About the session: Recorded at a large souq (marketplace) in the Ourika Valley, southeast of Marrakesh. Conversations and bargaining, followed by a selection of minstrel songs representing the tradition of the itinerant Amazigh bard, or rais. The rais traditionally acts as a mediator between village and metropolis in High Atlas society, and his amarg (improvised verses) often draw upon social, religious, and political commentary, as well as witty and humorous anecdotes and tales of his travels.