Rue de Tanger - Simone (2020) Hi Res

The rue de Tanger, in the northern edge of Paris, near the boulevards La Villette and La Chapelle, traverses some the last remaining working class and truly multicultural neighbourhoods in the city today. Here we find men and women from all horizons, all social classes and all cultures; shopkeepers and undocumented migrants, artisans and criminals, retired industrial workers and yuppies, organic supermarkets and halal butchers.

It’s also on this street, specifically at the number 8, where existed one of the most renowned ‘bal musette’ : le Tourbillon. Opened in 1926, ‘Le ‘Tourb’ (for the regulars) was home to the biggest names in accordion music and French Chanson of the time. It symbolises the mythical working-class Paris of the period between the wars as well as the liberation.

It is for these reasons no surprise that the three artists chose to give their music the name of this small road in the 19th district. Over and above the multiculturalism that it symbolises, the cultural heritage that it bears, the rue de Tanger invites the listener on a voyage of discovery. A trip towards a land where accordions mix with the drums of Africa and the Orient, where Valse Musette trysts with Algerian Chaâbi. Round these parts, Jo Privat has a meeting with Dahmane El Arrachi, or Tony Murena with Rabih Abou-Khalil.

Over and above a simple meeting between three musicians over a shared musical recipe, Rue de Tanger brings the public towards a place where music reflects the struggle for a world which continues to believe in the virtues of exchange, of discovery and of working together towards a common destiny.