2024 World Tour - #3 Morocco
This month Sun Never Sets On Music heads to Morocco, as we tour the globe in search of the best music worldwide.
Morocco has a special place in SunNeverSetsOnMusic's heart - after all, we spent a few good years living there, enchanted by the architecture, the music, the culture and the wonderful people of this timeless land.
For this month's playlist, we have collected our favourite music from some of the many musical streams that are heard in Morocco. Selections range from Amazigh (Berber), Andalusian (Arabic Iberian) and Chaabi (Popular Music) to Gnawa (Desert Blues), Malhun (Poetry), Sufi (Devotional Trance) and more.
We've organised the selections into two groups: "Contemporary Artists" and "Heritage Music". The former is arranged in no particular order but these artists are all fusing Moroccan and other musical genres. The latter group is organised in historical order, with a representative selection from each genre.
For a deeper understanding and more information for the many genres of music from Morocco and the Arab world in general we recommend the website Arabo Sounds, the digital catalogue of the Arab World Institute's music collection.
The scope of Moroccan music is breathtaking and we have most likely missed many "essential" artists, if not entire genres.
Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy our selections and we look forward to the next stop on our world tour.
These artists innovatively fuse elements of Morocco's rich musical heritage with other local or international forms. The result sometimes loops back into the legacy genre, at once enlivening it and extending its currency. The result is often breathtaking. All of these albums are noteworthy.
Vexillology
by Guedra Guedra
Released 12 March 2021
On The Corner
*****
Berber | Amazigh
From the spiritual polyrhythms of gnawa to the looping vocalisations of Sufism and the percussive tessellations of Berber folk, the world of north African cultures meet in the music of Morocco. Producer Abdellah M Hassak, AKA Guedra Guedra, has taken these rhythms as the core of his work. His name comes from the Berber dance music performed on the guedra drum; his debut EP, 2020’s Son of Sun, explored these diffuse roots through a dancefloor filter, with added field recordings and electronic Midi sequencing, a junglist collage that straddles tradition and contemporary dance musics.
Hassak’s debut album, Vexillology, extends this idea over the course of 13 propulsive and complex tracks.
Instead of simply pasting decontextualised field recordings over bright electronics, Hassak integrates these folk elements into the mix and allows them to breathe. He incorporates the clatter of the bendir drum on the rollicking Aura, a smattering of hand claps over the house piano of Cercococcyx, and the shrill arpeggios of the taghanimt flute on the drum machine-heavy 40’ Feet. In this way, Hassak weaves tradition into his own interpretations of dance, allowing space for the acoustic to interact with the electronic, not remixing the former beyond the point of recognition (a common pitfall in this type of work). On Vexillology, Hassak extrapolates the underlying rhythms of the north African diaspora to present a new realisation of this enticing, pervasive pulse.
Source: The Guardian
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YAK LABAS (EP)
by ouella
Released 18 August 2023
moorish duck
Berber | Amazigh
Are you okay?
This is, to cut fervently to the chase, the question that rising artist Walid Anees - artistically known as Ouella - asks in his debut album ‘Yak Labas’. With a title that translates into the unanswerable question in Moroccan, ‘Yak Labas’ is an album that, like any good question, only pops open more ponderings - ones Ouella tackles in six Moroccan-inspired electronic tracks.
“Essentially, this EP celebrates my origin and the longing I have for Morocco,” Ouella tells #SceneNoise. “A longing that has been brewing within me for as long as I can remember.”
Born and raised in Egypt under the loving care of a Moroccan mother, Ouella grew up constantly chasing after the lost half of his heritage, constantly feeling like an outsider in either culture. His bittersweet longing can be touched in his previous EP, ‘Gharib Fina’.
‘Yak Labas’ touches on his mixed cultural heritage-turned-struggle, shedding more light on Ouella’s fluctuating emotions and, subsequently, their manifestation as music. The album features a collection of both upbeat instrumentals and touching vocals, utilising it as a source for low-lit club party anthems as well as holistic heartfelt listening experiences.
‘7 Richter’, the artist’s personal favourite, combines the two elements seamlessly; the song is fast-paced and loaded with the fruit of Ouella’s pondering, placing it on the fine line walked by songs that move both heart and foot.
Read more ... scenenoise
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Bihar El Hawa (EP)
by Karima El Fillali
Released 29 October 2021
World of Wils
****-
Sufi
Dutch-Moroccan singer Karima el Fillali’s debut record “Bihar el Hawa” combines thousand-year-old Sufi poetry and traditional Arabic singing techniques, with contemporary compositions and sample-based beats. Each of the 5 songs on the record revisits words written by Sufi mystics Al-Hallaj and Ibn Arabi in the 10th-12th century. It’s love poetry but speaks of darkness, light, joy and grief, violence, loneliness, and peace.
Karima El Fillali (1987) is known for her ethereal voice, enigmatic stage presence, and profoundly moving live performances. Her melodies are deeply inspired by the art of tarab – meaning ecstasy in Arabic – and by the Sahraoui singing techniques of her Sahara-dwelling forefathers.
Her influences include Oum Kalthoum, Portishead, Cypress Hill, and Björk – but her own style is deeply rooted in Quranic recitation techniques.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Meryem
by Meryem Aboulouafa
Released 30 May 2020
Animal 63
Chaabi | Pop
Young Casablanca vocalist Mereyem Aboulouafa's debut album "Mereyem" is an atmospheric collection of original songs sung in English, French and Arabic. In an interview with Wonderland Magazine, Meryem explained that she grew up influenced by her father's music collection including Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Georges Brassens, Jaques Brel, Nina Simone, Edith Piaf. She says that her priority is "to express her emotions authentically, afford them the right sonorities and choose with care the words with the intention and rhythm they reflect through the feelings". Her influences span African, Arabic and Western music including Thom Yorke, Fairouz, Benjamin Clementine, Majda Roumy, Björk. Her ambition "to sing the lyrics of Matthew Bellamy and Tania Saleh. To be produced by Max Richter and Brian Eno. And make soundtracks for Tim Burton and Nadine Labaki."
Nar
by Salma Rachid
Released 28 April 2023
Salma Rachid
Chaabi | Pop
Moroccan pop star Salma Rachid is well-known for her Arabic pop singles. Rachid, a native of Casablanca, established a reputation for herself with her distinctive sound, which combines classical Arabic music with contemporary pop beats.
Fans around the Middle East and North Africa have fallen in love with her music thanks to its captivating melodies and moving lyrics.
Rachid's music is proof of the effectiveness of cross-cultural musical collaboration. In addition to winning her millions of followers, her fusion of Arabic and pop music has aided in closing gaps between many communities and cultures. Rachid is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the world of Arabic pop music thanks to her deep vocals and commanding stage presence. She has established herself as one of the most promising up-and-coming artists in the business as her music continues to uplift and inspire listeners all around the world.
Read more ... Viberate
Nayda!
by Bab L'Bluz
Released 5 June 2019
Real World Records
Gnawa | Fusion
Moroccan-French power quartet, Bab L’ Bluz, reclaim the blues for North Africa. Fronted by an African-Moroccan woman in a traditionally male role, Bab L’ Bluz are devoted to a revolution in attitude which dovetails with Morocco’s ‘nayda’ youth movement – a new wave of artists and musicians taking their cues from local heritage, singing words of freedom in the Moroccan-Arabic dialect of darija.
Comprising Yousra Mansour (lead vocals, awisha - a small version of guembri, percussion and guembri), Brice Bottin (guembri, guitar, percussion), Hafid Zouaoui (drums) and Jérôme Bartolome (flute, percussion).
Formed in Marrakech in 2018, Bab L' Bluz describes itself as "born from the dream of propelling the Guembri on the international music scene of contemporary music.
A true tribute to the inexhaustible roots of Gnawa culture, irresistibly psychadelic, undeniably blues, bottle-fed at funk, Bab L' Bluz is a true intercontinental meeting point".
Read more ... Financial Times
Gnawa Electric Laune
by Rabii Harnoune and VB Kuhl
Released 15 May 2020
Tru Thoughts
Gnawa | Electronic
This is a collaboration between Moroccan Gnawa-master (maâlem) Rabii Harnoune (playing a kind of three-string lute known variously as hajhuj, gimbri, or sentir) and Frankfurt electronic producer V.B.Kühl, that has resulted in an LP which represents entirely new territory, building a bridge from old to new, from Africa to Europe, and from to person to person. This melange of traditional North African Gnawa music and modern european club sounds results in an original cross-cultural fusion which is electronic and otherworldly, rather than traditional or pastiche.
Gnawa music is among Morocco’s richest and oldest continuous traditions, dating back to the pre-Islamic period. Gnawa combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing and is performed at lila, communal nights of celebration dedicated to prayer and healing guided by the Gnawa maalem, or master musician and their group of musicians and dancers. This musical pairing takes elements of Gnawa into a new and exciting musical space, differentiated from the more common "desert rock" of bands such as Gnawa Diffusion or Gabacho Maroc.
Too Far Away
by JISR جسر
Released 6 October 2020
Freesoulinc
Gnawa | Jazz
JISR جسر is a collective from Munich led by the charismatic linguist, singer, percussionist and Gembri player Dr. Mohcine Ramdan. He gathered some of Bavaria´s finest musicians to share his vision of an emotional Pan-Oriental sound that is deeply rooted in the tradition of his family of musicians in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Their live performance offers an unique fusion of Arabic Maqam, the polyrhythm of Gnawa music, World Spiritual Jazz & a bit of Afro Kraut and sets a new landmark in how to unite the diversity of diasporic music in Europe in a one stage set.
