Malika Zarra has had to negotiate the world of her heritage (Morocco) and the world she has found herself in (Europe, the USA) and has emerged with a strong musical identity that combines the structures of jazz with songs that come from her North African heart. She brought the music of her latest release "Berber Taxi" on Motema Records to the intimate NY club, the Jazz Standard, and from my perch on a bar stool, above the audience -- and the waiters delivering slabs of barbecue -- I caught the title track on video.

Zarra has a warm and caressing presence, and she introduced this traditional song that she learned from her mother by telling of how in remote villages, sometimes one hopes that a taxi will come from far away, bringing love. But the song also operates as a metaphor for Zarra's own inner journey through Morocco, France and New York City. She grew up listening to traditional music in her home, but was introduced to jazz after the family moved to France, where her formal musical studies began. Throughout the evening, the cadences of Arabic and Berber dialects sat easily within the sophisticated arrangements, as did the modalities of the melodies. By the end of her set, the audience was thoroughly entranced.

Musicians in the top-notch band that night, were Jean-Christophe Maillard on guitar, Etienne Stadwijk on piano, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on drums, and Brahim Fribgane on oud and percussion.

I also liked the room. The Jazz Standard has a welcoming feel, and I found myself chatting with a very interesting couple who live on a boat, and make it a point to come to the club whenever they are in town. But when the music began, cell phones were off, and ears were turned on, giving complete attention to the music.

For more information about Ms. Zarra's upcoming performances, visit www.malikazarra.com

Less than a year ago elections were held in Sudan in which President Omar-al-Bashir maintained his control amidst much controversy. The international community settled down to business as usual. But in the back of everyone’s mind, the upcoming referendum on South Sudan’s secession lurked like a tidal wave on the horizon. As of this writing, the ballots have not been tallied and despite violent flare-ups in border areas, the word up is secession, not unity.

Our Sudanese friend Hisham (you may remember him from the interview about the April elections) has created an animation to celebrate that decision, and to make the case for peace between the people of both incipient states. We can only hope the message is heard and heeded.

This post will be a little bit different from my others. Rather than simply reporting on the music from the Fes Festival (which I will do in other postings) I'm going to try to convey the experience of being there. I've taken everything I shot from my first full day and laid the most vivid parts out, travelogue-style. So you're getting a full day in under 9 minutes.

A word on the video quality: I went with my Flip camera which was fine for some things, and truly inadequate for others. So you are going to see some pretty grainy stuff every now and then (low light, fuzzy zoom, or both).  You are also going to see some very high quality video that was kindly supplied to me by a REAL filmmaker with a REAL camera. So all in all it will be a bumpy ride. But frankly, Fes is a bumpy ride. That's why I start out with a statement from my colleague Cindy Byram, who has attended the festival for 6 years in a row, and who speaks from experience. In the end I agree with her 100%.

There are four main venues for the festival: three paying, one public. One generally starts the day at the Batha Museum courtyard, an intimate setting with a magnificent Barberry tree that spreads its shade over 65% of the area. After a dinner break, you head on out to catch the "Big Act" at the impressive walled Bab al Makina (another paying venue) and then pass through the Bab Boujloud public performance area on your way to the last musical event, at the lovely Dar Tazi, where you can sit at a table under the trees, sip mint tea, and listen to Sufi chants. The public performances have been added in the last few years, and this is where you will find your everyday Moroccan, since the paying venues are too expensive for most. The music there is more local, and I was particularly taken with this venue, as you will see.

As to the music?  Everything I saw had merit on some level, and some even made my heart sing. But to put in my two cents, I believe that for the  most part making music and listening to music is a transcendent act, so what is NOT sacred music?  Still, I guess calling it "sacred music" makes it easier to give the Festival a theme, and since the event and the vibe are so dogma-free and tolerant, how can I complain?

A few weeks ago I received a hip hop video "B Sotak" from NasJota records aimed at getting out the vote in Sudan. It was a very good video and song, so I made an appointment to interview E-Hab Abasaeed, the president of NasJota. The elections are the first in over 20 years, and I wanted some insights. As anyone following events knows, the lead up to Sudan's elections had been riddled with problems, with claims of vote-rigging and threats, but the biggest complication was the withdrawal of main opposition parties. This automatically gave incumbent president Omar al-Bashir an obvious advantage, offering him a "mandate" to govern that the international community would be forced to recognize regardless of his indictment by the ICC for crimes against humanity. And no less a VIP than Jimmy Carter initially legitimized the election. But what is the experience of those in Sudan who are actively trying to instill the roots of a democracy in their homeland? We couldn't go to Sudan, but in a sense Sudan came to us, when we interviewed E-Hab who in turn connected us with Hisham Haj Omar, a member of Girifna, a youth movement in Sudan that tries to raise awareness of the election process and promote political dialogue in Sudan. In addition to their grassroots activism they have produced entertaining videos with a message.

Obviously both of these men are anti-Bashir. And as of this writing, with the election just recently over and votes not completely tallied, it remains hard to know how representative the vote will be. First the Polish air crash, and now the volcanic cloud that is paralyzing air flight has swept the election off the front pages, making it appear that our own politicos and media seem to be resigned to Bashir's win. Witness this recent article that appeared in the New York Times as if paving the way for acceptance of his victory.

If you are interested in seeing both videos excerpted here in their entirety, go to girifna.com.

I got the chance to catch Cape Verdean diva Lura performing at the party for her latest CD "Eclipse." She gave a terrific show -- a kind of survey of the many kinds of song and dance rhythms from the island. I wish I could have gotten better footage (had to use the awful "zoom" on the Flip) but I think you'll get the idea. She's a great dancer and her singing, which was uniformly excellent, communicated her love of the Cape Verdean heritage. The band was as solid as it gets, and played a wonderful lilting version of "Mascadjon" from the new CD.  We end with a snippet of the very sexy "Vazulina."  Enjoy.