Give Me Moor: Aromates and "Ritournelles"

One of my favorite books when I was growing up was a giant Readers Digest tome that laid out all the histories of all the known civilizations in the world. I would pore over that book, looking at the maps of the civilizations. The ancient civilizations were the ones that interested me most - those in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans and their war for Mediterranean supremacy with the Carthaginians. One thing that I found really interesting, however, was the rise of the Islamic world after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and how they nearly matched Rome by encircling the Mediterranean. If the Umayyad Caliphate had continued to expand, or if later Vienna hadn't held against the Ottomans, the history of Europe might have been much different. On the other hand, if the Moors had not conquered most of Spain, the history of Spain might have been much different also. Spain was largely under the rule of Muslims for almost 500 years, forging a deep connection with what would become Spanish society. The influence of the Moors is everywhere in Spain - its architecture, its language, and its music to name a few. It is said that the last Muslim ruler in Spain, Muhammad XII of Granada, reined his horse on a small hill overlooking Granada and the Alhambra and wept and sighed before turning away and riding into exile.

Today's tune is by the French ensemble Aromates and its leader and percussionist Michèle Claude. The ensemble fuses the ancient and contemporary, uses old and new instruments, and explores into gypsy and Cuban rhythms and jazz in its music. It's first album, Jardin des Myrtes (Garden of Myrtles - 2005), features traditional Arab-Andalusian songs played by the musicians on traditional instruments. The music takes you straight back to an Umayyad court in Spain - you might even be in the presence of the Caliph himself. Today's tune, Ritournelles can be found as the 8th track on Jardin des Myrtes.