January 7th, 2022, Shabbat is almost here
And today we will listen to a charming piece with two melodies, sung and played by the Oranese veteran maestro Maurice el Medioni
Hello, how are you? I hope well. I am very well. The sun enters through the window while I write this words for you. And tomorrow, the musicians of Jako el Muzikante will travel to Germany for the tour and, so far, everything is going on as planned. Remember, if you are in the area of North Rhine-Westphalia or in Brussels the dates and places are here.
And overall, I am listening for the umpteenth time this recording of today, “Bienvenue / Abiadi”, by the singer and pianist from Oran Maurice el Medioni. Accompany me in this trip to the beauty.
Then, please, spread the word.
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About Maurice el Medioni
Maurice el Medioni is now 93 years old. He only left the stage in his 90s. He lives with her wife in the residence for elders Beit Mashhad in Herzliya, Israel.
Thanks to the Facebook profile of the superb agent of musicians Yvonne Kahan, director of Olamale, I have been updated of his latests news. A few weeks ago he made a performance in the residence. You can watch some of it here. It is the FB profile of Ophir Toubul. A few days before, after her call to the community, Yvonne managed to get the donation of a piano to the residence, so that the maestro could play, since it was not possible for him to move to look for a piano elsewhere. You can learn more about this special moment on Yvonne’s FB post.
The first picture of Maurice on the piano is from the website of Piranha Records, the record label that released the recording that is our selection for today. They present him with these words:
Maurice el Medioni is nephew of Saoud l’Oranais, whose real name was Messaoud El Médiouni. There is a previous edition of MBS about him, here. As mentioned, there, in January 1943 the German army, after the Operation Torch, made a roundup of Jewish in Marseille’s port and deported Saoud and his 13 years old son Joseph to Drancy camp and later to Sobibor, where they would be murdered.
I got this picture of the Jewish quarter of Oran, from this blog, Elmesmar.
Maurice was born in 1928 in the Jewish quarter of Oran. According to the BBC:
- “On the Rue de la Révolution, in Oran, in the family café, held by his uncle Saoud el Medioni, famous musician also known as Saoud l’Oranais, Maurice el Medioni got to meet the best musicians of the Arab-Andalusian tradition.”
- “At the age of 9, he started learning piano, an instrument that his older brother offered him. He played by the ear, and practiced with passion.”
- “Exuberant and generous, Maurice el Medioni included in his family many members, Jews and Arabs, famous or not, in his musical world : Lili Labassi, Line Monty, Blond-Blond, Reinette l’Oranaise…”
- In parallel, he continued his job he was trained for: tailor. For 42 years, in Oran, then in Marseilles, where he arrived in 1962, Maurice el Medioni led these two activities.”
About the piece
The recording of Bienvenue/Abiadi is included in the album Café Oran, released by Piranha Records in 1996, signed by Maurice El Médioni Et Son PianOriental, in which the maestro is accompanied by some of the first line of Jewish and not Jewish musicians: David Krakauer, Frank London or Sabah Habas Mustapha and Hijaz Mustapha from 3 Mustaphas 3.
The piece contains two songs, Bienvenue (Welcome), that is credited as traditional, and Abiadi, that must be traditional too. You can listen to a much older version, by the Moroccan singer Zohra el Fassia, here. This lady has her own edition of MBS.
It’s time to enjoy the music:
Click the picture to listen to Bienvenue – Abiadi by Maurice el Medioni: