Jean Mazel Moroccan Field Recordings via Tuluum Shimmering

Here's a vintage stash of folk music field recordings made and released in the 1950s and 1960s by one Jean Mazel, a French cinéaste and ethnologue, about whom I can find little information online. Most of his published recordings (and a disambiguation with a namesake) can be found here, and a number of his publications are listed here.

Jean Mazel

The recordings presented here were originally released on one 10-inch album (33 RPM) four 7-inch EPs (45 RPM). They have been resequenced and made available for streaming/download by the "UK-based one-man trancedental-drone band" Tuluum Shimmering:



In addition to being offered in their raw form, the Moroccan recordings have been incorporated into 3 CDs worth of Tuluun Shimmering's psychedelic recordings, also available from their Bandcamp page, or as CDs from their homepage.

The original 10-inch album features linking narration in French. If you're interested to hear it in its original state, check the YouTube clips below. (I'm happy to have the narration removed in Tuluum's version. It reminded me of the pretentious voiceovers I heard between acts at the Folklore festival in Marrakech in 1995.)




I went looking online for the original artwork/notes, and to see where the original tracks fit into Tuluum's sequence. If you're interested in that sort of thing, you can find the images I collected and my crosswalk spreadsheet here.

Thanks to tape aficiondo and old Berkeley pal @boxwalla for calling my attention to this.

Houssa Ahbar 97

Here's some late '90s Middle Atlas Amazigh viola-driven pop music. On the spectrum between the two Amazigh viola tapes I shared on this post last year, this falls closer to the earlier, folkier, acoustic end.

I couldn't find out much online about Houssa Ahbar (or Ahbbar, not to be confused with the prolific Houssa 46). This tape predates anything of his I found online. The j-card bills him as "The Star of Khenifra", implying that he comes from the same city as Rouicha.

Houssa appears to remain active via recordings and live performances. You can find some recent albums of his over at izlanzik.org. Interesting to compare the sound of these newer albums to the one offered here. Production values for Middle Atlas popular music have sure changed since the late '90s. No autotune, no keyboard, no lotar. Just the viola, bendir, men's and women's voices, and what sounds like a darbuka added to the percussion section.

Iconographic query: Here is the logo for the label Ain Asserdoun Disque. "Ain Asserdoun" is the name of the lovely spring up the mountain above Beni Mellal. The word "Asserdoun" means "mule" in Tamazight, and "Ain" means "spring" or, literally, "eye". So Ain Asserdoun could be translated as The Mule Spring or the Mule's Eye. So can anyone explain to me what is depicted in this logo?

Houssa Ahbar - New 97 (Ain Asserdoun Disque cassette 51)

Excerpt from Track 4 (of 6)

Get it all here.

Mohamed Amrrakchi - Amarg Fusion, 90s style

Here's a well-loved cassette from my first trip to Marrakech in 1992. The j-card went missing years ago, but I did manage to scribble "Mohamed Marrakchi" on the box. Preliminary googling only resulted in references to an Arabic singer in Fessi chaabi style:

This was a far cry from the Soussi Berber rrbab-driven sounds on my old tape. Some additional googling turned up a better result, using the more Berber-ish spelling "Amrrakchi":

Blogger Ourchifali, who has several posts including lyrics of Mohamed Amrrakchi as well as this great photo here tags these posts with the term "Amarg Fusion". While nowhere near as fusion-y as music from the 2000s by the actual group Amarg Fusion, the electric guitar and drum kit do give the music a bit of what, at the time, was a modern edge. I love the punchy sound added by the kit and guitar. To my ear, they complement rather than undercut the banjo and rrbab. And the melodies are insidiously catchy. Here's some video footage of Amrrakchi with this sort of ensemble:



Mohammed Amrrakchi appears to be the brother of the more well-known Houcine Amrrakchi, who was featured some time ago over at the defunct-but-not-forgotten Snap Crackle and Pop blog.

Mohamed Amrrakchi - Sawt al Ahbab cassette (1992)
Track 1 (of 6) 


Get 'em all here.

Awad Mtougha - More of That Down Home Moroccan Fife & Drum

Here's some more of that good âwad-driven ahwach music. Âwad are the high-pitched flutes seen above, Mtougha (or Mtouga) is the area of Morocco from which this particular ahwach style appears to originate, and ahwach is the communal Berber song-dance-singing-drumming genre that differs from region to region in Tachelhit-speaking areas of Morocco.

Here's a bit of a staged performance of the Mtouga ahwach. In addition to the âwad flutes and bendir frame drums, you can see (or at least hear) the tam-tam or tbilat (pair of small kettle drums) and naqqus (struck metal idiophone). And dig the stepping, clapping, and shoulder-shimmying!



