Unter dem Titel “Ya Hasra: Jewish​-​Tunisian Jewels, Originals & Reworks” bringt das französische Label Akuphone Records eine Sammlung heraus, die sich mit dem musikalischen Erbe des in Tunesien beheimateten Judentums befasst. Wie der Untertitel bereits deutlich macht, enthält die Sammlung sowohl alte Aufnahmen von klassischen Interpreten – namentlich Habiba Msika, Louisa Tounsia, Raoul Journo und El Kahlaoui Tounsi – sowie Reworks der entsprechenden Tracks aus der Soundschmiede des DJ und Producer Sharouh, deren Mixtur aus traditionellen und zeitgenössisch-elektronischen Bestandteilen niemals nach cultural jamming, sondern stets wie eine organisch anmutende Einheit klingt. Die Compilation erscheint als LP und digital.

“In 1940, over 100,000 Jewish men and women lived in Tunisia. Thirty years later, no more than 10,000 remained. Today, only a few of them have resisted the historical forces that dispersed their families and their neighbours. In spite of this exile, the thousand-year-old presence of Tunisian Jews has left an eternal and delightful imprint on the country’s landscapes and its heritage – cultural, culinary and, of course, musical. Habiba Msika, Louisa Tounsia, Raoul Journo and El Kahlaoui Tounsi, represented here on the record’s side A, are four legendary artists, narrators of a history that they never ceased to sing on both shores of the Mediterranean sea, along with the waves of migration. On side B, DJ and producer Sharouh revisits their songs, plays with their rhythms and sounds in a series of reworks that reclaim this heritage and breathe new life into it. Through the new release of these four musical gems alongside Sharouh’s unique reworks, the cultural diversity of Tunisia challenges oblivion and reinvents itself. Jasmine in your ears… ” (Akuphone)