 February 2021|issn=0362-4331}}
With his solo performances, El Maloumi has presented his own compositions, as well as the occasional Berber folk tune. Further, he has been invited to play with international musicians coming from backgrounds as varied as jazz, Indian music or the historical music of Al-Andalus. He also appears with his own trio, including two percussionists from Agadir, and was invited to play at the Institut du Monde arabe in Paris in 2013.{{Cite web|title=Driss El Maloumi|url=https://ethnocloud.com/Driss_El_Maloumi/|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Ethnocloud|language=en}} In 2014, he participated at WOMEX festival in Santiago de Compostella, Spain, and the following year, at the International Africa Festival in Würzburg, Germany.{{Cite web|date=21 December 2015|title=ALL BANDS|url=https://www.africafestival.org/en/all-bands/|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Africa Festival|language=en-US}}
In 2023, his album Aswat (Sounds) was distinguished with the German Record Critics’ Award in the category Traditional Ethnic music.{{Cite web |last=German Record Critics’ Award |title=Traditional Ethnic Music - Driss El Maloumi - Aswat |url=https://www.schallplattenkritik.de/en/quarterly-critics-choice/2023/03 |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.schallplattenkritik.de |language=en}} This album was by online magazine World Music Central for its "brilliant call and response interaction" between El Maloumi's oud and "captivating North Africa and Middle Eastern percussion."{{Cite web |date=2023-03-21 |title=Driss El Maloumi Unveils Oud and Percussion Project {{!}} World Music Central |url=https://worldmusiccentral.org/2023/03/21/driss-el-maloumi-unveils-oud-and-percussion-project/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |language=en-US}}
El Maloumi also composed orchestral versions of his music for oud, percussion and symphony orchestra, titled Tafassil (Details). For 30 November 2023, the Driss El Maloumi Trio, accompanied by the Austrian Tonkünstler orchestra, are scheduled to perform at the prestigious Musikverein concert hall in Vienna.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-29 |title=Arabic Sounds {{!}} Tafassil |url=https://www.tonkuenstler.at/en/tickets/events/arabic-sounds-tafassil |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.tonkuenstler.at |language=en}}
3MA African string trio
Since 2008, El Maloumi has been a member of 3MA musical group, an award-winning trio of African string instruments, playing their own contemporary compositions. The other members are kora player Ballake Sissoko from Mali and Rajery from Madagascar on valiha.
In his review of 3MA's first album, entitled 3MA - Madagascar, Mali, Maroc, British music critic Charlie Gillett named their music "satisfyingly unclassifiable",{{Cite web|date=12 July 2008|title=Review: Ballake Sissoko, Driss El Maloumi, Rajery - 3MA|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/13/worldmusic.reviews|access-date=3 February 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} and world music magazine Songlines, where the album reached the highest position in its world music charts, qualified the trio's style as "African Chamber Music".{{Cite web|title=3MA: African Chamber Music|url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/explore/features/3ma-african-chamber-music|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Songlines|language=en}}
Apart from their own albums, the musicians of 3MA have also participated in the musical project The Routes of Slavery. They were invited to join their compositions, relating to the history of the slave trade from Africa, by the artistic director of this project, Jordi Savall, with whom Driss El Maloumi has played the oud on numerous albums.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Jordi Savall: The Routes of Slavery|url=http://www.lincolncenter.org/show/the-routes-of-slavery|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018141127/http://www.lincolncenter.org:80/show/the-routes-of-slavery |archive-date=18 October 2018 |access-date=8 February 2021|website=www.lincolncenter.org}}
Discography
Solo or with his own trio
with Jordi Savall's Hespèrion XXI
- Orient — Occident, 1200-1700 (2006) and several other albums
- The Routes of Slavery, DVD and 2 CDs with booklet, (2016){{Cite web|title=Jordi Savall Explores the Musical Legacy of 'The Routes of Slavery'|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13844099/jordi-savall-explores-the-musical-legacy-of-the-routes-of-slavery|access-date=3 February 2021|website=KQED|language=en-us}}
with 3MA
- 3MA (2008), Transglobal World Music Charts in January 2008
- Anarouz (2017), Songlines Music Awards 2019{{Cite web|title=Songlines Music Awards 2019|url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/awards/2019|access-date=3 February 2021|website=Songlines|language=en}}
on CD "Songlines Top of the World" (2014)
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://drisselmaloumi.com Official webpage]
- {{discogs artist}}
- {{YouTube|49JXQwAmuGE&t|1717s Musiques - La couleur des âmes - Driss El Maloumi (2013)}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6uHD-wTZUU Release concert of Driss El Maloumi's Aswat] on YouTube
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloumi, Driss}}
Category:World music musicians
Category:20th-century Moroccan male musicians