Layla

The cover of Layla shows Mohamed M. Kooshin cradling his kaban, Toronto’s CN Tower looming in the background. It’s the picture of two distant worlds coming together, of a person uprooted but refusing to leave his culture behind. Kooshin had been a member of the Waaberi group before the war forced him to leave Somalia for Canada, and he was known for his qaraami music — a style that emerged in the 1940s and combines poetic lyrics with the delicate sound of the kaban and light percussion. Layla is one of a string of albums Kooshin made while in Canada, and while the songs on here have an understated uplifting groove (the drum machine rhythms on “Yurub” would get you up and dancing), there is a poignancy to it. Though it exudes peace and calm, Kooshin’s music emanates power, and is a testament to the strength it takes to carry one’s culture into exile, especially when that culture is all but being obliterated from memory.