Souad Asla: Lemma

This is a great recording, issued in 2018 under the Musique du Monde series from Buda Musique and Universal France, and comprises a remarkable ensemble of eleven women, led by Souad Asla, from the Saoura region of southwestern Algeria not far from the border with Morocco, with most coming from the city of Béchar or the nearby town of Kenadsa.  This is a harsh region of the Sahara, but occupied with people who have a rich culture among trade routes and, more lately, coal mines, which drew a diversity of workers and others from southenr Europe, as well as Berbers, Jews and sub-Saharan blacks.

The word lemma refers both to the ensemble and to gatherings that, as the very informative liners states, the purpose of which "is to meet and together ward off the spell that threatens to spoil the unity of the moment."  This music is very much a unity, the tightly devised rhythms for percussive instruments and hand-claps, the chants and singing, and the lyrics which are largely tied to everyday activities and events.  It is hypnotizing, mesmerizing and evocative of deeply-rooted tradition, which Asla and her troupe are devoted to preserving amid dramatic change and for which they are to be thanked and commended.