May 18–25, 2000

critic pick|world music

Abdelli

For Algerian singer/songwriter/mandola player Abdelli, it takes a lot of courage just to play his music. His songs aren’t overly political, but simply assert the joy of his Berber culture. Yet his culture has seen him, among other incidents, thrown in jail at the age of 15 merely for possessing a book written in his native Berber language.

Abdelli’s people trace their history back nearly five millennia in Northern Africa. As with most indigenous people, they’ve seen ’em come and they’ve seen ’em go. The Roman Empire made its impression there and St. Augustine was a Berber. When Islam swept through the region it took a number of Berbers into Spain. And, as with too many indigenous peoples, the Berbers who chose to maintain a distinct culture and identity were often considered backward and uncooperative.

While today the hostilities are officially cooled — it is no longer illegal to be a proud Berber — there is still much prejudice. Thierry Van Roy, a percussionist with Abdelli (who speaks no English himself) spoke of a recent concert in Cremona, Italy, where a young Arab crowd heckled the band mercilessly: "Sing in Arabic!" He said the band has been having a much better time on their first North American tour, where the audiences have come out to dance to the complex rhythms of Northern Africa with no other motive than to have a good time.

—Mary Armstrong

Abdelli, Fri., May 19, 8 p.m., Folklife Center, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., $20, 215-895-6537.