Who is Maurice?
The musical Maurice El Medioni and the sad recent history of Algeria are the subjects of our documentary, “Notes of Exile.” Through telling Maurice’s personal and musical journey, we have also documented the story of the turbulent history of the Jews of Algeria.
His story began seventy years ago in the Algerian city of Oran. He was nine years old when his brother bought an old piano in the local flea market. Maurice came back from school to find the wonderful instrument that changed his life. He began playing the piano that day and hasn’t stopped playing since.
Seven decades later, Maurice achieved international acclaim by winning a BBC World Music Award for his Cuban and Oriental musical synthesis album.
His musical story holds a unique insight into pivotal events in the history of the twentieth century and in the fate of the Algerian Jews. As a child, Maurice entertained Jewish-Algerian school friends with traditional French-Jewish songs. However, anti-Semitic laws dictated by Nazi-occupied France banished all Algerian Jews from school. He was not marred however, he used this free time out of school to devote himself to music. At age 13, Maurice’s played piano to entertain American soldiers celebrating victory over the Nazi occupation of Algeria. It was here he was introduced to Boogie Woogie, Rumba, Jazz and other popular American music.
In 1961, a year before the Algerian War of Independence liberated Algeria from France, tensions were high between Arabs and Jews. The streets of Algeria were transforming into a dangerous place. The lives of these Jews drastically shifted from a peaceful co-existence to a dramatic exodus of all Algerian Jews. A million French colonists and all 160,000 Algerian Jews left for France and Israel to flee Arab violence.A chance encounter with Arabic musicians introduced a teen-aged Maurice to Arabic Rai music. As the 1948 Arab-Israeli War ensued, Maurice took part of the creation of a new Rai sound. In the 1950s, amidst Algerian civil war, his capacity to blend genres would lead him to become one of few Jewish performers in the Opera of Oran.
Maurice helped to establish what is now known as “world music;” a genre that mixes and synthesizes styles of piano playing from all over the world. His life and musical journey represents the exiled Jews of Algeria. While forced into exile from his home, he did not give up playing. He continued to refine and expand his style; becoming the great pianist he is today.