Link: Too Far Away Bandcamp
Nomad Songs
by Stephan Micus
Released 26 June 2015
ECM
Gnawa | Jazz
In his journeys all over the world Stephan Micus seeks to study and understand traditional instruments, the sounds that they produce and the cultures that brought them to life. He then composes original pieces for them, combining instruments that would never normally be heard together, chosen from different cultures simply for their character, texture and sonic beauty. Nomad Songs is his 21st album for ECM; he plays nine different instruments, but emphasizes two he hasn’t used before: The first is the Moroccan gembri, a lute covered with camel-skin, played by the Gnawa in Morocco. The second is the ndingo, a lamellophone similar to the kalimba, used by the San people in Botswana. These indigenous inhabitants of Southern Africa have been pushed off their land and marginalized by the new nation states. With the album’s title Micus, who sees himself as a musical nomad, refers to both the situation of people like the Gnawa and the San as well as his own way of working and living.
Read more ... ECM
Siwan
by Jon Balke, Amina Alaoui, Jon Hassell
Released 22 May 2009
ECM
Andalusian | Jazz
Magical music, trailing deep roots. The listener is at first struck by the power of Amina Alaoui’s voice, soaring above Jon Balke’s remarkable compositions for baroque ensemble – with soloists drawn from jazz, scattered improvisational traditions, and the world of early music.
Behind this remarkable musical integration is a web of philosophical, historical, and literary interconnections, as Balke and Alaoui set texts from Sufi poets, Christian mystics, troubadours and more and – inspired by the tolerant and creative spirit of medieval Al-Andalus – ponder what was lost to the bonfires of the Inquisition. Setting new standards in transcultural music, Siwan shows what can be made today when artists of the most divergent background pool their energies.
Read More ... ECM
Aswat
by Driss El Maloumi
Released 28 April 2023
Contre-Jour
Andalusian | Contemporary
This project is a desire, a wish and a dream that I have had for years.
Already as a child, I was fascinated by the orchestras that I heard in films: the violins, the brass, the harmony... This results from a fundamental quest for "musical ecstasy", "tarab", this feeling of amazement, this aesthetic emotion, between bliss, delight and ecstasy that we feel while listening to music. My writing as an “oriental” musician seeks to grasp the challenges of this “tarab”, nourished by the powerful oral tradition.
In the isolation imposed by confinement, surprised by the cruelty of the psychological devastation caused by this tiny and powerful virus, I took the necessary time to redefine my priorities, to seek inner peace. It was a difficult exercise for me, but essential.
Finding and embodying silence, simplicity, fragility, strength, tenderness, meditation, beauty... Everything that seemed important and necessary to me to understand the process of our belonging to this new life.
I discovered that the power of “habit formation” is more powerful than I imagined. I discovered that the “me” remains fragile in front of itself, despite its achievements and its victories.
I had to resort to metaphor to create a new horizon for myself, I had to resort to imagination...
Read more ... Bandcamp
Dalam Al-Andalus
by Nabyla Maan
Released 20 May 2017
Tarik Hilal & Nabyla Maan
Arabic | Andalusian Fusion
Nabyla Maan is a celebrated Moroccan singer and songwriter, renowned for her unique fusion of Arabic, Amazigh, and Andalusian music.
Born into a family of music lovers in Fes, Morocco in 1987, Nabyla Maan has been interested in traditional Moroccan music since a young age.
Drawing on her cultural heritage, Maan's debut album, D'nya, released in 2005, showcased her musical prowess and versatility, with songs sung in Darija Arabic, Classical Arabic and French. The album was a commercial success, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and propelling Maan into the spotlight, where she became the youngest Amazigh and African artist to perform at the iconic Olympia music hall in Paris at the tender age of 19.
Her subsequent albums, Ya Tayr El Ali in 2009 and Aech hyatek (Vis ta vie) in 2013 further cemented Maan's reputation as an innovative and talented musician.
Her fourth album, Dalalû Al-Andalûs, released in 2017, was the result of three years of meticulous research and experimentation, where Maan worked alongside esteemed masters and specialists in both traditional world music and jazz harmony.
She followed this with a collaboration with Spanish singer and composer Carmen Paris on Dos Medinas Blancas in the same year.
After extensive tours throughout Africa, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, Maan delighted her fans in 2022 with the release of her single, "Rah Lebaid," , announcing her eagerly anticipated sixth album set to release in 2023.
Read more ... Amazon, Saphrane Records
Poetic Trance
by Aziz Sahmaoui, University of Gnawa
Released 25 January 2019
Zahara SASU
Gnawa | Electro | Dance
With Sahmaoui leading the group as both singer and lute player, the sounds in Poetic Trance is true to its name. In true gnawa fashion, the songs here don't arrest you through sheer melodic hooks, but, instead, through repetition. However, each variation of the central melody is slightly altered. Coupled by the raising intensity of the percussion, which ranges from sturdy drums to clanging castanets, the songs eventually burrow deep inside you.
Sahmaoui, a poet in his own right, matches these grand sonic landscapes with equally evocative lyrics. From the lament of war victims in Coquelicots (Poppies) to an ode to community in Entre Voisins (Between Neighbours), the songs in Poetic Trance provide vivid snapshots of Africa, both modern and mystical.
More than just about the exploration of a genre, Sahmaoui says the message of the album is connection. From family members to nations, it is only through communicating with each other that understanding and empathy is born. And to do that, forgiveness is key.
This key message is beautifully rendered in the haunting Absence. Led by the plaintive notes of an accordion and accompanied by a lute, Sahmaoui lays plain the reality of our existence: "Life is short and maybe we will soon depart."
Read more ... The National Newspaper
Il fera beau demain matin jusqu'a midi
(tomorrow morning will be sunny 'til noon)
by Aziz Sahmaoui, Eric Longsworth, Adhil Mirghani
Released 3 February 2023
Passe Minuit en Accords
Gnawa | Electro | Dance
Two people met for whom music is more than just a series of harmonies and tones. Aziz Sahmaoui and Eric Longsworth have always searched for what defines music for them: resonance.
Compared to the last albums with Sahmaoui's band “University of Gnawa”, this is chamber music. The two instrumentalists take turns in the task of getting from hookline to rhythm, to solos, to connecting harmonies. Voice and cello give each other the melodies. Adhil sets a sure, steady and dynamic rhythm. The songs don't reveal themselves on the first listen. They don't fit into normal listening habits because the music doesn't want to show off or convince you straight away. She wants to communicate because resonance involves listeners.
A song also appears again in this album that simply belongs to Sahmaoui's repertoire, every set list and philosophy: Maktoube - Destin. The question: why do people cause so much suffering to each other? Here a children's choir asks the question. Aziz's lyrics are simultaneously comforting and lamenting, wrapped in calm, thoughtful, always hopeful melodies.
The album begins with a song that we know in Cat Stevens' version: Morning Has Broken. This may seem surprising, but the fact that this song is originally a poem by Eleanor Farjeon, written in 1931, in socially troubled times, may suggest what Aziz and Eric are pointing out: Don't inflict more suffering, work for better times.
“Il fera beau demain matin jusqu’a midi” is an album that doesn’t settle in your ear canals immediately, but it does so long-term.
Read more ... Global Sounds Info
LILA
by Martin Seigneur, Martin et les Gnaouas
Released 3 March 2023
Yala Creation
Gnawa | Pop
The adventure began in 2016, when Martin Seigneur, singer-songwriter, in search of a new musical breath, left Paris for Essaouira.
Along the way, he meets Khalil Mounji, founder of the Gnaoua Culture association.
The latter introduces him into the world of the Gnaouas and their trance ritual, the lila.
Traveling Morocco for two years and bringing together maâlems from different regions, the two artists weave the framework of an album which saw the light of day in 2023 - LILA .
LILA is the first musical experience of fusion between French variety and traditional Moroccan Gnaoua music.
The poetry of the texts mixing French and dialectal Arabic offers us an unprecedented dialogue between the Western psyche tortured by its rationalism and its African echo all in spirituality.
Together, Martin Seigneur and Khalil Mounji will put together the live band for the album LILA.
Tasty mix of sounds: rock, blues, reggae and afrobeat, Martin Seigneur and Khalil Mounji take us into a musical whirlwind where energy and poetry become one.
Since then, these two Tagnaouite enthusiasts have proven at each concert that the harmony of cultures is more than ever within our reach.
Read more ... Institut Francais
Hoba Hoba Spirit
by Hoba Hoba Spirit
Released 15 September 2023
Hayha Music Division
Gnawa | Rock | Reggae
Hoba Hoba Spirit is a musical fusion band based in Casablanca, Morocco that was formed in 1998.
It is composed of Adil Hanine (drummer), Anouar Zehouani (guitarist), Saâd Bouidi (Bass guitar), Reda Allali - (vocalist and guitarist) and Othmane Hmimar (percussionist). The name of the group is based on a song by Bob Marley.
Hoba Hoba Spirit's musical style mixes Rock, Reggae and Gnawa. They refer to their music as "Hayha". Their lyrics are mostly in Darija (Moroccan dialect), French and sometimes English. Recurring themes in their songs are the disorientation and confusion of young Moroccans.
Since 2003, the band has emerged as one of the most popular rock acts in Morocco, frequently playing the country's major festivals, such as the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, L'Boulevard Tremplin in Casablanca, Timitar Festival in Agadir, and the Gnaoua and World Music Festival in Essaouira.
Assala
by Omri Mor, Mehdi Bassouli, Karim Ziad
Released 9 July 2021
Droits Reserves / Mor Nassouili Ziad
Gnawa | Jazz
A hypnotic journey combining jazz, Arab-Andalusian and Southern Moroccan rhythms.
Multi-faceted Moroccan artist, Mehdi Nassouli (Guembri / Vocals) has reinvented the art of Tagnaouite through its versatility and love for music. His Gnaoua heritage and his origins allowed him to be in touch with this music at a very young age and he brings his personal touch to make it radiate beyond our borders. (He is by some_) considered to be the next generation of the Gnaouie tradition.
Lulled by music from the Middle East at a very young age and trained in classical music and then jazz, Omri Mor is a young virtuoso pianist with flourishing play and multiple influences.
He was spotted very early by Avishaï Cohen (double bass) for his great knowledge of Arabo-Andalusian music, Chaabi and Jazz and his great versatility. Cohen hired him to tour with him as a trio and they will perform together on the biggest stages of Europe and the world.
