Maurice El Mediouni

• Born — 18 October 1928 • Birthplace — Oran, French Algeria • Died — 25 March 2024 • Place of death — Herzliya, Israel • Genre — Algerian chaabi, Franco-Arab chanson, World music, Raï • Occupation — Pianist, singer-songwriter • Instrument — Piano • Years Active — 1942-2006 • Label — Piranha Records, Buda Musique • Awards — BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards 2007

Maurice El Médiouni was born in the Jewish quarter of Oran, French Algeria on 18 October 1928, into a family of musicians. His uncle was the musician Messaoud El Mediouni, known as "Saoud l'Oranais", who died in the 1940s at the Sobibor extermination camp. At age nine, he reportedly began to play the piano. After the Allied invasion of Algeria in 1942, he performed in bars popular with American soldiers and learned to play jazz, boogie woogie and Cuban rumba. Following the Algerian War of Independence in the early 1960s, El Médiouni moved to Paris, France, where he worked as a tailor as well as occasionally backing Jewish singers. In 1967 he opened a clothing factory in Marseille and took a break from his musical career, which he resumed in the 1980s. In his later years, he was based in France and Israel, performing solo or with other North African Muslim and Jewish artists, who had originally accompanied him nearly half a century earlier in Algeria and France. His 1997 album Café Oran, where he was joined by American jazz musicians David Krakauer and Frank London, ushered in a new phase in his career. On this and later albums, he also sang Franco-Arab chansons with lyrics in both Algerian Arabic and French. Examples are his "Bienvenue/Abiadi" and "Ahlan oua sahlan", the former song being the opening track of The Rough Guide to Mediterranean Caf (2004). El Médiouni played piano on two tracks of Algerian-born musician Khaled's 2004 album Ya-Rayi. In 2007, El Médiouni joined the El Gusto orchestra of Jewish and Muslim musicians of Algerian chaabi. On 27 January 2013, at age 84, he played a two-hour concert at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme in Paris that was published under the title Oran-Oran. Live in Paris.

El Médiouni was married to Juliette Amsellem until her death in 2022, and the couple had three children. He died at a care home in Herzliya, Israel, on 25 March 2024, at the age of 95.

Maurice El Mediouni is classed in the genre music of Andalusia. Recorded with the occupation composer. Recorded as pianist, singer, composer and musician.