Lotar player Lahcen Akil (the lotar is a type of lute from the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco) was born in 1969 in the village of Tamlalte in the High Atlas, and was very young when he started his musical career. Strongly influenced by the traditional music he knew, he wrote songs in praise of the beauty of the region, accompanying himself on a self-made lotar with a wooden handle, a palm soundboard and goatskin. Lahcen is joined by fellow villager and percussionist El Houssain Safir who plays the bendir; the Chaabi Brothers are Patrick Goossens on clarinet, Mathieu Goulin on double bass and David Bultel on accordeon.