Out on Wonderwheel on March 22, &Chakib is the debut of Swiss Producer, DJ, and Live-Act Dominik Traub, aka Dandara. The album came about following a chance encounter with Algerian vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Chakib Bouzidi, the founder of Ifrikya Spirit.
Chakib, who specialised in traditional instruments, including the Goumbri and was a student of Gnawa virtuoso Maalam Bernaissa, passed away soon after the initial recordings for the album. The label shared that after a period of mourning, reflection and blessings from the family, Dominik continued work on the album, honouring Chakib’s memory by using the existing material and forging ahead to complete the album…The production seamlessly integrates elements from Chakib’s existing contributions and fills in the gaps left by the unrecorded portions, as a community of artists rallied together to contribute drums, keys, horns, guitars, and vocals, adding layers to the album’s mosaic-like composition.
Listen to “Muri”, the first single from the album below:
Watch Chakib in session with Ifrikya Spirit from 2018 (ft. Rafik Kettani, Samy Guebouba, Reda Mourah, Hassane Khoualef, Omar Bennacer and Nazim Bakour).