Nesrine

In the new album, Nesrine the solo artist gives us further glimpses of her personal and musical life story. She grew up in France as a child of Algerian parents. She learned classical cello, and was soon working with organisations such as Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Opera in Valencia, conducted by Lorin Maazel, plus landing a solo role in one of the programmes of "Cirque du Soleil". But it is through the ingenious songs that she writes herself, in Arabic, French and English, that her dazzling artistic personality comes through. Nesrine's musical world is without borders; the combination of cello with her powerful voice and the interaction of her North African roots with her European present are irresistible. There is an economy of expression here, and the poise and culture of classical music are juxtaposed with rhythms coming from both pop and jazz - it is a fascinating and constantly shifting blend.