The story of Karim Ziad (Drums) is that of an insatiable traveller, drummer very courted and essential of the North African scene (Cheb Mami, Orchestre National de Barbès, Khaled...) but also of the international jazz scene (Joe Zawinul, Bojan Z, Sixun...). Ziad is a pioneer of mixing Maghreb rhythms with jazz, rock, gnaoua and many other styles.
Read more ... Paris Jazz Club
DJ Click & Hamadcha de Fes
by DJ Click, Hamadcha de Fes
Released 25 February 2021
No Fridge
Sufi | Electronic
DJ Click drives crazy the customs officers. One day, he’s exploring Indian rhythms with tablas players from the fringes of Rajasthan. Next day, he’s hitting the road around Bucharest with gypsy musicians. He can vanish in Essaouira during a Gnawa lila's night and reappear in Sevilla as part of a fiesta gitana
The Hamadcha of Fez are dervishes belonging to the very old (17th C) Moroccan Sufi brotherhood Hamdouchiyia.
Its members are mystics who sing and dance to trance in honor of the holy founder, the miracle worker Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch.
During a performance their amazing spiritual and artistic practices transmit to those who approach them their “baraka”, a divine grace.
The audience vibrates and moves to the rhythms of the dervishes songs, tempos, stories and fascinating dances.
Dj Click puts down his suitcases in the heart of the old city. He goes in search of atypical sounds coming from the heart of the streets, soaks up the atmospheres, then offering us a sound postcards where tradition alongside modernity.
He is the first producer to be accepted into their brotherhood for a such meeting!
Read more ... Bandcamp
Kasbah Rockers with Bill Laswell
by Kasbah Rockers, Bill Laswell
Released 1 January 2008
Barraka El Farnatshi
M/East | Electro | Dub
Kasbah Rockers describe themselves as a "Moroccan artist collective, melting Algerian, Middle Eastern, African, Tribal roots with diverse styles of Electronica, as influences of Dub, Trip Hop, Psy Trance and Dance sounds.", adding that "working on diverse Soundtrack contributions for Hollywood blockbusters, Indie films and TV series, has lately become one of our main activities".
Bill Laswell is an American bass guitarist, record producer and record label owner who has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world, whose music draws from similar influences.
According to music critic Chris Brazier, "Laswell's pet concept is 'collision music' which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out.
This approach has been spectacularly interesting (if not always successful) in Laswell's work across the Middle East and North Africa.
Read more .... Bandcamp
TAGNAWWIT Holy Black Gnawa Trance
by Maalem Mokhtar Gania, Bill Laswell
Released 9 December 2016
M.O.D. Technologies
Gnawa | Trance
GNAWA (or Gnaoua) MUSIC is a rich North African repertoire of ancient African Islamic spiritual religious songs and rhythms. Its well preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at ”Lila”’s (pronounced Leela), entire communal nights of celebration, dedicated to prayer, evocation of spirits and healing, guided by the Gnawa Maâlem, with the female Moqadema and his group of musicians, who are also dancers. Though many of the influences that formed this music and it’s special language can be traced to sub-Saharan West Africa, its traditional practice is concentrated in Morocco and parts of Algeria and Tunesia (where it is known as Stambouli). TAGNAWWIT offers a rich mix of musical and cultural backgrounds, fusing many individual influences into one collective sound.
GNAWA FUSION at the highest level. Maâlem Mokhtar Gania - son of the great Maâlem Boubker Gania, is the fourth and surviving brother of a.m.o. the legendary Maâlem Mahmoud Gania (or Guinia) - a gnawa superstar in gnawa simply known as El Maâlem - and Maâlem Abdellah Gania - by many called The Marley or The Rasta for his dreadlocks and fondness for reggae.
This collaboration with bassist/producer Bill Laswell features musicians from extremely diverse backgrounds. Dominic James and Aiyb Dieng from West Africa, Chad Smith - drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Graham Haynes, Peter Apfelbaum, Adam Rudolph and many others. A CLASSIC AFRICAN FUSION
Read more ... Bandcamp
Trance
by Hassan Hakmoun, Zahar
Released 1993
Real World Records
Gnawa | Electro | Dance
Hassan Hakmoun and his band Zahar take an ancient Moroccan musical tradition and celebrate it with an up-front vitality that is entirely contemporary.
The songs here are part of the story of a music which spread from West Africa, the Sudan and the Southern Sahara through centuries of migration until it reached Morocco, where it fused into the power of the master musicians of the Gnawa, a word which refers to both the music and those who play it.
The gift of the Gnawa contains shamanic powers which can heal, dispel evil, and mediate in the spirit world. Through the Gnawa’a intervention the spirit of the ancestors can return to guild, advise and give strength to the living.
Hassan’s music is rooted in his playing of the sintir, the Moroccan three- stringed bass, and many of his songs have the Gmawa’s timeless, nomadic quality. They start with slow, passionate invocations of love, unity, and inner strength, along with cries of desire, joy and anguish. As the groove takes hold, the song’s spirit comes spiralling out to fever-pitch, mediated by Anthony Michael Peterson’s sheets of harmelodic guitar textures and bold thrash-like strokes, and underpinned by the drum and percussion alliance of Bill McClellan and Kweyao Agyapon.
Read more ... Real World Records
Jardin Andalou
by Sapho
Released 1 April 1997
Celluloid
Arabic | Andalusian Fusion
From Marrakech to the desert, from the influences of Judeo-Andalusian music, to the sweet and savory tastes of Moroccan cuisine, Sapho returns to world music, not this universal soup, but that which has the strength and freshness of prickly pear.
The Andalusian Garden half-opens its door which reels with the scents and dizziness of the Mediterranean, the interior lands, and the Atlas Mountains. And the Atlas carries the world! Sapho sings it.
“What is the point of coming, what is the point of leaving? Where is the warp of the weft of our life! How many delicate bodies the world breaks... Where has their smoke gone?» Omar Khayam
Sapho, to retain the smoke of souls, the brokenness of memories, erects the oasis of the “Andalusian Garden”. And in the arabesques of the rediscovered childhood song, all the spells of Marrakech regain their natural size and will mingle with the haunting Arabic violin, with the tearing of the flamenco guitar.
She, the Moroccan Jew born Danielle Ebguy on January 10, 1950 in Marrakech, still dreams of tolerance and the Andalusian golden age. Even if the true condition of Jews in this legendary time was to be second-class citizens, Roumis. But the legend is beautiful and generous, let's accept it and remake the world into a new Andalusia.
Sapho is a sensual, singular singer, an Amazon sister in love with the dew of Arab-Andalusian music.
Excessive and baroque, femme fatale and woman-child, Sapho is a party, a burning sincerity in delicious artifice.
The Andalusian garden awaits you, it is exuberant like the nomadic fairy who inhabits it and who, behind her fan and her veil, makes the flaming fountains of memory, of desire, of mixed sounds rise.
To the days and people who are not yet, and who have passed, “the Andalusian Garden” of Sappho brings the water of the wadis, and the wind of the desert.
Read more... Esprits Nomads (Google Translate)
Digital Sheikha
by Sapho, Bill Laswell
Released 1 January 1997
Barraka El Farnatshi
M/East | Electro | Dance
Sapho, born Danielle Ebguy, to Jewish parents from Marrakesh, is a Franco-Moroccan singer whose stage name is a reference to the poet Sappho.
She began her artistic career with acting studies at the Petit Conservatoire de Mireille but abandoned this path and released her first album "Le Balayeur du Rex" in 1977, to little notice.
It was not until 1982 and the release of the album "Passage d´enfer" that her faltering career began to take off and it was only with the album "Passions, Passions"(1985) that she finally achieved some success.
This album saw her leaving behind the rock sound of her early albums, and her embrace of the songs of great Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, and the Middle Eastern sounds she had grown up with. This sustained her for a decade without release of studio albums, and captured in the "Live Au Bataclan" (1987).
Her next album, "Jardin Andalou" (1996), blended rock with Arabic and Andalusian elements.
This was followed by "Digital Sheikha"(1997), a more electronic-based album with Pat Jabbar and the contribution of Bill Laswell, for the Swiss label Barraka El Farnatshi.
Read more ... LastFM
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The Sheikha Tracks Remastered (EP)
by Sapho, Bill Laswell, Kasbah Rockers
Released 26 May 2023
Barraka El Farnatshi
M/East | Electro | Dub
Barraka's release notes recall that the album draws upon the Sheikha scene of Marrakech, however the vocal basics and main ideas were recorded in Casablanca, over three hectic days.
Additional recordings, were realised a few months later between Switzerland and Bill Laswell’s Green Point Studios in Brooklyn-NY, where Bill Laswell also produced two songs.
Zahera and her girls from Hallilifa, one of the most popular and famous Sheikha combos of Marrakech at that time, who are credited with providing Vocals, Bendir (circular, timber framed drum) and Tarija (hourglass shaped ceramic drum) were singing and jamming along with Sapho on six tracks, as if she (Sapho) had been a member of the bunch for ages.
But what exactly is a Sheikha? In Morocco or Algeria, it‘s a kind of “woman of experience” who sings at weddings and feasts, with heavy make- up, gold teeth, who drinks a lot and smokes dope. They shake their hair to the beat, move their sensual bellies to please women and men; sing about love and other realistic themes from the daily life. At feasts, they are well accepted and admired for their freedom and independence acquired in an Islamic country; in their private lives however they seem to suffer a certain disgrace from society‘s attitude to them, which forces them to live often together and hidden, rejected by their families and relatives.
Read more ... AuxSons
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Al Hadaoui (Habibi Funk 011)
by Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah
Released 12 July 2019
Habibi Funk
Gnawa | Funk
TThe band Attarazat Addahabia was formed in 1968. The original line-up included 14 members, all from the same family. They played their first small concerts here and there starting in 1969. Later in 1973 they performed bigger shows for instance at the Municipal Theatre followed by the "Al Massira Show" at Velodrome Stadium in downtown Casablanca. Their first album "Al Ha- daoui" (the one you are listening to) was recorded at Boussiphone studios in 1972 and was never released before. Nobody seems to remember the exact reason why Boussiphone ended up deci- ding not to put the album out. The album's title track also served as the basis for Fadoul's "Mak- toub Lah", who frequented the same circles as the band for some time.
