Moh Alileche: Flag of Freedom

Moh Alileche, hailing from the mountainous Kabylia region of Algeria, is a renowned Amazigh (Berber) player of the 12-stringed mondol.  Based for the past two decades in the Bay Area, he brings his ensemble back to Bird & Beckett on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 4:30 pm as part of the store’s ongoing Sunday concert series dubbed “which way west?”.    Moh’s people are the Imazighen, or Berbers, the native people of North Africa who span several countries, independent of nationalities defined by the numerous borders in the region, and with historical roots that stretch back 5,000 years and more.

For this concert, Moh is joined by musicians whose expertise in the music is longstanding, including Tim Fuson on bendir, Dan Freeze on guitar and John Waller on percussion.

Moh, born and raised in the mountains of the Kabylia region of Algeria, taught himself at age 9 to play traditional Amazigh music on a hand-made-single-stringed instrument.  He later learned the guitar and then the 10-silkstringed mandol, or “agember” in Tamazight language.

His talent on “agember” grew, and soon he became known in his region for his skills as a musician, singer and songwriter, resulting in his very first radio (channel 2) interview in 1980 with hosts Medjahed Mouhoub and Mohamed Rachid in the capital city of Algiers.