Marcus Ruud and Simohamed Hallhoulle - Essaouira - Xmas Eve 2017

 

'Silver' and 'Curly' playing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Mary Jane's Last Dance

Imagine the scene - John Knutson and I sitting outside our favourite restaurant in Essaouira - Chez Ben Mostafa - lunch-time on Xmas Eve. Not a harrassed last minute shopper in sight, no rain clouds or drizzle, no snow, no piped Xmas music blasting out of shops. Instead, we are sitting very comfortably watching the world go by, warmed by a gentle sun, greeting friends, talking to strangers and generally chilling out.

Now, Essaouira is famous for its music. There is the massive Gnawa and World Music Festival every year (now in its 21st year) which I'm crazy about, and even during our short stay, we heard fabulous music in the making at Yacine Ben Ali's PlanetEssaouira studio (more about this in my next post) and there was also a two-day Jazz Festival (and more about this in a further post). And there is also street music, particularly opposite cafes, and there's some pretty horrible stuff - pretend Gnawa that makes you cringe. But some of it is pretty darn good.

So, back to Chez Mostafa's. Not too far away to the left is the gorgeous sweep of beach heading off towards the desert and to our right is the large Moulay Hassan Square, one of the venues of the Festival, and beyond it the rather splendid but fierce Atlantic. And John and I are in relax mode but I can see two musicians opposite ready to start playing. On the left is a Nordic looking musician with long white hair and an enviable tan. On the right is someone I remember seeing at the Festival last June at Chez Mostafa. I remembered him because he looks like Jimi Hendrix and who doesn't like Jimi Hendrix?

At first I think they're going to play separately. "This will be fun," I tell myself, "they'll be competing against each other. I wonder who will win." But then it becomes obvious that are playing together and it sounds really good. In fact, it's so good that I take the trouble to get out of my chair and video the number they are playing on my phone.

                                         'Silver' and 'Curly' playing John Lennon's Imagine

After they've had a break, they get up and so do I, and to my great pleasure, they start to sing John Lennon's Imagine, one of my favourite songs and probably the most appropriate songs for Xmas. And it's not just them singing, everyone joins in: me, customers at Chez Mostofa's and people passing by, most of whom respect my videoing and pass behind me. And in the 'cool corner' of Chez Mustofa are Yacine Ben Ali of PlanetEssaouira studio and friends and Yacine is very interested in these two.

What a brilliant way to spend Xmas Eve.

Talking to them later, I discover that Marcus Ruud is Norwegian but lives in Essaouira and Simohamed Hallhoulle is Moroccan. The two have know each other for a couple of years but have only started to play together recently. I have no idea what the future holds for them but judging from these videos, I think their future will be very bright indeed.