Kili is very much concerned with the rich variety of the musical styles of Morocco, he knows the musicians and their music, listens to their tapes, savors the rhythms and harmonies like wine from the hills of the Atlas mountains and at some stage the music of his homeland reappears in his own songs. Then the Berber does a tap-dance on the table (Attan) echoing a cover-version of a Moroccan star like Hamid Zahir (Lalla Fatima).

Kili makes the music palatable for our ears. He is like a filter for the musical culture of his country through which the richness of the Moroccan music can flow. On top of the traditional spheres of Gnawa, Rai, Chaabi and Berber sounds the pop classics of the sixties and seventies are Kili's greatest source of inspiration. Back then when he still had his band in Morocco they all played cover-versions of famous hits from Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. That was the sound that the audiences loved and if the great stars themselves couldn't appear personally then at least their songs could be played. Kili's Moroccan Pop Distillery allows the good old Pop grooves to evaporate like dates under the midday Moroccan sun and in the end a music transpires that transforms the sounds of the seventies, Gnawa and the Berber grooves of Morocco to the Beat de Couscous 2001.
Morocco is a fascinating place for sensitive souls and has been for decades the destination of numerous musicians and writers. Paul Bowles wrote novels here, Jimi Hendrix heard the fascinating music of the Gnawas for the first time in Essaouira and Essaouira itself has become in recent years a main attraction for travellers from Europe and the USA. The annual festival of the city combines a variety of music forms, e.g. Gnawa music with Capoeira rhythms from Brazil, Rai stars from Algeria and drum & bass acts from England.

Track Listing

• Mountain Ti Mohammed
• Ayour
• Salamoualeikoum
• Balini
• Cowgirl In The Sand
• Nelgak
• Lalla Fatima
• Kfaya
• Allah
• Attan
• Shouafa
• Fanan

Additional Details

Label: Tropical Music

Genre: World

Language: English

Run Time: 54:37 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 10/10/25

UPC: 764916881824