Tribute to Maurice El Médioni (Harif, 3 September 2024)

Maurice El Médioni, who died in Israel in March 2024 aged 95, is widely regarded as the godfather of Algerian pop music. A leading Algerian-Jewish pianist, pioneering composer and interpreter of Andalusian, Rai, Sephardic and Arab music, he was well known in Israel for his classic ‘Ahlan Wa Sahlan‘.   • Maurice El Medioni - Ahla Wa Sahla  
His uncle, born in the derb, the Jewish quarter of Oran, was the celebrated musician Messaoud El Mediouni, “Saoud l’Oranais” who was murdered at the Sobibor concentration camp. Through the 1950s, Maurice’s unique piano style, which blended Andalusian melodies and Latin and Boogie Woogie rhythms, was much in demand in North Africa, where Jews and Arabs freely and gloriously played together. But the Algerian War of Independence meant that, in 1961, Maurice El-Médioni was forced to flee to Israel, then moving to France. In Paris he performed with other Algerian-Jewish exiled stars such as Lili Labassi, Line Monty, Lili Boniche, Samy el Maghrebi, and Reinette l’Oranaise.

The 1970s and 1980s saw a downturn in his career. Later in life his career blossomed and he became a solo star. He performed with the Klezmatics and Roberto Rodriguez from New York and Khaled from Algeria, as well as Orchestra El Gusto, which brought together once again Algerian Jewish and Muslim musicians. In the last decade of his life he moved to Israel, where he played with the Mediterranean-Andalusian Orchestra. His music has influenced a new generation of pianists.

Paying tribute to the life and legacy of this great master of Judeo-Arabic music will be Max Reinhardt, editor of the memoir Maurice El Médioni: A Memoir From Oran To Marseilles 1938-1992, together with Yvonne Kahan, who was Maurice’s manager for many years.