Among Brothers

August, 8th, 1998, I decided to go to Capo Verde. Attracted by the beautiful music, the sound of the guitars used in the world by talented musicians,singers like Cesaria Evora, Bana, BITOR, Bao, Ana Novo, Theophilo Chantre and other anonymous...When I arrived, I was quickly attracted by the fragrance of the country,the ocean and the sympathy of the people of Capo Verde. Followed several meetings with talented musicians, especially those from the''Club VIOLIN", in Praia, where I went every evening, enjoying the beautiful live music,provided by artists, passing by before going home after long tours with Cesaria, or just before going on tour in Europe, Asia or America... In Cape Verde, ALL MUSICIANS ARE STARS. They learned to play together, to appreciate and be generous with each other. Each star has its rightful place and the opportunity to enlighten others. Two days before the end of my stay in Cape Verde, I met LICO BARROS a great singer and musician. He taught me that the island of Fogo is inhabited by Berbers since the dawn of time. Subsequently, a journalist and anthropologist from Cape Verde confirmed me that. Since then, we became like brothers. He invited me to his home village and his family in Santo Domingo, 20 km from Praia. I was welcomed as a brother. I played with one of the greatest composers lyricists from Cape Verde NOVO ANA and other great singers and musicians from his School. All the people in the village sang or played an instrument. Before we left, they have all committed to offer their help and support if we ever came to record the new album in Cape Verde. LICO BARROS oversaw the logistics and dealt with the customs administration to prevent us from all the problems of transit equipment. Until this tragic accident in early July 1999 in Portugal. On the evening of January 4, 1999, we began our first rehearsal with To Tavares and Ulysses at the Conservatory of Praia. I thank the family of my friend LICO BARROS, the staff of the Cape Verde television which, in one way or another, allowed us to build the album Among Brothers. I also thank all the musicians, their families and friends and the many anonymous people who simply offered their hospitality, their talents and smiles during our stay in Cape Verde. STEP TWO of the recording, October 4th, 1999 in Azerbaijan. We arrived in Baku to 5 am, after almost 24 hours of travel between airports and aircraft. Upon arrival at the airport in Baku, at the counter of Customs, I have been held for several hours. My head has led doubts of all customs gathered around me, each in turn checking my passport, trying to finding the weakest point. A customs official said, "to my knowledge Abderrahmane is not a Belgian name? " With the entry into war of Dagestan, a neighboring country, it was complicated for anyone wearing a name sounding Arabic suspected of terrorism. As in the recording of all my albums, all the musicians worked on the same basis mandola, voice, and bendir derbouka, so without the influence of previous musicians from Cape Verde. Ferhat and Smaili started with the drums, adding rhythm to the soloists. We recorded also the Camanche, the Balaban, accordion (Karmon), flute, tar, ney and kanun on : the instruments used for centuries throughout Central Asia and in the desert of Bugoustan. In Burkina Faso, we recorded the rhythmics of "Ayem Yema" and « Amazin » songs with musicians of Farafina. I had the great pleasure of meeting them during their visit to Brussels with my friends the Charles Loos and Jean-Pierre CATOUL. Recordings made in Belgium with my musician friends who accompanied me during my tour (Luchio, Mjidou, Azzedine, Carlos, Lahcen and Asfour) were performed in the Voorde castle, property of my friend Viviane Ray.