Nino Biton and his Maghreb Band

At Beit AviKhai last night (www.bac.org.il) last night we enjoyed Nino Biton and his Maghreb band playing music in the Algerian style. After four lectures on the subject, I have a vague notion of what a makam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makam) is. Each selection was written to (or is it with? or in?) a different makam, and yet there was a recurrent pattern -- perhaps because of their common Algerian connection. One of the musicians played piano -- an instrument with very fixed notes. How does that fit the structure? A high energy level and enthusiastic audience make these live performances more enjoyable than recordings.

Copyright 2013 Jane Schulzinger Fox