OUM – ZARABI (EN)

A Moroccan of Saharan origin, Oum immediately impresses with her remarkable combination of power and sensitivity. With her sensual voice she explores the diversity of Moroccan music that she blends with soul and Gnawa and Hassani rhythms. Inspired by the music of her native country but also by the music of the whole African continent and by Jazz, she reveals a moving, sincere and engaged personality which develops a subtle musical world in which her Saharan origins echo.

For her new album, “Zarabi”, Oum assumed the role of artistic director for the first time, working together with Mathis Haug and bringing back two artists from her last album: Damian Nueva and Yacir Rami. The album was recorded in two unusual settings: in rural Normandy and the desert outside the village of M’Hamid El Ghizlane. “Zarabi”, which means rugs in the Moroccan dialect Darija, is a tribute to the female weavers of that same village. The artists create their rugs from old clothes supplied by their clients, and they are therefore assembling not just a rug but also a memory in their delicate creations. Oum felt her own creative process echoed that of the memory weaving artists.