Malika Zarra (US/FR)

"Malika Zarra is a rare and special voice, a natural-born musician who sings as easily as we breathe." (John Zorn). She has been called Morocco's jazz jewel, and sings in Amazigh, Moroccan Arabic, English and French. Deeply attached to her native cultures, she remains open to those of the world. For her, cultures as diverse as the people on earth are powerful forces that reveal the richness of humanity. She left Morocco as a three-year-old and grew up in France. In 2004 she moved to New York, where she takes her rightful place as an important world-jazz artist on the city's multicultural music scene. Of her 2011 CD "Berber Taxi" (Motema), John Zorn wrote: "A masterpiece, every track a gem."   Line-up: Malika Zarra (voc, percs), Leonardo Montana (p), Adhil Mirghani (percs)