Track 5 of this tape is the same as Track 1, but slowed down just a tad. Or Track 1 is the same as Track 5, sped up a bit. They're both here, since I couldn't figure out which was the truer pitch.

Awad Mtougha (Audio Star Cassette)
Track 1 (of 5)

Get it all here.

Tagroupit in the House - Oudaden Live at Ksar al Andalus, Agadir

Well here's another Moroccan live album from La Voix el Maarif! This one is from the Soussi group Oudaden. Unlike our last live album from LVEM, which was recorded in Canada, this one was recorded in Morocco. According to the Arabic text on the spine and shell, this is a "live artistic soirée with Oudaden at the Ksar al Andalus in Agadir."

According to Anir at amazighnews.net, Oudaden recorded their first album for LVEM in 1985. (Perhaps this is it? It does say "Volulme (sic) 1".) The author characterizes Oudaden's artistic direction as being different from that of earlier groups from the 1970s such as Izenzaren. That earlier style, which came to be called Tazenzaret (i.e., in the manner of Izenzaren), was characterized both by its "revolutionary" lyrics and by the novel musical compositions of Igout Abdelhadi, who incorporated non-Soussi rhythms and melodies.

Oudaden, on the other hand, represented a return to traditional Soussi rhythms and melodies, albeit with the use of the electric guitar alongside the banjo. Oudaden also specialized in love songs. This style - love songs, traditional Soussi melodies and rhythms, with a somewhat modernized ensemble - came to be known as "Tirubba" (possibly "in the manner of a rub3a quartet"?) or "Tagroupit" (in the manner of a groupe - i.e., a modern ensemble). Oudaden group member Mohamed Jemoumekh, describes these styles as "le chaabi n tchelhit" (Berber chaâbi).

There's rather a lot of tape hiss on this one - I tried to roll off some of it in the EQ. There's loads more Oudaden over at Yala, if you want to sample some other, more hi-fi recordings of theirs.

By the way, the group name Oudaden refers to the bighorned Barbary sheep native to the Atlas mountains.

Oudaden - Live at Ksar al Andalus, Agadir (LVEM 126)
Track 2 (of 4)

Get it all here.

Like Chaâbi, Tagroupit seems to be continuing its popularity. Moroccan Tape Stash blog follower Owen Buck traveled in southern Morocco earlier this year and was treated, while dining, to a musical performance from an amateur Tachelhit group. I couldn't tell you whether the style is more tazenzaret or more tagroupit, but the great sound of banjos, drums and pentatonic melodies is undeniable. Enjoy some of this performance here:

Najat Aâtabou - Live in Paris and in Tamazight

Here's a live album from Najat Aâtabou released around 1985, not long after she first burst onto the Moroccan music scene. She's in fine form here, performing in Paris at The Olympia with oud, bendir-s, a darbuka and the backup singing of the male band members.

The album opens with an evocative (orientalist?) intro featuring audio snippets of a Middle Atlas ahaidous communal dance (one wonders if there was video at the concert as well) with a spoken narration extolling the bounties of Moroccan traditional music, before introducing Najat herself.

Tracks 3 and 4 are sung in her native Central Atlas Tamazight dialect, while the others are sung in darija (Moroccan Arabic). I've become obsessed in particular with Track 4, "Nikkine Admough" or "Ad 3mough Izri". Here's a different live performance, longer than the one on the album. The moment where the band stops and Najat continues singing a capella breaks my heart:



According to this interview and performance from Moroccan TV, the lyrics are about a woman who was separated from her lover because of travel. Upon her return she finds that he has died, and she cries at his grave. (A kind soul has also translated some of the lyrics from Tamazight to French in the comments.)

Another native speaker of Central Atlas Tamazight who found success using Arabic lyrics with Berber musical forms was Mohamed Rouicha. However, Rouicha recorded some entire albums in Tamazight, whereas I don't think Najat ever released an album in Tamazight. I have found only a few live performance clips on YouTube from her early days where she performs songs in Tamazight. Conveniently, they are all linked from this page at izlanzik.org. I'd love to be proved wrong, though - does anyone know if she ever made studio recordings in Tamazight?

Najat Aâtabou at L'Olympia (EH1280)
1) intro
2) La Tbkich (= El Mektab)
3) Mani Lâhad
4) Nikkine Admongh
5) J'en ai Marre
6) 1, 2, 3

Get it here.

Raïs Aberrahmane Aznkd

More goodies from the Nathan Salsburg stash. I can find no information whatsoever online about this smiling, right-handed, lotar-wielding musician. The closest I found was a number of links to a seemingly younger Mohamed Aznkd, who is a left-handed, banjo-wielding musician.

