Algerian chaabi pop.
Balouch imbibed the Islamic mysticism and devotional songs of Sindh in southeastern Pakistan, before travelling to Gibraltar in the early 1930s. There he became fascinated by the cante jondo across the border in southern Spain.
Running backwards, his book — originally published in 1955 — traces the roots of flamenco’s ‘deep song’ deep within the ancient musical culture of his homeland. It messes with geographical, musical, and spiritual boundaries, taking personal feeling and intuition, and free musical imagination, as its guide.
65 pages; with a litho printed cover and French flaps, more like a snazzy booklet than a book.
Absorbing and liberating.