Driss El Maloumi (born 25 May 1970) is a Moroccan composer and performer on the

oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...

, the Arabic short-necked

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

. He is mainly known for playing solo or in trio formations under his own name, for his long-standing cooperation with

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #13 ...

musician and musical director

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

, 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 Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

, in southern Morocco, and comes from a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

family. After studying

Arabic Literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

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 Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. In the early 1990s, he won several national awards for the

, for example the ''Prix d'Honneur'' from the National Conservatory of Music in Rabat. Apart from his work as musician, he directs the

conservatory of music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

in Agadir. In several of his musical projects dedicated to musical affinities between Europe and the Mediterranean, musical director

invited Driss El Maloumi to his ensemble

Hespèrion XXI Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Catalan musical director Jordi Savall (bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), his wife Montser ...

to represent Middle Eastern musical traditions with his oud playing. 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 Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

. He also appears with his own trio, including two percussionists from Agadir, and was invited to play at the

Institut du Monde arabe The Institut du Monde Arabe (, ''Arab World Institute''; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. ...

in Paris in 2013. In 2014, he participated at

WOMEX WOMEX (short for Worldwide Music Expo) is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany ...

festival in

Santiago de Compostella Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedra ...

, Spain, and the following year, at the International Africa Festival in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, Germany. In 2023, his album ''Aswat'' (''Sounds)'' was distinguished with the German Record Critics’ Award in the category Traditional Ethnic music. This album was by online magazine World Music Central for its "brilliant

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

interaction" between El Maloumi's oud and "captivating North Africa and Middle Eastern percussion." El Maloumi also composed orchestral versions of his music for oud, percussion and

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, titled ''Tafassil'' ''(Details)''. For 30 November 2023, the Driss El Maloumi Trio, accompanied by the Austrian

Tonkünstler orchestra The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria. Origin of the name The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Soziet ...

, are scheduled to perform at the prestigious

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

concert hall in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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 Rajery, born Germain Randrianrisoa, is a player of the valiha from Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying ...

from

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

valiha The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of Valiha diffusa, local bamboo; it is considered the "List of national instruments (music), national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of re ...

. In his review of 3MA's first album, entitled ''3MA - Madagascar, Mali, Maroc'', British music critic

Charlie Gillett Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...

named their music "satisfyingly unclassifiable", and world music magazine

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

, where the album reached the highest position in its world music charts, qualified the trio's style as "African Chamber Music". 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.

Discography

Solo or with his own trio * ''Maroc: L'âme Dansée'' (Buda Records, 2003) * ''Makan'' (Contre-jour, 2013) * ''Aswat'' (Contre-jour, 2023) 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) with 3MA * ''3MA'' (2008), Transglobal World Music Charts in January 2008 * ''Anarouz'' (2017), Songlines Music Awards 2019 on CD "Songlines Top of the World" (2014) * Douceur pour 2 'R', from his album ''Makan''

References

External links

Official webpage
* *
Release concert of Driss El Maloumi's ''Aswat''
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Maloumi, Driss 1970 births Living people Ibn Zohr University alumni Moroccan world music musicians Moroccan oud players People from Agadir Shilha people 20th-century Moroccan male musicians 21st-century Moroccan male musicians Moroccan male composers

Life and artistic career

3MA African string trio

Discography

See also

References

External links