There is some rapid-fire lotar picking going on here!


Al Raïs Abderrahmane Aznkd (Sawt el Andalous cassette S.A. 05)
1) Madrigh Asmoun
2) Arja f-Llah Arnaala
3) Aralaagh Aryaala
4) Gaaraa Hbib Allah
5) Allah Yâawen Nslemdyoun
6) Ajdaâ Igaan Oumleel
7) A Rabi

Get it all here.

3 Rwayes 3: Demsiria / Ihihi / Atigui

It's Easter Sunday here in Northern California, and we've got some much-needed rain!

Here's another swell tape from Nathan Salsburg's collection. The first rwayes supergroup? According to the author of this post, "Moulay Hmad Ihihi had the idea of putting out the first album combining a number of singers." This album, dating from 1981, features these three rwayes:

• Raïssa Rkia Demsiria (الرايسة رقية الدمسيرية) who was already well known by this time, having had her first hit in 1968 with "A Taxi Ghilla Radio"
• Raïs Moulay Hmad Ihihi (مولاي أحمد احيحي) - veteran singer, composer and player of the lotar (not the big pear-shaped, low-pitched lotar used by Middle Atlas musicians like Rouicha, but the round-bodied, high-pitched lotar used by Soussi musicians.
• Raïs Aârab Atigui (الرايس أعراب اتيكي), singer and rrbab player for whom this cassette was his first (and some say finest) release.

Memorable melodies and traditional textures make this a lovely addition to the stash. I'm not sure whether the lead vocals on tracks 3, 5, and 6 are by Ihihi or Atigui - any help would be appreciated!

Demsiria - Moulay Hmad - Aârab (Edition Hassania EH 1167) (1981)
1) Ark Tella Tarikta (vocal Raïssa Rkia Demsiria)
2) Afis Aygigel (vocal Raïs Aârab Atigui)
3) ???
4) Mata z-Zmanad (vocal Raïssa Rkia Demsiria)
5) Taghaous Aidba Bens
6) Arniyat Isella Lhem

Get it all here.

Izmaz [Yeah!!]

 

Hello Dear Blogosphere - hope you've all been well! Sorry for the absence - ah, where does the time go? Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose, so a fond hello from me...

Sharing here the first of a few tape rips that were sent to me by the esteemed Nathan Salsburg, music producer, guitarist, and curator of one of the greatest tape stashes on the planet - the Alan Lomax archive! If you haven't lost yourself perusing the hours and hours of field recordings generously made available online at the Association for Cultural Equity, do yourself a favor - head over there and dig into a real treasure trove! [I wrote about the Moroccan collection some time ago here.] Continuaing kudos to Nathan and the good folks at ACE for making this all available!

Today's offering is a cassette from the wonderful band Izmaz. I was first introduced to Izmaz via Mr Tear's postings (and Hammer's exhaustive notes) over at the recently retired Snap, Crackle & Pop blog here and here. (Though the blog has left the building, the links appear to be live, so grab 'em while you can!) There's a wonderfully laid back yet somehow also intense quality to Izmaz that sets them apart, to my ear, from their contemporaries on the Moroccan folk revival scene (Nass El Ghiwane, Jil Jilala, Izenzaren...) Extrapolating from Hammer's discographical information, this tape would appear to date from the early 1980s. And the j-card states that it was recorded in Paris. This album features the rrbab (horesehair fiddle) more prominently than on either of the two albums shared at Snap, Crackle & Pop.



Izmaz (Chariti - Phone cassette C.P. 27)

01 Wahli Wahla Annite
02 Amaa Kmyaghen
03 Iwaa Ourreed Ghiyid Igazaal
04 Imnayen

Get it all here.

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd was the first nationally renowned Chleuh (Soussi Berber) poet and musician. Since his death nearly 70 years ago, his compositions have constantly remained in the repertoire of the rwaïs. Here's a cassette compilation of some of his recordings, released originally on 78RPM records.

The photo on the j-card appears in the 1933 book Corpus de Musique Marocaine: Fascicule II - Musique et danses berbere du Pays Chleuh by Chottin. The full photo is a favorite of mine:

"The raïs Belaïd improvises a poem. In front of him, on the ground, his compositions are scattered. Behind him, a dancer, standing, holds a book full of other poems."

Here is some info on his life and work, translated from Mohamed Ameskane's Chansons Maghréines:

"Emblematic and essential figure of the Amazigh amarg [art song tradition], Haj Belaïd is to Moroccan Berber song what Mohamed Abdelwahab is to Arabic song. His timeless refrains have been reprised, since the thirties, by generations of Rwayes such as Rkia Damsiria, Amentag, Amouri Mbarek, by the groups Izenzaren, Ousman, Oudaden, not to mention the new scene with, among others, Amarg Fusion.