Their shows sometimes could go as long as 12 hours, starting at 5pm in the afternoon, with an occasional break here and there.
In the 1980s the band took a brief break. Faradjallah recalled the reason for that break like this: "Zaki, the bands drummer, had fallen in love with a young girl from Mohammedia. Soon after, he fell very ill. The group members were convinced that the girl had given him ‘s'hor’ (a kind of local Moroccan version of "black magic"). For four years, the whole group stopped playing. It was unthinkable to find another drummer to replace Zaki, even temporarily." So they waited four years for Zaki to "get back on his feet" before going back on stage.
Read more ... Bandcamp
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Al Zman Saib (Habibi Funk 002)
by Fadoul
Original release circa. 1970
Re-released 11 December 2015
Habibi Funk
Gnawa | Funk
The band Attarazat Addahabia was formed in 1968. The original line-up included 14 members, all from the same family. They played their first small concerts here and there starting in 1969. Later in 1973 they performed bigger shows for instance at the Municipal Theatre followed by the "Al Massira Show" at Velodrome Stadium in downtown Casablanca. Their first album "Al Ha- daoui" (the one you are listening to) was recorded at Boussiphone studios in 1972 and was never released before. Nobody seems to remember the exact reason why
It took me until 2014 to find first infos about Fadoul and the news I got through members of another Moroccan band called the Golden Hands. They told me that Fadoul had passed away a long time ago. As sad as it was to hear this, it was the start of a hunt that started with a phone call to another Morroccan singer called Tony Day who knew where Fadoul’s family used to live in the 1980s. Another trip to Morocco, countless taxi rides, and numerous phone calls and street conversations later we were standing in front of the house of Fadoul’s family in central Casablanca. We ended up meeting one of his sisters who shared beautiful stories with us about her brothers life. A creative spirit who painted, played theatre and eventually ended up dedicating most of his energy to music. He spent some time living in Paris soaking up the music of James Brown, Free and other American bands, laying the foundation of his unique mix of arabic and western musical influences. After his recording career he kept on making music in the 1980s, exploring new musical grounds. One of the jingles of a big Moroccan orange juice brand is composed by him. He got married and had two children. Fadoul passed 1991 in Casablanca at the age of 50. Boussiphone ended up deci- ding not to put the album out. The album's title track also served as the basis for Fadoul's "Mak- toub Lah", who frequented the same circles as the band for some time.
Their shows sometimes could go as long as 12 hours, starting at 5pm in the afternoon, with an occasional break here and there.
In the 1980s the band took a brief break. Faradjallah recalled the reason for that break like this: "Zaki, the bands drummer, had fallen in love with a young girl from Mohammedia. Soon after, he fell very ill. The group members were convinced that the girl had given him ‘s'hor’ (a kind of local Moroccan version of "black magic"). For four years, the whole group stopped playing. It was unthinkable to find another drummer to replace Zaki, even temporarily." So they waited four years for Zaki to "get back on his feet" before going back on stage.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Praise the Sun
by Polyswitch
Released 14 April 2023
Astrofever / Mouheine Zouitine
Electronic | Chillout | Jazz
From his humble beginnings in 2011, North African, Casablanca-born and based producer has been continuously shaping his sound signature in the sphere of electronic music, resulting in a cross-genres blend appealing to both DJs and music fans from all across the spectrum. After a small run of exalted singles and EPs, Polyswitch gravitates towards the full-length format with “PRAISE THE SUN“ a 12-track sonic testimonial committed to the tradition of his previously released material, showcasing his distinct sense of substantially blending a vibrant profusion of musical currents.
Emanating from an expression of delight and adoration, “PRAISE THE SUN" can be used as a universal answer to questions like ‘What to do?’ when there are no other solutions left. Reflecting the times, recorded during periods of duress and uncertainty, “PTS“ is a body of work conveying feelings of harmony, hope, love, and unity throughout 13 sublime musical works. Within, the artist introspectively addresses perseverance and resilience using instrumentation as the prime expression vessel.
Read more ... Bandcamp
African Rhythms
by Randy Weston
Released 1969
Planet Woo - Comet
Marrakech In The Cool Of The Evening
by Randy Weston
Released 1 January 1994
Universal Music Jazz France / Decca Records France
Saga
by Randy Weston
Released 1 January 1995
Universal Music Jazz France / Decca Records France
Arguably, no international artist is more synonymous with Morocco than the great American jazzman Randy Weston. Not only did he immerse himself in the music of Morocco and Africa in general, but he ran a jazz club in Tangier in the late 60's to early 70's, while living there.
No matter who plays it -- and anybody can -- jazz is fundamentally an African American music, and no one has emphasized its African sources more than Randy Weston. Born in Brooklyn in 1926, the pianist first visited Africa on a 1961 State Department tour and adapted the Nigerian pop he heard there into a 1963 jazz album, "Highlife." In 1967, he moved to Tangier, Morocco, a city with a large community of Gnawas, black sub-Saharans with a lively culture of their own. Weston lived in Morocco until 1972 and has returned regularly ever since.
In the '90s, Weston has released an impressive series of albums with African connections: 1992's "The Spirits of Our Ancestors," a two-CD set of cultural meditations recorded with a Gnawa singer and an all-star American jazz band; 1994's "The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco," a collaboration between Weston's piano and 11 Gnawa vocalists and percussionists; and 1994's "Marrakech in the Cool of the Evening," a solo piano album recorded in the Moroccan city.
The series now continues with "Saga" (Verve), an album whose title plays on the English meaning of the word, "a heroic, historical narrative," as well as its meaning in the West African language Wolof, "African family." It's a musical narrative in the sense that Weston includes compositions from all periods of his life -- from the '50s when he was a young musician under the spell of Thelonious Monk, from the late '60s when he first discovered Moroccan culture, and from the '90s when he seems to be summing it all up. The result is the story of Weston's growing awareness of the full scope of the "African family."
Read more ... The Washington Post
Sahara Elektrik
by Lemchaheb, Dissidenten
Released 1984
Re-released 4 April 2023
Exil Musikproduktion & Verlag / Fuego
Chaabi | Rock | Fusion
It's often said that the internet has taken the mystery out of music, that anyone can find out anything about any group now. That's not true with Dissidenten. They were a mystery in 1984, when John Peel started playing a record they'd made called Sahara Elektrik. All he knew was that Dissidenten were from Berlin, and that they'd gone to Morocco to record an album with local musicans.
To which I can add that the local musicians were called Lemchaheb, and that this was part of a pattern of Dissidenten visiting different countries to sup on their music. And, really, there's not a lot more I can be certain of – you can check out their German Wikipedia entry if you like, though the English translation raises as many questions as it answers.
You don't need to know anything about Dissidenten or Lemchaheb to hear the wonder of Sahara Elektrik. It seems to begin with a musical pause for breath, as if the musicians realise they've got a long journey ahead of them.
It's music that fires the imagination: I can't speak to its authenticity, but it's vivid and dramatic, swooping and soaring, sometimes sunny and sometimes stormy, digressing from its route to visit solos, but returning always to that unrelenting topline melody.
Sahara Elektrik feels to me like an exploration of an imagined North Africa, one where implausible excitement and unspoiled beauty exist side by side.
Visit Dissidenten's world: it's addictive.
Read more... The Guardian
The oldest musical forms in Morocco are varieties of Berber folk music and dance by Amazigh tribes from the mountainous Rif, Atlas, Chawia and Canaria regions, stretching back to 3000 years BC.
Mohamed Rouicha 1950 - 2012 Hommage
by Mohamed Rouicha
Released 1 January 2012
Yein France & Box Music
****-
Mohamed Rouicha the famous Moroccan Amazigh singer (1952 -2012) was born in Khnifra, a small city in the high Atlas Mountains of Morocco and was raised by his mother, as his father died soon after his birth. Rouicha was a devoted student of the loutar (the distinctive banjo-like instrument) and poverty-stricken, had to choose between education or music. He chose the latter.
Inspired by singers who were already famous by then, like Hammou Oulyazid, the spiritual father of the Amazigh poetry, Rouicha wrote his first songs at 14 years of age - still smaller than his musical instrument.
Ingeniously, he recognized that his talent and capacity were beyond the three catgut strings of the traditional loutar, so he broadened the instrument's tonal range by adding a fourth. His contemporaries all adopted his invention.
Young Rouicha's notoriety spread, allowing him to reach stardom at an early age. He conquered the Moroccan market and attended festivals all around the world (including a concert inside the White House in America). Rouicha sang in both Amazigh and colloquial Moroccan Arabic, attracting a widespread audience with a musical repertoire that exceeded 2000 songs, including those in support and sympathy with the Palestinian cause.
Read more ... Morocco World News
Ona Mi Itouya Laar
by Hadda Ouakki
Released 1 May 1994
Sawt Zayan (Sawt Zawiya)
****-
Hadda Ouakki was born in 1953 in a pious family in the middle Atlas village of Ait Ishaq. As a young child, she defied her parents by listening to villagers playing folk music, and by getting her face tattooed with blue markings. At the age of 14, her parents married her to a 70-year old man. The marriage failed, and at the age of 16, she escaped to Casablanca with the singer Bennacer Oukhouya. There she learned Arabic, and started to sing professionally in Oukhouya's band.
Gradually, Hadda's notability became to grow, and she founded her own group in 1981 with the singer Abdellah Zahraoui. Both performed several songs that became famous in Morocco in general, and the Middle Atlas region in particular.
Read more ... Soundcloud
Amaydira
by Milouda
Released 11 May 1994
Fesmatic
Moroccan-born Middle Eastern performer Milouda is renowned for her mesmerizing renditions of Arabic folk music. Her soulful voice and moving instrumental accompaniments transport listeners to a another time and place, and her music is firmly anchored in the ancient sounds of North Africa.
