CusCus Flamenco - Al-Andalus meets Andalucía

As our opening event for the series 'Sonic Conversations in the Western Mediterranean', we are delighted to present an afternoon of flamenco and Arab-Andalusian fusion with the group CusCus Flamenco. Founded in 2016 by the Moroccan-born singer Hamid Ajbar, the project presents a musical encounter between the Arab-Andalusian and flamenco cultures. Although initially they were from different epochs, these traditions coincide in a time and place where both were marginalized. The group brings together the depth of flamenco singing and the lyrical poetry of Andalusian muwashahat and zejeles in a ‘deep’ fusion, exquisite in flavour, and with a fragrance as fresh as the breeze of the summer nights of the Alhambra. CusCus Flamenco is: Hamid Ajbar (founder, voice and violin) Alberto Funes (voice flamenco) Lolo de la Encarna (flamenco guitar) Aziz Samsaoui (kanun) Fathi ben Yakoub (violin) Mouhssine Koraichi (oud) Fauzia Benedetti (flute) Khalid Ahaboune (darbuka) The film was recorded by Juan Carlos Mariano Gómez at the Carmen de la Victoria Residence Hall of the University of Granada. This concert was recorded as part of the European Research Council funded project 'Past and Present Musical Encounters across the Strait of Gibraltar', based at the Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge and Manchester. For more information, please visit our website: www.musicalencounters.co.uk.