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Natacha Atlas

Natacha Atlas’s new offering, Myriad Road, sees her combining creative forces once again. This time, she has worked with one of France’s most eminent jazz musicians, Ibrahim Maalouf – the highly-garlanded Lebanese-born French jazz and classical trumpeter, producer, and composer—to produce her first jazz album.

“The first time I saw Natacha was in Istanbul,” says Maalouf. “We were at the same concert given by Smadj, who plays the oud, and he invited us up onstage to join him. Far from being an oriental cliché or pseudo-orientalist, the Natacha I met was a woman who was undeniably in touch with the world around us. Multicultural. Open to English-, French-, and Arabic-speaking cultures. But most of all, I recognized in Natacha a voice that’s unique. Hers is, perhaps, the only Arab voice in the West today which can truly claim to be authentic; at once contemporary and modern.”

A few weeks later after this chance encounter, both artists carefully began putting their ideas together in a subtle blend of their shared cultural differences. The result? The return of the Atlas voice, unafraid to leave the clichés of Arabic songs behind and to explore fresh musical terrain while maintaining the haunting integrity of the Middle-Eastern inflected vocals that are her hallmark.

For Maalouf, Atlas’s return is one “[…] where there’s a risk of disorienting those who can still see Natacha whispering ‘Mon amie la rose’ and sashaying around in brightly-coloured sequinned dresses. But to all those people who have no trouble imagining a different Orient, one that’s more in step with today’s world, this album will make complete sense.” As Maalouf astutely observes, Atlas’s return in Myriad Road with its unprecedented seamless integration of jazz and Arabic vocals tests boundaries and fearlessly opens up new musical territories. But then, these two characteristics have always defined Atlas’s output, making it as rich as it is diverse, as even a brief look at some of her most recent work demonstrates.

In 2013, Atlas and her long-time collaborator Samy Bishai co-composed the music for the contemporary ballet Les Nuits – a work very loosely inspired by One Thousand and One Nights – for the internationally-renowned French choreographer, Angelin Preljocaj. At the same time, in 2013, Atlas released an entirely different project: Expressions Live in Toulouse – a live recording of a special event in 2012 at the Theatre Nationale de Toulouse. Before this, in 2010 Atlas produced Mounqaliba: an album defined by its lavish orchestrations by Bishai. And, in 2007, Atlas brought out her first acoustic album that featured classic Arabic songs, Ana Hina, to overwhelming critical acclaim.

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Catching Up With

Natacha Atlas: A Myriad of Possibilities

Read "Natacha Atlas: A Myriad of Possibilities" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


Belgian singer Natacha Atlas' music sits on the brink between two cultures: Western and Eastern. She uses this meeting of sounds to create something unique that takes the best from both worlds. Atlas began her career with Transglobal Underground, a world music and electronic dance fusion act with whom she recorded four albums. The group's unorthodox approach received widespread acclaim and served as a catalyst for furthering fusion between world music sounds and Western electronic dance music. When she left ...

252
Album Review

Natacha Atlas: Mounqaliba

Read "Mounqaliba" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Vocalist Natacha Atlas seems to embody the modern musical millennia: She was born in Brussels and raised in one of its Moroccan suburbs; her compositions and singing reach into and crisscross storied European and Arabic musical traditions. Primarily co-written and performed with multi-instrumentalist Samy Bishai along with pianist Zoe Rahman, a chamber orchestra and 20-piece Turkish ensemble, Mounqaliba is most likely the clearest representation of Atlas' ambitious vision so far. “What I hope I have achieved is to match the ...

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Recording

Natacha Atlas: "Mounqaliba – Rising: The Remixes" Out September 27

Natacha Atlas:  "Mounqaliba – Rising: The Remixes" Out September 27

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

Mounqaliba—Rising: The Remixes Out September 27

After two highly acclaimed string driven, predominantly acoustic projects, Natacha Atlas returns to the Global Dance-floor with the Mounqaliba Remixes. Globally celebrated singer Natacha Atlas' latest release Mounqaliba was a decidedly acoustic affair, recorded with a 20-piece Turkish ensemble and a chamber orchestra & integrating western and Arabic styles. Mounqaliba (which means being in a state of reversal' in classical Arabic) was a stunning set of original songs, evocative interludes, and a beautiful version ...

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Recording

Six Degrees Presents Natacha Atlas: "Mounqaliba," Out September 21

Six Degrees Presents Natacha Atlas: "Mounqaliba," Out September 21

Source: Press Junkie PR

Globally celebrated singer Natacha Atlas has been building towards the subtle beauty of her brand new album ever since 2008's internationally acclaimed acoustic, orchestral album Ana Hina. Recorded with guests including pianist Zoe Rahman, a 20-piece Turkish ensemble and a chamber orchestra integrating western and Arabic styles, Mounqaliba (which means being in a state of reversal' in classical Arabic) is a stunning set of original new songs, evocative interludes, and a limpid, lucid reading of Nick Drake's “The Riverman."

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Myriad Road

EmArcy
2015

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Mounqaliba - Rising:...

Six Degrees Records
2011

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Mounqaliba

Six Degrees Records
2011

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Mounqaliba

Six Degrees Records
2010

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