Milouda's concerts serve as a monument to the continuing ability of music to bring people together across boundaries and cultures as well as a celebration of the rich cultural legacy of her native country.
Milouda is regarded as a maestro of Arabic folk music, and his songs are distinguished by their complex rhythms, eerie melodies, and poetic lyrics. Her performances are evidence of her in-depth understanding and admiration of the music of her native country, and both in Morocco and elsewhere, her distinctive voice and instrumental prowess have won her a devoted fan base. Milouda's work is a tribute to the continuing ability of traditional music to move and inspire listeners around the world, whether she performs in small settings or on bigger platforms.
Read more ... Viberate
Tayuga
by Aza Fattah and Mohamed
Released 29 January 2014
Aza Fattah and Mohamed
AZA unites traditional Tamazight (incorrectly labeled "Berber") music, indigenous to North Africa, with the global influences of its diverse members.
With elements of indigenous Moroccan musical styles, including Ahwash, Rwais, and Gnawa - among others - AZA’s stirring performances feature deep, danceable rhythms, intricate melodies, and soaring, soulful vocals. Visually dynamic and engaging performers, AZA has been inspiring international audiences for more than 20 years.
Founding members Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou are Imazighen native to Morocco, where they played and studied music for over thirty-five years, and are recognized as master musicians.
They formed AZA in Santa Cruz, California, after moving to the United States over twenty years ago. The unique exchange between Morocco and Californian musicians has proved potent; AZA has produced four albums of original compositions, and performed at music festivals, clubs, and universities around the United States and abroad.
AZA’s endeavors are not limited to music. The Imazighen, are the indigenous people of North Africa whose recorded history dates back to 3300 years ago. Fattah and Mohamed have always been part of the Amazigh movement and effort to revive a culture that has been marginalized for centuries. Through music and cultural events, AZA continues to inspire awareness in people of all ages about the Amazigh culture, that it may be recognized and appreciated among the indigenous cultures of the world.
Read more ... Aza
Tikhira
by Izenzaren
Released 1 January 2012
Yein France & Sawt Maarif
****-
From Northern Morocco the band Izenzaren (meaning "Sun Rays" in Tamazight) was formed in Agadir in 1972 by six young musicians coming from newly urbanized families. They recorded their first album in 1974. Mixing modern and traditional instruments, they interpreted songs inspired by the ancestral traditions, using modern instruments and references.
Inspired by this context, Izenzaren drew from three major influences: first is to articulate the suffering of the marginalized people, the second is the adherence to authentic Amazigh hythms, and the third is the spirit of the period (early 1970s). influenced by the Beatles.
Izenzaren came to link the youth with their Amazigh roots but without imprisoning one’s self in the past. It also came to put Amazigh identity to question. The latter was and still is at the center of its experience. Izenzaren strongly asserted the existence of Amazigh identity. By so doing, Izenzaren incorporated many different instruments such as banjo, violin, drum, guenbri or hajhouj, and qarqaba.
One should note that Izenzaren members are students of the traditional school of Amazigh poets and musicians whose talents were shaped by Amazigh oral culture in North Africa. On the other hand, Izenzaren was able to transcend the traditional school and create a whole new phenomenon called “taznzart”, a transition that put them on the top of the modern Amazigh music.
Izenzaren is ground-breaking phenomenon that played a great role in promoting Amazigh culture and Moroccan music by embracing world rhythms and by implementing many musical instruments. The echoes of Izenzaren, the Beatles of Morocco, reached Europe and pushed them to participate in many international festivals in which they proved their outstanding talents.
Read more ... AWN Amazigh World News
Yayi Woul Ayhoud Aflanon
by Achour
Released 5 August 2021
Imad T. / Fes Maatic
Ana Wiyak
by Samira
Released 25 November 1981
Fes Maatic
Tella Lhawa Ghidbirn
by Fatima Tamanart
Released 20 September 2020
Fatima Tamanart, Yeine France, Box Music
Amazigh Groov
by Med Ziani
Released 1 October 2014
Mohamed Ziani
Morocco Reggada, Vol. 1
by Morocco Sounds
Released 4 February 2019
Morocco Sounds
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Ahwach Ntfarkhin (Ljant Ilmalayk)
We Are Thriving (The King's Committee)?
by Ajmaa Lahcen
Released 11 March 2016
Yein France & Tamza Vision
Sufism first appeared in Morocco in the 5th century, as Muslims fled from Iberia and grew into a major social force in the 12th century.
Sufi brotherhoods (tariqas) and shrines are common in Morocco and music is an integral part of their spiritual tradition.
This music is an attempt at reaching a trance state which inspires mystical ecstasy.
Live at Guess Who? Festival 2022
by The Master Musicians Of Jajouka
Released 16 May 2023
Glitterbeat Records
According to his Facebook page, Lahcen Ajmaa claims to be "the most famous Amazigh poet and the strongest competitor in the art of Ahwach in southern Morocco."
Read more ... Facebook
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Aadat, Tambours du Maroc (Drums of Morocco)
by Qa Marrakchya, Heddawa Aissawa, Haouariyat
Released 1992
Al Sur
This disc includes nine pieces characteristic of Moroccan urban popular music, grouped according to their belonging to the repertoires of four “brotherhoods”: the Dqa and the Haouariyat, as well as the Aïssawa and the Heddawa, specifically religious.
The use made of the term “brotherhood” for Dqa and for Haouariyat is particular here: Dqa normally applying to the musical form played and Haouariyat referring to the Haouara tribe.
Read more ... Open Edition Journals
Morocco - Maroc : Confrerie des Aissawa
by Confrerie des Aissawa
Released 4 March 2011
Radio France
Dating back to the 16th century and among the most famous Sufi ensembles in Morocco, the Aïssawa brotherhood surrounds its rituals with a particular brilliance, through a capella chanting , religious poetry and trance dance accompanied by powerful instruments (oboe ghayta , duff percussion etc.).
Whatever the formation and the number of instruments present, the exalted atmosphere is constantly maintained. If the starting point remains a Sufi practice in search of a state of mysticism, of rapprochement with God, we also encounter possession behaviors, as well as situations linked to therapy.
Read more ... Radio France
Gnawa music is a mystical form of music and incantation of West African origin, brought to Morocco by sub-Saharan Africans in the 11th century. Through oral traditions, they have handed down a specific cultural ceremony, called derdeba or lila, which consists of song, dance, the burning of incense and of specific costumes and colours.
The instruments used are large drums called “tbel” or “qanqa” and metal double castanets called “garageb”.
The main instrument is a three-stringed bass lute, called the “gimbri” accompanied by the chanting of the singers.
Roots & Plugged
by Hamid El Kasri
Released 11 March 2022
Metronome
Hamid El Kasri (Arabic: حميد القصري; born 1961) is a Moroccan Gnawa musician traditionally considered a maâlem (Arabic: مُعَلِّم), or "master musician".
Born in Ksar El Kebir, Morocco, he now lives in Rabat. He began training at age seven, taught by Maâlem Abdelouahed Stitou and Maâlem Alouane.
El Kasri is famed for his deep, intense voice, which has made him one of the most sought-after maâlems, both in Morocco and abroad. In addition to singing, he performs on the guembri (الكمبري), a three-stringed bass instrument.
He is noted for having blended the Gnawa rhythms of the north and south of the Morocco,
Source: Wikipedia
Lila
by Innov Gnawa
Released 30 April 2021
Daptone Records
Formed in NYC, this Grammy-nominated group of Moroccan expats has been making waves locally and abroad with their hypnotic live shows.
The group is led by Ma'alem Hassan Ben Jaffar, a master musician and spiritual elder of the ensemble who plays a three-stringed African bass known as a “guembri”.
Ben Jaffar is accompanied by a brotherhood of musicians – (Amino Belyamani, Ahmed Jeriouda, Samir Langus and Nawfal Atiq) – all playing the qraqebs, metal castanets that represent the shackles and chains of slaves and also singing chorus responses. Gnawa music is a spiritual tradition rooted in Morocco’s ancient history.
Often referred to as “Sufi Blues”, Gnawa’s African influence originated from West African slaves brought to Morocco centuries ago. Not unlike blues music in the American South, Gnawa music is revered throughout Morocco as treasured indigenous soul music.
Read more ... Bandcamp
Igharman
by Daraa Tribes
Released 14 December 2018
Coral Riff
Gnawa | Blues | Rock
The Moroccan blues and contemporary blues musician Daraa Tribes put out a number of popular singles and albums in 2018 including the release of the album, "Igharman," which highlights the group's distinctive combination of Blues, Rock, and traditional Moroccan music. The album has won praise from critics for its stirring lyrics, catchy rhythms, and accomplished musicianship.
Daraa Tribes is still one of the most intriguing and cutting-edge groups playing Blues and Contemporary Blues music today. They have crafted a sound that is both classic and contemporary, fusing traditional Moroccan music with contemporary Western influences. Their music will no doubt hold the attention of listeners all around the world for many years to come.
Read more ... Vibrate
Gnawa Home Songs
by Hamid El Kasri, Merchane Family, Zef Zaf, Abdelkebir Amlil, Hassan anouAmida Bassou
Released 1 January 2006
Accords Croises
Sidi Mimoun
by Salamate Gnawa
Released 5 June 2017
Salamate Gnawa
Ouled Bambara Portraits of Gnawa
by Abdelkbir Marchabe& Ahmed Baqou, Brahim Belkani, Hassan Zougari, Mohamed Hamada
Released 20 October 2009
Drag City Inc.
