Hassan Wargui, Berber banjo from Morocco

I am completely blown away by the playing of this guy, which I learned about courtesy dj/rupture. Rupture has not written about him on his blog, so I know nothing about him. Based on his playing, it would be very cool to organize a tour for him of bluegrass venues, no? Love to see him doing his stuff on the Fayetteville town square during farmers market...

Oh, and the song comes with a translation of the Tamazight lyrics into Arabic!

UPDATE (May 9): See comments from dj/rupture with links and more info. Thanks, rupture, don't know why I couldn't find anything previously!

Golden Beirut: New Sounds from Lebanon

Read about this CD, from norient and Outhere records, here.

'a young generation of musicians from Beirut that is tired of war, fed up with politics, sick of religious madness, and angry about Euro-American exoticism.'

Ahmed Wahbi, "Ya Dzayer"

Ahmed Wahbi's ouahrani (wahrani) song, "Ya Dzayer," is notable for its ultra-smooth Cuban rhythms, as smooth as Tanzanian tarab. If you compare this version to the recorded version, it seems that the rhythm section is turned up here, and the Cuban element (produced by the bongos) is more prominent. I'm not sure when it was broadcast.