Dissidenten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dissidenten are a German rock band known for their collaborations with Middle Eastern and Indian musicians, and once described by Rolling Stone as 'the Godfathers of World Beat'[citation needed].
In 1982 Dissidenten and their own label Exil Musik were founded in Berlin by Friedo Josch (b 21 July 1952, Mainz, wind instruments, keyboards), Uve Müllrich (b 7 December 1947, Baltic island Ruegen, bass, oud, guitar, vocals), and Marlon Klein (b 13 December 1957, Herford, drums, perc, keyboards, vocals).
Following a one-year tour of Asia, the group decided to stay in India to produce their first album Germanistan, with the help of the Karnataka College of Percussion, female singer R.A. Ramamani and percussionist Ramesh Shotham. The live line-up was joined by Indian pianist Louis Banks and American saxophonist Charlie Mariano. Concerts in Calcutta, Madrid, Casablanca and Stockholm are documented on the live album Germanistan Tour 83.
They then moved on to Morocco to record Sahara Elektrik in 1982 at the Palace of Abdesalam Akaaboune in Tangier with the help of friend Paul Bowles and local sha'abi band Lem Chaheb. The track "Fata Morgana" became a dance hit in Europe (especially Spain and Italy) and Canada, and the group toured worldwide.
In 1986 the Dissidenten moved to Spain, producing Life At The Pyramids, and also began to receive recognition in the USA and UK. In 1989 they moved back to Morocco, recording Out Of This World with the Royal National Orchestra of Morocco, and other leading North African musicians including members of Lem Chaheb. The album received a full international release and the band toured worldwide to promote it. In 1991, the album Live In New York was released, and the following year they recorded The Jungle Book, weaving recordings of Indian life into dance tracks.
After touring in 1995, Klein stayed in the USA to work as producer on two albums by singer Gary Wright, featuring George Harrison. In 1996, the group reunited to produce the album Instinctive Traveller, their first album with mostly English-language songs sung by Müllrich's daughter Bajka, which was followed by a tour of international festivals. Two years later they appeared at the Glastonbury festival and released their second live album, Live in Europe.
In 2000, with American composer Gordon Sherwood, video artist Stefanie Seidl and the Bratislava Orchestra under Petr Feranec they created The Memory of the Waters, a “documentary opera” about the River Danube, debut performed at the International Danube Music Festival in the city of Ulm. The following year, they issued an album of remixes, A World Beat Odyssey, which they then performed live with accompanying DJs.
In 2005 the opera The Memory of the Waters was presented by thea Spanish National Radio at the Navarra Festival in Pamplona, under the direction of conductor Tomas Garrido. Since 2006 the group is working on a new Moroccan projekt "The Tangier Sessions" together with the group Jil Jilala from Casablanca. Since 2008 this line up is performing live in Europe and North Africa.
