Maurice El Médioni
Source: Web (franceinfo.fr)
Arts & Music • Historical Archive • 🇩🇿 Algeria • 4 views

Maurice El Médioni 🇩🇿

موريس المديوني (Known as "Maurice El Médioni")
Pianist, Inventor of Pianoriental, Maestro of Oranian Andalusian-Jazz Fusion
Born Oct 18, 1928 🇩🇿 Oran (Derb Quarter), Algeria
Passed Away Mar 25, 2024 Tel Aviv / Marseille, Israel
Lifespan 95 years old
4 views
Notice / Correction
"My piano spoke the language of Oran: Andalusian elegance mixed with the heartbeat of jazz."

Archival Overview

Virtuoso Jewish-Algerian pianist from Oran who revolutionized North African music by inventing 'Pianoriental', fusing Arabic quarter-tones and Andalusian modes with boogie-woogie piano.

Biographical Record

Maurice El Médioni was born in the Jewish quarter of Derb in Oran, the nephew of celebrated 19th-century master Messaoud El Médioni (Saoud l'Oranais). Hearing American soldiers play jazz and boogie-woogie in Oran during Operation Torch in World War II, Maurice had an artistic epiphany: transposing Arab-Andalusian quarter-tones onto the European piano keyboard.

He invented the infectious 'Pianoriental' style, performing at the Cabaret Pacha in Oran alongside Blaoui Houari, Ahmed Wahby, and Cheikha Rimitti. Winning the BBC World Music Award in 2007 at age 78, he lived to age 95 as a universally acclaimed patriarch of Algerian Mediterranean musical genius.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
El Médioni Heritage Foundation Memorial
Oran, Algeria
GPS: 35.6970, -0.6308
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