TALKING OUD
Morocco in the spring of 1996. A boy goes to the countryside to visit his aunt and cousin. Alaa is 11 years old, the family is
scattered across the country. Arriving at his aunt's house, he discovers the "oud" for the first time in his cousin's room. He
knows music and knows how to make it. Since he was seven, he has played the violin, flute and piano. But the oud is different. He tries it, plays the first note, strings together others. He remembers a folk song, searches, tries and after a short time the cousin finds Alaa engrossed in playing with the familiar melody.
19 years later in the spring of 2015, a Frenchman, a Greek, a Bulgarian, a German, and a Moroccan meet in a small village in the middle of Germany. This is not the beginning of a joke, it is the beginning of "Talking Oud". Alaa is 29 years old and since that moment in his cousin's room, the oud has never left him. He has studied it, traveled with it and met friends and musicians all over the world. The oud has become his voice. A voice that is at home in all musicians, that speaks and connects without prejudice, that learns and develops with curiosity. Its vocabulary grows from Arabic-Andalusian music, from jazz and flamenco, from rock, funk and the joy of playing. "Talking Oud" is not just an album centered on a rare instrument. It is a conversation between friends, between musical styles in search of common musical perspectives.
In the conversation, the listener will find on the album "Talking Oud" the Balkan saxophonist Vladimier Karparov and the jazz pianist Florian Zeller. The rhythm of the common musical language is determined by drummer Dimitris Christides, percussionist Rhani Krija (Sting) and bassist Didier Del Aguila. The voice at the center of the music remains Alaa Zouiten with his "Talking Oud".