"His recordings, the documents of his fabulous destiny, and his photos are very rare. The troubadour of the Souss was born in the 19th century, between 1870 and 1875, at Anou n Adou, in the area of Tiznit. Coming from a modest family, he lost his father at an early age. Soon he would leave Koranic school, where his mother had enrolled him, to earn a crust of bread and to help his brothers. As a shepherd, he traveled the areas of Ida Obaâkil and Anzi, accompanied by his inseparable flute.

"He recounts that he dilligently frequented the Mellah of Tahala, in the Tafraoute region, where he learned music among the Judeo-Berber community of that place. The intervention of the Cheikh R'ma of Tazeroualt, the Cherif Sidi Mohamed Ousaleh, was decisive in his life and career. Haj Belaid joined his band as a flutist, was introduced to the l’outar and the ribab. Thereafter, he started his own company with Mohamed Rais Boudrâa Tazeroualti, Moulay Ali Souiri and Mbarek Boulahcen. In their company, he roamed the country like the medieval troubadours, performing for great political, religious, and business personalities. Much appreciated, his passages were run. His themes, his incomparable ribab playing, and his bewitching voice made women cry and lulled generations of music lovers.

"An author, improvising his refrains, a songwriter and performer, Haj Belaid sang on a number of themes. In "Fars", "Tadouat d’lklam", "Ribab", "Ouar laman", "Igh Istara Oudar", and "Ika isbar yan", he evokes his suffering with poetry, wandering and traveling. In “L’jouhr", "Ajdig nimi n'trga", "Adbib", "Talb," "Atbir oumlil “, it is courtly love. Feminine beauty is celebrated in very modest terms and subtle metaphors. With "Ch'rab” and “Taroudant" social criticism is put forward. Haj Belaid also played an undeniable role as a historian of everyday life, in recording events that shook the region and the innovations introduced by Western civilization, in the songs “L’makina ousatiam","Tiznit Oulbacha", and "Chifour outoumoubil." Haj Belaid also leaves us anthology pieces about his travels such as "Amoudou L’hij", describing his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1910, “Amoudou n'taliouine" visiting the Pasha Haj Thami Glaoui, and his famous "Amoudou n'bariz." The latter piece refers to a visit of King Mohammed V to Paris. Although the great Rais did not make the trip, he sings a tribute to the City of Lights:

Our sul illa ch'ka gh'lberr wala gh'waman
There are no more troubles, neither on earth nor at sea
Wanna add our iran amoudou yakka laâdourat
He who wishes to travel has no more excuses
Mkar tid ournki, lakhbar'ns lan darnigh
Although we have not been, we have news of him
Koulou matidikan our iaâwid blah ghar'lkhir
Those who have visited say only good things

"In the twilight of his life, "Al Dalail Khairat" and the ribab slung over his shoulder, the eternal wanderer consulted the doctors of the faith on the legality of making commerce of his art. After a positive response, he said, "People sell what they have; so do I." Haj Belaid only began recording in 1929. Listening to him singing, at the age of 70, "Tachirguid", "Zeroualia", "Tazeroualt" "Ouar lman", "Tagujist" and "Toumoubil”, released by Gramophone, one can only imagine the subtleties of his voice when he was young. What a pity!"

This compliation includes two types of compositions. Some pieces are unmetered, poetic declamations ("Tagzirt", "Bariz", and "Alhaj") while the others are metered and include choral refrains. Oddly, tracks 1 and 10 begin with an announcement in Arabic along the lines of "Amarg Bariz, Rais Lhaj Belaïd and his group, in the presence of Ustad Muhammad Abdel Wahab", though neither of these songs are in fact "Bariz". Apparently the great Egyptian performer and composer Muhammad Abdel Wahab was in the studio when Lhaj Belaïd recorded these sides, and was quite impressed at Belaïd's ability to improvise verses.

Raïs Lhaj Belaïd Volume 2 (Casa Music cassette)
01) Tagzirt pt. 1
02) Tagzirt pt. 2
03) Bariz pt. 1
04) Bariz pt. 2
05) Lmakina pt. 1

06) Lmakina pt. 2
07) Adbir Oumlil
08) Alhaj pt. 1
09) Alhaj pt. 2
10) Tadouat Da Lqlim pt. 1
11) Tadouat Da Lqlim pt. 2
12) Aka Isber Yan
13) Attaleb
14) Mqar Tla Touga Arafoud

Get it all here.

Groupe Iâachaken (ft. Omar Sayed) Vol. 2&3 - Who's Gonna Pull the Cart?

