Fantazia

Fantazia - 21st century roots music from Algeria, via Hackney, East London. Based in London, Fantazia are a multicultural eight-piece group composed of musicians from Algeria and the UK. Live, their potent grooves, with impassioned singing, soaring improvisations and the ever-present power of percussion, create a unique atmosphere, a celebratory force that soon has audiences on their feet and dancing. However, the music not only stands up to repeated listening, but rewards the listener with the depth of its invention and the emotional power of the atmospheres it evokes. In oud player and multi-instrumentalist Yazid Fentazi, Fantazia have a composer with strong melodies, vibrant rhythms and dynamic arrangements. With the worldwide release of their second CD Mul Sheshe, on Harmonia Mundi's World Village label, Fantazia emerged centre stage. As The Daily Telegraph described it, "Throbbing sufi trance grooves, wailing traditional oboes and buzzing percussion come up against meaty horns, big kit drums and Celtic fiddle."

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