Taha Fuses <i> Rai </i> With Rock

A superb weekend of Mediterranean-area music came to a stirring conclusion Sunday night with a performance by superstar rai singer Rachid Taha at the California Plaza.

Taha never has been reluctant to stretch the limits of rai’s rhythmic social commentary, and much of his set reached more deeply into the area of boundary-free rock ‘n’ roll. No problem there, since Taha is a dynamic artist whose rock-star-like domination of the stage was complete, with his seven-piece backup ensemble providing an audiovisual backdrop.

Taha’s rai numbers--as filled with verbal commentary as American rap--eluded many in the near-capacity crowd. But the danceable rhythms needed no translation. And it was not surprising that the dance pad areas near the stage were jammed .

In contrast to Taha’s fusion of rai into a globalized perspective, the opening group, Les Yeux Noirs, a seven-piece French ensemble, remained connected to the Yiddish and Slavic roots of its music. Led by a pair of virtuosic, violin-playing brothers, Eric and Olivier Labia, the group’s presentation lured the audience into all-join-in musical participation--a colorful coda to an immensely entertaining weekend.

With Mali’s Super Rail Band scheduled for Friday and performances by, among many others, oud artist Simon Shaheen, the all-woman Mariachi Las Adelitas and Brazilian bombshell Daniela Mercury on the horizon through October, Grand Performances is making a convincing case for the California Plaza as one of the Southland’s most appealing world music destinations.