Mauritanian artist Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla plays instrumental electronic keyboard in a style known in Mauritania as WZN, or in Arabic simply “music.” Born into a musical family tradition (his father is a renowned tidnit player from Traza), today Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla is one of Mauritania’s most premiere keyboard performers. Soundtracking lavish weddings in the country’s capital, Ahmedou has earned a reputation for his evocative theatrics, accentuating notes by playing with his elbows or tapping the keyboard with his head.
This session, recorded in a salon in Nouakchott was originally broadcast in 2020 by the Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival in Katowice, Poland after touring was canceled during the pandemic. Ahmedou assembled a troupe of musicians, dancers, and friends for this brief gaze into modern Mauritanian music. It’s pretty amazing.
You can read our review of his 2019 cassette Terrouzi released via the ever reliable Sahel Sounds here.
