Happy Thanksgiving!

Fresh from a wonderful meal, I'm in the mood for gratitude. I'm grateful that you're reading this, that you're interested in the musics of the world, and that I have the ability to help bring some artists to a wider audience. Artists like Mariem Hassan of Western Sahara.


Like Tinariwen, Hassan does the desert blues up right. And she has good reason. Though she now lives in Barcelona, she and many other Sahraoui people lived for years in refugee camps, displaced by fighting between Morocco, Mauritania, and the Saharawi people.

Hassan lived in a camp for 26 years, raising her five children there. A rare interview at World Music Central gives more insight into her life and her music. And for more on her people's story, check out Sahrauis: The Music of the Western Sahara, a box set with 3 CDs and a wealth of information about the Sahraoui people.

mp3: Mariem Hassan: "Id Chab"
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