Gnawa Music From Morocco
by Altaf Gnawa Group
Released 1 January 2005
ARC
Mosawi Swiri
by Maalem Houssam Guinia
Released 22 February 2019
Hive Mind Records
Hnawa or Never
by Maalem Said Damir & Gnawa Allstars
Released 4 June 2011
1001 Knights Production
El Bahraoui البحراوي
by Mahmoud Guinea
Released 12 August 1999
Disco Mars
Colours Of The Night
by Mahmoud Guinia
Released 8 September 2017
Hive Mind Records
Allah allah
by Mahmoud Guinia
Released 9 June 2021
Yein France & Sawt Maarif
The Fire Within
by Hassan Hakmoun
Released 16 March 2000
The Orchard
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Torat Vol. 1 (EP)
by Daraa Tribes
Released 12 January 2024
Coral Riff
Andalusian classical music is a major genre of Arabic music found in various local substyles across the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya).
It originated in the music of Al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia) from 9th century and arrived in Morocco in 1492, following the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula.
Musique Arabo-Andalouse Du Maroc
(Arabo-Andalusian Music of Morocco)
by Amina Alaoui, Ahmed Piro and Son Orchestra
Released 1995
Auvudis
This is music from El Andalus at its best. Gharnati, which can be translated as "music from Granada" is filled with sensual longing and old memories; through Amina's voice the old ghosts take place here in this world with dignity and grace. Amina herself is rather amazing - she has degrees in philosophy, philology and dance and her spiritual beauty and wisdom show themselves in her voice and in this sublime album.
Read more ... Amazon, Saphrane Records
Alcantara
by Amina Alaoui
Released 1998
Auvudis
With a haunting, pure, sensual voice, Amina Alaoui provides a portrait of cosmopolitan, tolerant Al-Andalus or Sefarad, Moorish Spain, a fabled era and place when religious and ethnic communities shared romantic culture, philosophy, medicine, poetry, and, here, music. The flow and exchange of European folk, Arabic, Berber, and Jewish musical modes and tunes and rhythms were common. This album features songs in Arabic, French, Spanish, and Hebrew (with lyrics provided respectively in those languages). In a chambered setting, she is accompanied by two musicians: Henri Agnel, who plays medieval guitar, cittern lute, and rebec along with frame drums, and Brijan Chemirani, performing on zarb, daf, and tambourine drums. The sound is mainly gentle with only occasional more lively, dancelike tracks. The arrangements are simple. Half way into the album, a mild tedium of sound and timbre sets in. While the minimalism is probably reflective of the era, 62 minutes is a long time for this particular musical meditation. Aside this minor complaint, the album is beautiful and educationally worthy. The title, Alcantara, is metaphoric, meaning bridge and derived from the Arabic, Al-Qantarah. Musicians are without borders and music itself is the message.
Read more ... Amazon, Saphrane Records
Arco Iris
by Amina Alaoui
Released 10 June 2011
ECM
Following her outstanding performance in collaborative work with Jon Balke and Jon Hassell on the “Siwan” recording of 2007/8, Moroccan-born singer Amina Alaoui presents her own border-transcending project.
When Alaoui sings there is “no need to discuss the origins of fado, flamenco or Al Andalusi” for the music itself explores the common crucible of the styles, and Amina’s delivery makes the interconnections impossible to miss.
She is superbly accompanied by her outstanding ensemble in which violin often echoes the voice, and oud, flamenco guitar and sparkling mandolin surround it.
Guitarist José Luis Montón from Barcelona has a strong following amongst flamenco adherents worldwide.
Mandolinist Eduardo Miranda was born in Brazil, has lived the last two decades in Portugal, and links choro and fado styles through a vocabulary influenced by jazz.
Violinist Saïfallah Ben Abderrazak and oud player Sofiane Negra are from Tunisia.
Idriss Agnel, Amina’s son, plays percussion and adds a shimmer of electric guitar.
Read more --- ECM
Andalusian music from Tangier
by Cheikh Ahmed Zaïtouni
Released 1 January 2005
IMA
Sheikh Ahmed Zaïtouni is a remarkable master musician of the al-Andalus style; here he and his ensemble from Tangier (founded in 1981) perform one of the most beautiful of the eleven vocal and instrumental suites of the Moroccan âla, the nuba Al-Hijâz al-kabîr.
With a strict respect for tradition, vocalists and instrumentalists alike perform in close symbiosis, communicating with each other by a simple glance to produce music of subtle balance and strong emotion whose powerful effects transport listeners into the sumptuous medieval heritage of the legendary Ziryab.
Read more ... IMA
The Key To Granada
by Saïd Chraïbi
Released 30 March 2001
IMA
In Morocco, which has produced some extremely refined accompanists trained in the Andalusian school and style, Saïd Chraïbi is one of the rare masters of the’ud to have created his own original sound and his own aesthetic as a solo player. His technique is exceptional for the accuracy of his touch, the fluidity of his fingerings, his swift and dextrous use of the plectrum, all qualities that make him a real virtuoso. Anchored in the music of his homeland and steeped in tradition, the artist’s very fibre is made from the dream of Andalusia, but his inspiration is taken from widespread sources, both near and far. He has opened up a whole range of different repertoires, feeding his creativity on Moroccan (Andalusian or otherwise), Near-Eastern, Turkish-Balkan or even flamenco traditions.
He has become a creator of new worlds.
Read more ... IMA
The Art of Mawwâl
by Mohamed Bajeddoub & Abderrahim Souiri
Released 25 September 2007
IMA
The mawwâl, pronounced muwwâl in Morocco, is a kind of poetry sung in dialectal Arabic, which appears in various forms throughout the Arab world. The vocal performance of this poetry ranges from simple recitation to elaborate operatic-style singing through a wide vocal range.
This album was recorded live at a concert originally conceived as a dialogue between two major Moroccan singers in the form of improvised mawwâl. The result is not only an album with many examples of brilliant vocal and instrumental improvisation, but is also like a musical journey linking the Andalusian modes of the tubûc(sing. tabc: Maghrebi mode) and the Eastern modes of the maqâmât (sing. maqâm: Eastern mode).
Vocalists Bajeddoub and Souiri give outstanding solo and duo performances, together or in turn, based on extracts from some beautiful Arab poems on the theme of courtly and mystical love.
Read more ... IMA
Sephardic music has its roots in the musical traditions of the Jewish communities in medieval Spain and medieval Portugal.
Since then, it has picked up influences from Morocco, Greece, Bulgaria, and the other places that Spanish and Portuguese Jews settled after their expulsion from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1496. Lyrics were preserved by the expelled communities, but the melodies vary considerably.
The name given to the variety of Judeo-Spanish spoken by the Sephardic Jews of North Africa is Haketia, a variety of Spanish that borrows heavily from Judeo-Moroccan Arabic. In this way, it differs from the well-known form of Judaeo-Spanish spoken by Jews living in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and Jerusalem, known as Djudio and Ladino, Ladino Oriental or Eastern Ladino.
It was historically spoken in the Moroccan cities of Tétouan, Tangier, Asilah, Larache, Chefchaouen, Ksar el-Kebir, and the Spanish towns of Ceuta and Melilla. Tetuani Ladino was also spoken in Oran, Algeria.
Sefarad en el Corazon de Marruecos
Vol.I – Sefarad in the heart of Morocco
by Mara Aranda
Released 17 March 2017
Mara Aranda
Mara Aranda returns to the traditional repertoire of Spanish Jews in the diaspora after three previous albums: 'Música i cants sefardís d'Orient i Occident' (Galileo-mc, 2009), Sephardic Legacy (Bureo Músiques 2013) and 'La Música Encerrada ', together with Musica Encerrada (with Capella de Ministrers, 2014), dedicated to this tradition. Her research work has taken her on residency trips to Thessaloniki (Greece), Istanbul (Turkey) and Jerusalem (Israel), prior to the recording of these works, to gather information from original sources, and complete the musical repertoire that does not exist. can be understood detached from its historical and cultural context.
'Sefarad in the heart of Morocco' is the first installment of a sound pentalogy dedicated to the main geographies of the Sephardic diaspora.
It is composed of coplas , lyrical songs that we call kantikas and also romansas , connected with the Old Ballads, an “Iliad without Homer” (according to a very repeated comparison in the beginnings of European Romanticism) that 'has been shared with Don Quixote and Celestina. the privilege of being considered one of the most characteristic creations, as well as one of greater universal aesthetic value, of the Spanish “genius” , defined by the philologist and dialectologist Diego Catalán.
These romances speak of epic, historical or legendary characters linked to the medieval past of the Peninsula and that continue to be sung today in Spain, in America and also in the mouths of the Sephardim in the geographies of the diaspora.
Read more ... Mara Aranda
Sefarad en el Corazon de Turquia
Vol.2 – Sefarad in the heart of Turkey
by Mara Aranda
Released 22 February 2017
Mara Aranda
'Sefarad in the heart of Turkey' recovers a common past from the melting pot of peninsular cultures that forged in the Iberian land the best of their knowledge, their arts, their discoveries, the traditions that made up their identity, configuring that of the 21st century citizen in our lands. These songs travel in expulsion, with their bearers, to those new geographies and now with Diaspora they make this journey back to their origin.
On the album, special prominence is given to the romansas that tell us about epic, historical or legendary characters linked to the medieval past of the Peninsula and that continue to be sung today in Spain, in America and also in the mouths of the Sephardim in the geographies. of the diaspora and the romances associated with Valencia and the Crown of Aragon to which it belonged in medieval times are recovered for the first time.
Read more ... Mara Aranda
Sefarad en el Corazon de Grecia
Vol.3 – Sefarad in the heart of Greece
by Mara Aranda
Released 2 June 2023
Mara Aranda
' Sefarad in the heart of Greece ' is the third volume of the sound pentalogy that revalues the Sephardic culture, forged both in the Iberian land and in the different Geographies of the Diaspora .
The first two volumes of the collection were awarded the title of 'best European album' by the Transglobal World Music Chart, in their respective years of release.
The legacy transmitted through the centuries in these songs, from generation to generation, in the mouths of the women who were their custodians, is what shapes the identity of women and men of the 20th century. XXI, in our and other lands, since we share a common past for centuries. These songs travel in the expulsion, with their carriers, and now they make this journey back, with the influences and linguistic borrowings from those other places of settlement, to their origin: Sepharad.
Mara Aranda is the most international interpreter of Spanish Sephardic music, after more than three decades working around historical repertoires.