Two more lovely tapes today from Groupe Iâachaken. Like their first album, Iâachaken's second and third albums feature the participation of Nass el Ghiwane's Omar Sayed. I wish I could decode the image of the donkey cart on the 2 accompanying j-cards. On 1993's Magarn Ifassen, Omar Sayed is pulling the entire group, who sits on the cart. On 1994's Mani Nhra, the roles are reversed, and Groupe Iâachaken is pulling him, though apparently Omar achieves this turnaround by dangling a television in front of them. Make of it what you will...

These albums were released on Edition Sonya Disque, a label out of Casablanca whose tapes I first saw in 1993 and who released a lot of music in the '90s and beyond. Nass el Ghiwane released albums on the label and Paco released solo albums on it. Najat Aatabou put out some albums with the label as well.

Magarn Ifassen features qarqaba on several tracks, ramping up the group's generally laid-back feel a bit. The last tune on Mani Nhra, unlike anything else by the group, features ambient keyboard accompanying Omar Sayed's opening mawwal . It's a strange combination - the folk-revival acoustic instruments with the modern sheen of a synthesizer, but it works nicely here. (Much better than it does on a bizarre Nass el-Ghiwane tape I have...). And Omar's mawwal is an interesting one - the vocal ornamentations sound Indian in places. Quite lovely.

By the way, it's nice to hear Omar singing and reciting in Tachelhit. Nass el Ghiwane had never recorded a song in Berber.  News stories last summer indicated that a new album would soon be released, featuring their first-ever song in Berber. However, I've seen no further information about the album. Has anybody heard any news about the album's delay?

From the j-card of Magarn Ifassen:
Lyrics: Lamghari Hamid
Music: Farouq Saîd
Arrangement: Omar Sayed

Groupe Iâachaken - Magarn Ifassen (Edition Sonya Disque 325)
01) Magarn Ifassen (ft. Omar Sayed)
02) Gar Amoudi

03) Tifawin
04) Timila
   Get it here.

Groupe Iâachaken - Mani Nhra (E.S.D. 490)
01) Mani Nhra (ft. Omar Sayed)
02) Our Nsendem Yan
03) Issegueassn
04) Illi Hna (ft. Omar Sayed)

    Get it here.
 

Groupe Iâachaken ft. Omar Sayed

The group Iâachaken was a Nass-el-Ghiwane-style folk revival band in the early 1990s. I don't think they ever achieved the notoriety of other groups who worked in this style and sung in Tachelhit, such as Izenzaren or Oudaden (whom you can check out over at Snap Crackle & Pop), but they did release at least 3 lovely albums.

I saw Iâachaken perform live in June 1992 at the Palais Badiî, Marrakech, as part of the Festival Maroc Arts 92. Their song "Arnsghal" wiggled its way into my head, so I sought out this tape. It's one of the catchiest songs I've heard!

Omar Sayed of Nass el Ghiwane (pictured floating above the band in the j-card photo) had some relationship with the group. The first tune on the tape features him reciting poetry and performing a mawwal (lyric-less vocal improvisation). Subsequent albums from Iâachaken also mention and picture him. I think he may have served as a producer or musical director. I've got a couple other tapes of the group, which I'll try to share soon.

By the way, I wonder if there were groups working in the Ghiwane style that sang in the Riffi or Middle Atlas Berber dialects (Tariffit and Tamazight). I've only ever heard groups singing in Tachelhit. Please comment if you know of any!

The guinbri player from Iâachaken, Radouane Raifak (lower left on the j-card), later joined Nass el Ghiwane after the 1995 departure of Paco Abderrahmane.

Said Iâachaken (top left in the group photo) appears to have remained active as well, releasing an album in 2008, which you can hear over at Yala.



And finally, the hook from "Arnasghal" was so stuck in my head back in the day that I wrote some English lyrics to sing to it. This evolution was continued by my dear friend and musical co-conspirator Raul Rothblatt, who arranged and transformed the tune, and added it to the repertoire of his Afro-Hungarian fusion band Dallam-Dougou in New York as "On My Way (Oy Yoy Yoy)", which you can hear on the group's album New Destiny. From guinbri and banjo to cello and balafon!

Groupe Iâachaken (featuring Omar Sayed) - مجموعة إعشاقن بمشاركة عمر السيد
01) Han Tsemer Louqt (ft. Omar Sayed)
02) Taghit
03) snippet
04) Arnsghal
05) Mata Khda Ijraan

Get it here.

Tamazight Twofer - Middle Atlas Violas

We love dem scratchy violas here at Moroccan Tape Stash! Usually, we like 'em served them up with some shikhat in old-school âita fashion. But great fiddlin' exists in Berber traditions as well. Here are two tapes of viola-driven ensembles, picked up in Beni Mellal 20 years apart.

