Hicham Chahidi: “Hello” – Afro-Cuban Rhythms!

Hicham Chahidi a composer and sound engineer who was born in the south of Morocco, and I has been living in Belgium for about twenty years. Hichan who loves music divides his time between the composition and production of copyright free music, recording and audio mixing. Chahidi is a multi-instrumentalist with a preference for the piano and the guembri – a string instrument, a sort of African double bass used in trance music called ‘Music Gnawa’. Hicham Chahidi’s music can be located at the Music Screen website. All of the music on the website is royalty free, high quality stock music for film, video advertising, TV, creative projects, multimedia, and the Internet including social media.

One of Hicham Chahidi’s latest releases is the Afro-Cuban jazz track entitled, “Hello”. Latin music is a vast umbrella for countless incredible genres of music, of which there are simply too many to list. It’s a massive, fascinating world of music, and songs like this one forms part of the cream of that world’s crop.

My favorite part was obviously the percussion. As in all Afro-Cuban influenced music, the drums, congas, bongos etc., are just so exciting and interesting that they carry the music on its rhythm alone. This is music you need to move your feet to. Every musical bar is pulsating with liveliness, and does everything in its power to put a smile on your face.

Every element of Hicham Chahidi’s Afro-Cuban ‘jazz orchestra’ collaborates perfectly – from the piano and bass driven rhythm section to the powerful Cuban horns, creating an almost ridiculously cheerful musical blend that never loses its appeal even after multiple repeat listens.

The music’s drive comes from its percolating groove, exquisite arrangement and just the right proportion of passionate trumpet soloing. This stuff ranks with any feel-good music ever made.

Cuban music has a place of its own in the world of music. For, much like music in the United States, Cuban music is a fusion of European music with an African influence of great variety and, presumably, that of the indigenous populations. African slaves once accounted for 40% of Cuba’s population, representing more than 100 tribal groups of the African continent.

Because Cuba’s European cultural influences differ from those of the United States, the resulting music is not the same. It’s a musical treasure chest, and it is precisely the richness of this Cuban musical heritage intertwined with its African roots that Hicham Chahidi seems to understand, appreciate and celebrate in the rhythmic and melodic Afro-Cuban jazz piece – “Hello”.

Link to stream and download “Hello” HERE

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