 
This is a two-disc set, the second disc being a DVD. I borrowed an advanced copy which lacked the DVD so I didn't get to see Khaled, just hear him. There was some discussion a month ago that the American release was going to be remixed to be more palatable to an American audience. I'm not sure if that meant they were going to switch from Arabic to English and have him do "The Star-Bungled Spanner" or "Onward Christian Soldiers," but as it is, this disc sounds fine. There's flamenco guitar and classical piano but mainly the stone groove you expect from the master of the Rai dancehall. "Ya-Rayi" means "my opinion," but it's more "my story." Khaled first hit with the incredible HADA RAYKOUM (Stern's 1986) which planted Rai music in our consciousness. His collaborations with trumpeter Bellemou Messaoud gave us another dimension. In 1992 Don Was produced the eponymous LP which included "Didi Didi," a top ten hit in France. N'SSI N'SSI followed the next year and in 1996 he topped the charts again with "Aicha," but then he went a bit off track. Two years ago I interviewed him before his last California concert; he told me when he was ten he started a band that aped the Jackson Five, they even had a minor hit in Oran, but his father found out and punished him. When he opened for HAKIM "the Lion of Egypt" in Berkeley in 2002 he seemed past his prime, but YA RAYI is a regrouping and a restatement of what he's all about. There's still touches of synth and the mechanical beat that became so monotonous, but he has brought the traditional instruments back to the fore, which is a welcome sign. Maurice El Medioni, legendary Jewish blues pianist from Oran appears. If you've missed Khaled, now's the time to welcome him back. -- Doctor Rhythm
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KHALED