Prelude spiel and questions about the viola in Moroccan ensembles: The European viola seems to have existed in North Africa for many many years. A couple of centuries, I'd guess. I don't know if it replaced indigenous bowed instruments in folk performance, or if it carved out its own place. Two Moroccan "art music" traditions - Arab-Andalusian âla and Soussi Berber amarg (music/song of the rwayes) - feature indigenous bowed instruments, both called rrbab, but completely different in construction and sound. The lone rebab in Arab Andalusian orchestras was joined (some would say overwhelmed) years ago by an entire section of violas. (I personally like the sound of the string section in that music.) The Soussi rrbab, on the other hand, seems to have retained its place as the sole bowed instrument in Tachelhit music traditions - even modern synth pop like this.

I don't know of any indigenous fiddles out of the Middle Atlas Berber (Tamazight) areas. If they did exist, they seem to have been completely replaced by the European viola. The iconic indigenous stringed instrument for the area is the plucked lotar, most famously played by Rouicha. The rhythmic instrument of choice in the region is the bendir, heard in everything from communal ahaidous song/dance performances to izlan sung poetry to the latest synth-pop. Yet violas do abound...

Our first tape is from Mohamed Alqat (or Mohamed Qat), on the label Edition al Khair out of Beni Mellal (j-card picture above). I picked this up in Beni Mellal in 1992. The ensemble sounds like viola, oud, and a pair of bendir-s.

The use of the oud, that most Arab of instruments, seems representative of the relative fluidity between Middle Atlas Arab and Berber musical styles and traditions. Many performers in the region double in Arab and Berber music. Rouicha and Najat Aatabou both became national starts through recordings in Arabic. Even Hadda Ouakki, perhaps the most famous "traditional" Tamazight singer in Morocco, grew up performing both Berber song and Arabic âita.

This tape has a very country feel to it, and is not too far removed from âita zaêriya of the neighboring regions.

The one videoclip I found of Mohamed Qat features an ensemble with both viola and lotar:


 
Alqat Muhammad wal Majmuâa (Édition al Khair 55)
Track 1 (excerpt) of 4

Get it all here.

Today's second tape is from Abdelâziz Ahouzar. Yala's biography page says he's from the area of Khenifra and has been active since the 1980's. I picked up this tape in Beni Mellal in 2012.

Both tapes feature Tamazight song with men and women alternating sung verses/refrains, violas leading the ensembles, and prominent bendir. The similarity ends there, however.

Ahouzar's music has a very urban, chaâbi feel to it. Indeed, Ahouzar's catalogue, lots of which you can hear over at Yala Ournia, contains Arabic chaâbi albums in addition to offerings in Tamazight. Ahouzar's viola riffs and instrumental bridges are right out of the chaâbi playbook.

Although the bendir-s are prominently featured in the mix, Ahouzar's rhythm section features a drum kit and/or darbuka as well, adding some chaâbi propulsion. And the keyboard bass and comping give this tape a very chaâbi texture.

Some differences between the two tapes stem from the 20-year difference between them. The faux-live-audience heard at the beginning of tracks 1-4 is something that started appearing in chaâbi recordings about 10 years ago - I first remember hearing these in Daoudi's recordings. And of course, the auto-tuned voices throughout the tape give this a contemporary flavor too. I like the way it sounds on this album - the high-pitched women's auto-tuned quarter tone pitches on track 2 are fantastic!

Discographic note: This album of Ahouzar, as well as most of those featured at Yala, are released on a label called Ahouzar Phone, out of Azrou. Is this Abdelâziz' own label? Why is there a picture of a lion's face in the company logo? I don't know, but would love to find out.

Here's Abdelaziz Ahouzar at the gynormous Mawazine festival in Rabat, 2010. Like the clip of Mohamed Qat above, the ensemble here features a lotar:



Amazon has an mp3 album of Ahouzar - a steal at $2.99. Plus there's loads of his stuff over at Yala Ournia.

Ahouzar Phone présente Abdelâziz Ahouzar (Ahouzar Phone 38/11)
01 Ibeddel Wawaal
02 Isouri Yâdil Ughrib
03 Ilinou Ilinou (excerpt below)

04 Merched Ihdi Moulana
05 Haidous

Get it all here.

More Riffi Riffs - Mimoun Ousaid

Our final Riffi tape post is an album by Mimoun Ousaid, who is based in Nador. He has been composing, performing, and recording since the early 1970's. Many photos and videoclips on the web feature him playing an oud, though I don't hear any oud on this cassette. (A large black bird is pictured in the top right corner of the j-card, and it looks  flying away with the oud... symbolic?) Many interviewees in this odd promotional documentary testify to the beauty and quality of his lyrics.

