Exclusive review and more pics of Rachid's concert in London at Jazz Cafè.

RACHID AT JAZZ CAFÉ 15TH APRIL

by Yvonne Mitton

Lucky London, it’s been treated to a Taha fest of 3 gigs within 6 days. On Thursday 10th April, as the winner of the North Africa and Middle East category for Diwan 2, he closed the ceremony for the prestigious BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music at Dingwalls with a one hour set (three numbers of which were broadcast on Friday 11th April). This was followed by 2 nights (Monday 14th/ Tuesday 15th April) at the Jazz Café celebrating the 50th anniversary issue of Songlines magazine. Rachid seems to have a special place in his heart for the UK and he certainly has a loyal, enthusiastic and substantial community of fans here as was obvious in the animated atmosphere at Jazz Café where a lot of meeting and greeting between fans went on before the show. In an interview with Eddy Lawrence for Timeout, Rachid bemoans the fate of his music in France and says ‘Britain is one of the few places which treats him as a mainstream musician’ .

We made the round trip of 160 miles (260 kms) for Tuesday’s gig and found ourselves in a packed and heaving Jazz Café. It was a typical night out with Rachid, raucous, spontaneous and a bit of a party ~ the intimacy of venue made it a loud, sweaty, physical evening, Rachid prowling round the cramped stage in well-worn white winkle pickers and engaging in his habitual banter with the audience.

The band line-up included the familiar faces of Hakim on mandolute, Rachid Belgacem on percussion and Yves on keyboards with the addition of a three piece brass section, essential to the opening song, Ecoute Moi Camarade from Diwan 2. Well known and well loved by the audience, who could sing-a-long word perfect, the rest of the numbers were mainly from his albums, Made in Medina and Tekitoi? ~ Barra Barra, Medina, Shuf Shuf, H’asbu-hum and more ~ for Safi he was joined by two rappers, one of which was his son, Lyes.

Super fan David, who came over from Spain for both nights, told me he has seen Rachid 17 times (makes my 10 look limp ~ I’ve a lot of catching up to do!). He and his travelling companions ,les femmes des chapeaux, complete with red straw cowboy hats, encouraged by Rachid, jumped up to dance enthusiastically on the already over crowded stage. Sadly we had to leave before the end to catch our last train but the evening looked set to carry on well beyond anyone’s last train...

Yvonne