El Gusto at Barbican Hall

A project originating from Algiers, which reunifies musicians from the city's Muslim and Jewish communities that once lived side-by-side in the crumbling colonial houses of the Casbah. The artists all share a common love of Chaabi music - a highly virtuosic 'blues' mostly played by the lower classes. Tragically the War of Independence of the '60s shattered their lives and tore the communities apart. Now El Gusto reunites the musicians many years later to play their beloved music in an orchestra of 42 musicians. Honest John's label is an album of the same name produced by Damon Albarn.