Texturally, this album features a palate of musical timbres that, to my ear, sounds closer to mainstream North African orchestrated popular music than the other Riffi tapes I posted. Synthesized sounds include strings, qanun (zither), and accordion.

Rhythmically, Track 1 is the only piece whose rhythm sounds like the standard Riffi rhythm heard on my other Riffi tapes. The other songs map to typical Maghrebi 2/4 and 6/8 structures, except for track 4, which has a Middle Eastern 2/4 feel.

Note that the cassette shell and j-card use Spanish instead of the French seen on most Moroccan cassettes - a legacy of the Spanish colonial presence in northern Morocco.

And once again,  cassette company logos!

Disco Melilla Présenta Mimon Osaid (2000)
1) Temsaman Jari Doura
2) Arahad Enhara w Tjar Tiwousha
3) Hjegh Timour

4) Asber Yahanjar
5) Men Zidham Zemaregh
6) Urzough Ghesâd Inou


Get it all here.

More Riffi Beat - Najmat Errif

Here's some more Riffi song. I originally thought this tape, from Y2K, was an anonymous Riffi album - the title "Najmat Errif" could be translated as "the Star of the Rif". But now I wonder if, in fact, the singer's name is Najma.

The singer in this video clip may be the same artist. The extreme auto-tune makes it difficult to say. The woman pictured on the j-card above (who I always thought was another model) does bear some resemblance to the singer in the video:



Unlike the synth-pop of the video, the 8 songs of this tape use the simple, traditional instrumentation of bendir, gasba (flute), handclapping and vocals. Most of the tunes (including the excerpt below) use the same Riffi rhythm that dominated my last post. But there are a couple of tunes with different, intriguing rhythms featured here. Hope you enjoy!

Atlas Music Présente Najmat Errif
Excerpt of Track 3 (of 8)


Get it all here.

Riffi Pop - Milouda

Happy 2014 y'all! The computer has been repaired, so I'm happy to get back to the blog!

I have never visited the Rif region of Morocco, but I was able to pick up some Riffi tapes in Tangier. Tariffit is the northernmost of the 3 Amazigh (Berber) dialects spoken in Morocco. (We've got plenty of Tachelhit and Tamazight stuff in the stash.)

Riffi music has not been very well represented on the national musical scene in Morocco over the years. For as long as I've been visiting Morocco, Moroccan TV has regularly featured artists performing in Tachelhit and Tamazight, some of whom have become household names in Arab-speaking areas. (E.g., Fatima Tabaamrant, Fatima Tahihit, Hadda Aouaki, and crossover artists like Rouicha and Najat Aatabou.) However, I don't recall ever seeing Riffi artists on Moroccan TV. This omission is perhaps a legacy of the long contentious relations between the Rif and the monarchy.

The girl in the photo is not the singer Milouda. In other Milouda album covers I've seen online, a model is pictured rather than the singer. If my web searching is correct, the singer in my cassette may be the same Milouda featured in the clip below, draped in the Amazigh flag. (Though I must say, the voice on my cassette is at a much higher pitch range.)



Hope you like the Riffi beat - it continues non-stop through both sides of this cassette. I think it's great - prominent bendir gives it great buzzy propulsion! To my ear, it has a rhythmic shape similar to that heard in northeastern Moroccan Arab music (known as Âlaoui)...



and in northwestern Algerian Arab music (folk rai and pop rai).



And again, loving the cassette company logos, this time for Sawt Shahrazad "The Voice of Scheherazade":

Sawt Shahrazad Présente Al Fannana Milouda - Awrar n-Rif
01) Mouray - Thnayen Thifousiyen
02) Irhanni - Thloust Iniri (excerpt:)


Get it all here.

Computer woes - meanwhile, other gold abounds

The trusty laptop had a close encounter with a cup of coffee recently, which has taken the wind out of my blogging. Hopefully all will be back to normal soon, 'cause I do have some stuff queued up for y'all. For the moment, though, a blip in the blog...

Meanwhile, there's no shortage of Moroccan goodies appearing in blogistan the last few weeks! Swing by Snap, Crackle & Pop for some Soussi sounds from Raïssa Rkiya Demsiria (as well as a Libyan nationalist concept album from the '70s!).

Then amble over to Bodega Pop for some Gnawa and Soussi sounds, the latter accompanied by this strangely-tinted, Yellow-Submariney image:

Back atcha all real soon, incha'Llah!