Her studio work has taken her on residency trips to Thessaloniki (Greece), Istanbul (Turkey) and Jerusalem (Israel), prior to the recording of these works, to gather information necessary to complete the musical work, which cannot be understood separately. of its historical and cultural context.
She is currently director of the Valldigna International Center for Medieval Music, where all cultural traditions, with special emphasis on the musical aspect, that had their expression in this era, join hands, valuing each other and restoring the place in the history, the past of our present, that all these manifestations deserve.
Read more ... Mara Aranda
Lala Tamer
by Lala Tamar
Released 29 May 2020
Ori Winokur & Tamar Bloch
Born and raised in Israel’s Galilee to Brazilian-Moroccan parents, Tamar Bloch (who has taken the stage name Lala Tamar) is a vocalist of Moroccan and Brazilian descent whose music reflects her heritage.
Bloch often heard Portuguese and Arabic alongside Hebrew, and felt connected with the music from all three cultures.
Her artistry and identity is deeply rooted in the cultural seam between Latin and Arab, Jewish and Muslim, East and West.
Tamar's unique artistry took her deep roots to the front of the stage, having discovered the mystery of the ancient hymns of her heritage when she was in her early twenties.
In the Moroccan tradition “Lala” is the respectful lady of the house.
Hymns sang in Moroccan Jewish Arabic and Ladino, more specifically “Haqetiya” , a unique dialect spoken among the jews of Spanish Morocco, perfectly fit Tamar’s hybrid identity; a woman rooted deeply in the cultural seam between Latin and Arab, jewish and muslim, between East and West.
Tamar took to studying Moroccan and invested long hours uncovering old ethnographic recordings of Jewish Moroccan women singing in “Haqetiya” from the National Archive in Jerusalem.
Painstakingly transcribing the lyrics, Tamar’s journey to reclaim her heritage began. She delved deeper and deeper into these ancient melodies, becoming the first artist to start compiling an artistic album in this unique dialect.
Tamar had to smuggle the recordings out of the Hebrew University by recording them on her cellphone, and was soon picked up by the Jerusalem band Z’aaluk. The ancient hymns from the archives started to claim new life in a modern live show, and the band toured all over the country.
In parallel to her work with Zaaluk, Tamar joined forces with the Mediterranean flamenco maestro Ofer Ronen to complete the trio Ancient Groove, and performed with them all over Europe.
Tamar is also active in the Jerusalem collective Andelucious, noted for their rendition of Algerian classic “Hesbani” that has made digital waves, facilitating communication with Moroccan and Algerian fans every day.
Read more ... Lalamusiclala
Duo Andalus Live
by Cheikh El Hasnaoui, Duo Andalus (Ofer Ronen & Lala Tamar)
Released 1 March 2024
Whatabout Music
The delightful "Duo Andalous" comprises Israeli guitar and oud player Ofer Ronen and vocalist Lala Tamar, who was born and raised in Israel’s Galilee to Brazilian-Moroccan parents.
Their music is aptly describes as an encounter between voice and strings, cultures and sounds. A journey described by traditional and original songs from the Mediterranean Sea to the North African Ocean.
Moroccan, Sephardi Jewish, flamenco and middle east musics find their common roots through the voice of this great young diva of Moroccan judeo arabic music - Lala Tamar, accompanied by the virtuoso Guitar of Ofer Ronen (flamenco guitar and oud).
Together they present a powerful yet intimate show that enchants the listener into a ritual which encompasses three cultures in one.
Lala Tamar and Ofer Ronen have been creating together for the last 8 years, although living in different countries. Drawing upon the musical heritage of Morocco, Portugal and Spain, their passionate musical, artistic and soulful dialogue continues to evolve and take on new forms, becoming more and more defined with every encounter.
For this release, the duo covers a suite of eight songs composed by Cheikh El Hasnaoui (1910–2002), a Berber singer born in a small town near Tizi Ouzou in Algeria.
El Hasnaoui sang Algerian chaabi music, and was, along with Slimane Azem, responsible for laying the foundations of modern popular Kabyle music in the 1950s and 1960s.
Traditional Kabyle music consists of vocalists accompanied by a rhythm section, consisting of t'bel (tambourine) and bendir (frame drum), and a melody section, consisting of a ghaita (bagpipe) and ajouag (flute).
Note: SunNeverSetsOnMusic has not yet found any direct information to fully articulate the artists' particular influences and intentions for this album.
Read more ... Wikipedia, entradium
Ballads, Wedding Songs and Piyyutim of the Sephardic Jews of Tetuan and Tangier, Morocco
by Various Artists
Released 1 January 1983
Smithsonian Folkways
The songs on this 1983 Folkways release are both soulful and haunting, reminders of a "golden age" prior to 1492, when Jews were expelled from Spain. The Jews of Tetuan, which became one of the most important Jewish communities in North Africa, preserved the old ballads in Medieval Spanish, and for daily use spoke an updated idiom. Here women sing romance and ritual songs a cappella, while a cantor from Tangier performs the piyyutim, the religious poetry written in Hebrew by the great Medieval Jewish writers and sung in the synagogue during services
Read more ... Smithsonian Folkways
Malhun meaning "the melodic poem", is a kind of urban, sung poetry that comes from the exclusively masculine working-class milieu of craftsmen's guilds in the Tafilalet oases of southern Morocco in the 15th century before spreading to other parts of the Maghreb
On 6 December 2023, Malhun was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists of Morocco.
A milhûn suite comprises two parts, the taqsim overture played on an oud or violin in a free rhythm to introduce the mode for the rest of the piece, followed by the qassida, or sung poem which is itself divided into three parts. These are the solo verses (al-aqsâm), choral refrain (al-harba) and crescendoing chorus that completes the suite (al-dîdka).
Some of the older, but well known, melhun authors include Abderrahman El Majdoub, who passed away in 1568 but his legendary mystical quatrains are known throughout Morocco and are a vital part of the heritage of the genre.
Also legendary is Thami Lanmdaghri who is responsible for composing some of the most popular songs that are still performed today.
More recently, Haj Houcine Toulali (1924-1998) was the most prominent figure in the malhun music.
Maroc: Anthologie du Melhun
Morocco: Anthology of Melhun
by Various Artists
Released 3 October 2011
Tarik Hilal & Nabyla Maan
Melhûn is a musical tradition that is both scholarly and popular and has established itself among workers, traders and artisans in Moroccan cities.
The sung poem, the qasîda, consists of an instrumental prelude on the violin or lute, verses sung solo alternating with the choir and ends with the crackling of small târija percussions.
The present anthology, recorded in 1990, brings together the the most notable works of the repertoire performed by its most eminent artists, among others:
Haj Hussein Toulali,
Abdelkarim Guennoun,
Hussein Ghazali,
Muhammad Dallal,
Muhammad Soueita,
Haj Muhammad Bensaid.
Read more ... Amazon, Saphrane Records
Le Malhum de Meknes
by El Hadj Houcine Toulali
Released 3 January 1994
IMA
In Morocco, the word malhûn designates a kind of urban, sung poetry, composed in dialectal Arabic and which comes from the exclusively masculine working-class milieu of craftsmen’s corporations. Long reserved to a very restricted public of fans, its audience has enlarged to a public which is more and more numerous and young, particularly under the influence of radio and records.
The poetry of malhûn talks about religious themes inspired by the brotherhoods’ devout mysticism : passionate desire of spiritual communion with the Prophet, celebration of holiness as a moral ideal and a model of individual life worthy of survival in memory. But it also deals in a large manner with profane themes which, in an elliptical language, attest to a deep penetration of the contradictions and deadlocks of society.
Read more ... Arabo Sounds
The Malhun In Marrakech
by Ensemble Amenzou Le Malhun a Marrakech
Released 5 January 2004
IMA
“The attraction of the unknown, devoting oneself to something through a real taste or passion for it, the act of becoming a connoisseur” – these constitute the first requirements for entering the world of the malhun, a sung kind of urban poetry traditionally practised in the exclusively male universe of the craft corporations. The art of the malhun is in three distinct parts: composition, conservation and performance, with a different master for each. Composition and conservation depend entirely on the strength (or otherwise) of individual vocation, whereas performance is a profession that can be learnt. Mohammed Boustta’s career is very typical of what it takes to become a master of this art, and illustrates the changes it has undergone during the course of the 20th century. He appears on this recording with the Amenzou brothers, Mohammed l-Attaui and Ahmed Bednaui.
Read more ... Arabo Sounds
Chaabi (شعبي in Arabic), also known as Chaâbi, Sha-bii, or Sha'bii meaning "folk", refers to different music genres in North Africa such as Algerian chaabi, Moroccan chaabi and Egyptian Shaabi.
Moroccan Chaabi music first appeared during the 1930's, during the French protectorate in Morocco. This early form of Chaabi was profoundly influenced by the social landscape of the period. Most Chaabi artists had limited or no formal education, so they sung in colloquial Moroccan Arabic, or Darija. Because of limited access to radio during the early years of Chaabi, Chaabi artists used local instruments in their music and were only somewhat influenced by the popular music of Egypt and Syria being developed at the same time.
During the 1970's, Chaabi developed into a more formal style of music. Increased communication and transportation allowed Chaabi to infiltrate urban centers in Morocco. Increased contact with Western music also facilitated the creation of popular Moroccan Chaabi bands and electric instruments were introduced into the bands.
In the following decades, Chaabi music gradually declined in popularity. It was superseded by more Western forms of music, especially by the rise of Ra'i music in the 1980's. However, Chaabi is still common at celebrations, especially weddings, and festivals of Morocco and has come to represent a more popular form of traditional Moroccan music.
Aita (haita, rita or ghita) or vocal shikhat music is a traditional folk musical style that originates from rural Morocco. The term Aita عيطة in Moroccan Arabic means "call, cry or lament".
It is sung in Moroccan Arabic dialects by mixed groups composed of musicians and singers and singers and dancers, these women are called shikhats.
