Orchestre National De Barbès

The Orchestre National be Barbes celebrate not only their Algerian heritage -- for many, it's their homeland -- but the "little Algeria" that is the area of Paris known as Barbès, their home and cultural milieu. The origins of the group date back to 1985, when bassist Youcef Boukalla, then living in Algeria, recorded a cassette with his band, T34. The tape found its way to Paris, and became an underground hit with the Algerian community, lauded by musicians like Takfarinas and Cheb Mami. Boukalla followed his success to the French capital, where he made four albums of rai and ...