Café 1930 - Bouchakour Brothers

Is there a path from Algiers to Carnegie Hall? If not, there should be and these two young musicians should be on it. Today's video features two brothers, Massine Bouchakour on flute and Walid Bouchakour on guitar. They provide an absolute classic version of Café 1930 from Piazzolla's Histoire du tango in the video.

The Histoire du tango series were composed in 1985 and dedicated to the Belgian flute player, Marc Grauwels, who premiered them. They represents some of the most often performed Piazzolla compositions. Café 1930 is the seventh most frequently performed Piazzolla composition. It has been played on a large variety of instrumental combinations but the Bouchakour's provide it here as Piazzolla composed it: for flute and guitar.

I can find very little information about the Bouchakours. I do not know if they have formal training or are just skilled natural musicians but I suspect the former. The format of the video is deceptively simple and the quality of the audio mix is very good given the surroundings but the reason this video is featured is just the sheer musicality of the presentation. The two play as one - synchronization is perfect. The vibrato on the flute is just right - it highlights the emotional content of the music and never intrudes on the music. The guitar work is amazingly done - excellent technique (note the glissando's) - each note stands on its own. And, wonderfully, these young men do not rush - they let the music flow in a way that does suggest a casual 1930's evening in a café in San Telmo.

I don't know if the Bouchakour brothers have been discovered or not but this is a brotherly talent similar to that of the Assad's and they deserve an equal amount of recognition and success. I hope to see them in Carnegie Hall soon.

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