100% Tamghra! - Soussi Wedding Pop

Yep, its 100% Tamghra, according to the j-card! Tamghra means "wedding" in Tachelhit. The Arabic tag on the left side reads something like "Songs for the sweetest events and Amazigh weddings."

The music is pretty poppy, but many of the timbres are drawn from long-standing Soussi Berber traditions including ahwach (âwad flutes and punchy bendir-s, and punctuations of interlocking clapping) as well as the amarg tradition of the rwayes musicians (namely, the scratchy horsehair rrbab fiddle and the naqqus metal percussion instrument). The electric guitar sometimes sounds like the small Berber guinbri, and sometimes plays righteous, slippery, pentatonic runs.

The musical group is called "Tisslatin N'Ait Baamran" (The Brides of Ait Baâmran). Here's a swell videoclip of the group in action, with wedding ambiance in abundance:


Ait Baâmran is a group tribes located around the area of Sidi Ifni, south of Agadir and Tiznit. The j-card also gives the name "Habiba", and a web search reveals that the singer is known more fully as Habiba Tabaamrant. (Etymological note: Berber nouns become feminine with the addition of "t" at the beginning and end of the word. Thus, "Tabaâmrant" is the feminine of "Baâmran".)

The singer on this tape should not be confused with the very famous singer Fatima Tabaamrant, who sings in the more classic style of the rwais. Habiba works more in a pop mode, as evidenced by this highly entertaining sketch/videoclip:


Track 4 (of 4)


Get it all here.

---

UPDATE:

Gary at Bodega Pop also posted some nice Soussi pop earlier this weekend. And if you like the sound of brides, Brian at Awesome Tapes shared a tape from another Brides group a while back.

Ahwach al-Âwad - Moroccan Fife and Drum

Another ahwach cassette for ya this week. As I mentioned in my last post, there are many different regional forms of ahwach. I don't know exactly where this one comes from, but the cassette production house if in Agadir. Unlike last week's offering, which was heavy on the vocal solos, this ahwach tape features no singing whatsoever. Instead, this music is driven by a pair of riffy, high-pitched âwad flutes. And as with other ahwach-s, you get a slew of punchy bendir-s, plus lots of rhythmic footstepping, handclapping, and raucous exclamations. I hear some sort of naqqus (metal ideophone) here as well.

In some parts of the world, fife and drum ensembles are a favored type of outdoor music for parades and processions. Ahigh-pitched flute is an ideal instrument to cut through the onslaught of loud drums in an outdoor setting. In other locales, the preferred instrument for this setting is the oboe/shawm - another shrill sound that can be heard outdoors above a battery of drums.

In Morocco, the ghaita (oboe) and tbel (barrel drum) are the typical instruments for an outdoor procession. While the ghaita is sufficiently shrill and piercing for outdoor venues, flutes in Morocco tend to be low-pitched and breathy - the gasba flutes played by Jilala musicians are a good example.

The âwad flutes heard on this tape, however, have that clear high sound that is perfect for the drum-heavy outdoor ahwach. The pentatonic, repeating melodies and shrill sound of these âwad tunes remind me of American blues fife and drum tunes, though the Berber rhythms are a little more angular than the rolling blues rhythms:


Ahwach al-Âwad - Ûmar Dahouss: Alhan Amazighia Jdida wa Khalda (Berber tunes, New and Immortal)


Track 4 (of five)

Get it all here.

Ahwach from Tafraout

Here's a swell recording of ahwach, the communal song-dance-drum tradition of the Tachelhit-speaking Imazighen/Berbers of southern Morocco. Rhythms and forms change from region to region and tribe to tribe. The ensembles can be huge - there are 30 people pictured on this j-card. It's a big, rhythmic sound!

Since the group's name refers to it, I assume they come from the city of Tafraout. As Mr. Tear points out in comments to another ahwach post at Awesome Tapes from Africa, the rock pictured here (and on Awesome Tapes' cassette) is called Le Chapeau de Napoléon and is just outside of Tafraout. He also mentioned that Tafraout is host to the annual Tifawin Festival. This cassette's j-card includes the logo from that festival, but it doesn't sound to me like a live recording.

I've never been down to that area of Morocco, and my only experience of live ahwach has been at the annual Festival National des Arts Populaires in Marrakech ("the folklore festival"), where 20 groups each get a 5-minute performance slot. It's an impressive show, but you know you're only getting the highlight reel, as a typical ahwach performance goes on much longer. Someday I hope I'll have the chance to see a performance at a wedding or other community event rather than on a festival stage. Here's a short clip of this group's singer in such a performance:

Ahwach Argan Tafraout - Othman Azolid & Al Hajj Âabd o Tata - Ttamza Music cassette


Track 3 (of 3) - excerpt

Get it all here.