Haja El Hamdaouia
by Haja El Hamdaouia
Released 11 January 2024
Boussif Miloud
****-
Iconic Moroccan singer Haja El Hamdaouia (1930 - 2021), one of the most iconic and renowned artists in Morocco, started her career in the 1950s, performing the genre El Aita al Marsaouia or Sheikhat. This is one of the most popular styles of Moroccan traditional music - the "call" or "cry," in which performers sing about a cause.
In the time of colonization, singers or prominent sheikhat used al Aita to attack colonizers with the lyrics, calling on them to leave the country.
El Hamdaouia was also known for her unique appearances on stage and she was inseparable from her "bendir," a big hand frame drum or "taarija," a membranophone.
The artist was famous for her classic hairstyles and colorful caftans on stage.
Read more... Morocco World News
Li Guer Lymout
by Bnat el Houariyat & Ezraa Warzazia
Released 14 January 2023
Numina Records
****-
Bnat el Houariyat is a Moroccan all-women music and dance group of chaabi and houara music led by Khadija el Warzazia. With powerful vocals and traditional Moroccan percussion - bendir, darbouka, taarija, dohdoh, and tebsil, Khadija's songs are about the romantic, the personal, the spiritual, the societal, and the natural - representing the raw spectrum of human experience. She is known for her unique fusions of Gnawa prose into these musical styles dedicated to praising female spirits. Known as "laâbat" in Morocco, women's groups who entertain in all-women's home gatherings or weddings, Bnat el Houariyat bring the ambiance of Moroccan celebrations to the concert stage and are known to leave audiences in a trance with their polyrhythms, call and responses, and rhythmic climaxes.
An active group for over 20 years, Bnat el Houariyat has mentored the younger generation with bringing on New York based dancer Esraa Warda in 2017 who rejuvenated the group. Known for her "jedba" (trance-like state through hair swaying) , she joined Bnat el Houariyat when Khadija picked her out of the crowd in a home wedding in Marrakech's medina. She handed Warda a kaftan (a traditional Moroccan dress) and requested she perform with the group that night. Impressed with her knowledge of Chaabi dance, Khadija recruited Warda as the youngest woman and apprentice of the group. Bnat el Houariyat and Esraa Warda's energy is contagious. They represent the power of North African women and intergenerational transmission - giving audiences permission to be free without inhibitions.
Read more... Habibi Festival NYC
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Yla chaftou laghzale (La legende - Chaabi Marocain)
by Fatna Bent l'Houcine
Released 22 July 2023
Greber
****-
Fatna Bent Lhoucine (in Arabic: فاطنة بنت الحسين) (born 1935 - died 6 April 2005 in Sidi Bennour, Morocco) was a Moroccan singer specialized in the Aita and Chaabi music. She was a prominent artist in this genre, and was among others called "the Aita Legend"
Fatna Bent Lhoucine recorded during her long career more than 200 songs with the "Oulad Ben Aguida" group. She stopped singing in 2002 after performing Hajj, at the age of 67, and died 3 years later, in her hometown of Sidi Bennour.
Read more... Wikipedia
Nass el Ghiwane
by Nass El Ghiwane
Released 31August 2020
Addictive Music
****-
Formed in 1971, Nass El Ghiwane's five members first performed in the avant-garde of Morocco's underground theater scene. Following their debut performance as a band in Rabat at Tayeb Seddiki's Mohammed V Theatre, their songs became the 1970s anthems of Moroccan youth -- nationalist, rebellious, experimental, and bygone all at once.
They are Morocco's most enduring musical legacy. They modernized the way music was transmitted to the disenchanted and rebellious youth of their country. Their concerts would turn into riots as their music and lyrics incited deep affection from their virulent fan base. Their music echoes medieval Moroccan oral traditions; coming from the Gnawa trance music of their ancestors, they sang tales of Sufi mystics and wrote lyrics that criticized the conservative monarchy of Mohammed V.
They were the first to introduce the banjo, guembri, and colloquial Moroccan Arabic in their version of the shaabi genre. Nass El Ghiwane were a huge influence on Algeria's modern Raï movement, as Cheb Khaled started his career covering Nass El Ghiwane's songs. This is exemplary trance music and the foundation of the modern era in Moroccan music.
Martin Scorsese has called them "The Rolling Stones of Morocco." It could be argued that Scorese's claim would be more accurate if the Stones were fronted by Bob Dylan.
Read more... Wikipedia
Ya Assafa Alik
by Jil Jilala
Released 11 October 2023
Jil Jalala
****-
Jil Jilala (Arabic: جيل جلالة Generation of Majesty) is a Moroccan musical group which rose to prominence in the 1970s among the movement created by Nass El Ghiwane and Lem Chaheb.
Jil Jilala was founded in Marrakech in 1972 by performing arts students Mohamed Derhem, Moulay Tahar Asbahani, Sakina Safadi, Mahmoud Essaadi, Hamid Zoughi and Moulay Abdelaziz Tahiri (who had just left Nass el Ghiwane). In 1974, they released their first record Lyam Tnadi on the Atlassiphone label. The songs "Leklam Lemrassaa," "Baba Maktoubi," "Ha L'ar a Bouya," "ah ya Jilala" and "Chamaa" quickly achieved the status of popular 'classics.
In 1976 they wrote the iconic bop "Laayoune Ayniya" about the Green March. The song was embraced as an unofficial 'national anthem' as Moroccans from all over the country marched en masse toward the disputed Western Sahara, then occupied by Spain.
In contrast to Nass El Ghiwane, who were primarily influenced by Gnawa music, Jil Jilala took their inspiration from other forms of traditional Moroccan music like the Malhun, sung in an antiquated form of Moroccan Arabic, or the spiritual music of Jilala, an historical sufi brotherhood that are named after the famous sufi master from Irak, Abdul Qādir Gīlānī (1078-1166), founder of the Qadiria Sufi Order, who is called Jilali in Moroccan tradition.. In addition to their intellectual, socio-political and economic goals, these groups aimed for a rejuvenation of traditional Moroccan music.[citation needed
Read more... Wikipedia
Lemchaheb, Vol. 1
by Lemchaheb
Released 3 May 2019
Addictive Music
****-
Lemchaheb is a Moroccan band playing politically inspired music. After being expelled from Morocco they settled in Germany.
Nass el Ghiwane were already excelling at reviving the millennia old legacy of Morocco's musical heritage in popular music.
Knowing that the immense task of being another Nass el Ghiwane clone was going to prove difficult, Lemchaheb decided to go their own way since day one.
Lemchaheb chose to stick to just making popular music, and surprisingly, excelling at that too! Lemchaheb's music was simpler and catchier: mandolins and guitars, percussions, and vocal harmonies। They chose not to associate themselves with any brotherhood.
Their achievements helped establish the modern chaabi music in Morocco in a way that they were among the first to play Moroccan pop music using western instruments, hence setting the rules for the genre.
Read more... LastFM
Daoudi
by Daoudi
Released 19 October 2020
Addictive Music
****-
Middle Eastern Moroccan artist Daoudi, also known as Abdellah Daoudi, is well-known for his contributions to the Arabic Folk genre. He is a Moroccan musician originally from Casablanca who has made a name for himself in the music business with his soulful and rhythmic songs that draw on Middle Eastern folk music.
Daoudi's music expresses his strong ties to his background and his enthusiasm for safeguarding his nation's cultural legacy. His distinctive sound combines traditional Arabic rhythms with modern beats and instruments to produce a timeless and energizing vibe. He carries listeners to a realm of subtle melodies and compelling rhythms with his soulful vocals and complex instrumentals.
Daoudi, an Arabic folk musician from the Middle East, has had a big influence on the Moroccan music scene and others. Every note he plays shows how committed he is to his skill, and his music is a celebration of his culture and ancestry. Daoudi continues to move audiences with his love of music and dedication to upholding his culture, whether he's on stage playing or in the studio recording.
Read more... Viberate
Music of Morocco from The Library of Congress Recorded by Paul Bowles 1959
by Various Artists
Released 30 September 2016
Dust-to-Digital
Paul Frederic Bowles (1910 - 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier in the Interzone, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his life.
Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making several trips to Paris in the 1930s.
He studied music with Aaron Copland, and in New York wrote music for theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with his first novel The Sheltering Sky (1949), set in French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931.
In 1947, Bowles settled in Tangier, at that time in the Tangier International Zone, and his wife Jane Bowles followed in 1948. Except for winters spent in Ceylon during the early 1950s, Tangier was Bowles's home for the remainder of his life.
He came to symbolize American immigrants in the city.
Bowles died in 1999 at the age of 88. His ashes are buried near family graves in Lakemont Cemetery, in upstate New York.
Read more (tracklist and artists) ... Bandcamp
Morocco Maroc Arab Traditional Music
Recorded by Philip D. Schuyler 1988
by Abdeslam Cherkaoui
Released 16 September 2014
Smithsonian Folkways
This 1988 recording focuses on the Arabic tradition in Moroccan music. According to the liner notes, the two forms of l-'asri modern music and sh-sha'abi popular/people’s music have wide appeal around the country as well as in all segments of the population. Although they share similar modal structures, they are quite different formally and rhythmically.
Versatile singer-musician Abdeslam Cherkaoui composed the four songs presented on the album and plays accompaniment on the 11-string oud—a short, pear-shaped instrument that is directly related to the European lute. The liner notes provide closer analysis of the modern and traditional elements in the music and an English translation of the lyrics.
This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available, including a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.
Read more... Smithsonian Folkways
Music of Morocco
Recorded by Christopher Ranklyn 1966
by Various Artists
Released 1 January 1966
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Recorded in 1966, Music of Morocco gives a snapshot of everyday music, both secular and religious, among various ethnic groups. The Berbers, Aissawa, Gnawa, and Haha sing in Arabic and regional languages and play a variety of instruments, including the tarija (pottery drum), awad (flute), rhaita (oboe), kamenja (violin), and guinbri (3–string guitar). Liner notes provide historical background on the groups and describe the style and context for each song.
Read more... Smithsonian Folkways