Rouicha Mohamed رويشة محمد
Ajmal at-Taqasim âla Aalat al Hajhouj أجمل التقاسيم على آلة الهجهوج
[The most beautiful improvisations on the hajhouj instrument]
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 763 تشكفون
Here's a Nass el Ghiwane live single from 1972 (or maybe early 1973). These songs appear on the group's first LP in studio versions, but I think this 7" single may have been issued before the LP. It is their first single to not feature the alternate English language name for the group: New Dervich.
As I wrote in my recent post about Nass el Ghiwane's first LP, these two songs pose questions: Fin Ghadi Bya Khouya (Where are you taking me, brother?) and Wach Hna Houma Hna (Are we still us?). Whether Nass el Ghiwane had revolutionary answers to these questions or not, the act of posing such questions in popular song in 1972 Morocco was a radical artistic act. By leaving the questions unanswered, the group invited their audience to not only ponder their own answers but also to dance in the gap from which the questions emerged - the gap between an ideal envisioned life and lived reality in the postcolony.
These live versions are shorter, faster, and louder than the studio versions found on the LP. Please enjoy this remastered version of the single. I don't believe these sides have ever been reissued on cassette or CD.
Nass el Ghiwane ناس الغيوان
Fi Sahra Ûmumiya (In a Public Concert) في سهرة عمومية
Polydor 7" 2225014
1972 (possibly 1973)
A) Fin Ghadi Bya (live) فين غادي بي خويا
B) Wach Hna Houma Hna (live) واش احنا هما حنا
Ramadan Mubarak! Here is a cassette of Qur'an recitation by the Moroccan reciter Laayoun Al Kouchi (b. Safi, 1967). One of Morocco's top reciters, Cheikh Laayoun memorized the Qur'an by the age of nine. He participated in international competitions in the 1980s and 1990s and spent time as an invited reciter in Belgium and the USA before taking a permanent position at the Al-Andalus mosque in the Anassi neighborhood, Bernoussi, Casablanca in 2005.
Cheikh Laayoun's Wikipedia entry states that he recites in a unique style that blends the Eastern Arabic (mashriqi) recitation tradition with the Western Arabic/Moroccan (maghribi) accent. His many recordings available on YouTube seem to bear this out - his melodies and phrase parsing follow what sounds to my ear like an eastern model, but his vocal delivery is more relaxed and open-throated than eastern reciters.
Unlike the recordings on his YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook accounts, which are relatively recent, this recording of Cheikh Laayoune appears to be from early in his career. His recitation here is at a much higher pitch than how he currently recites, but I can still hear the Maghribi accent in his delivery.
Note: Cheikh Laayoune recites in the the Warsh recitation tradition, which is typical of North Africa (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya) and parts of West Africa (Mali, Niger, Senegal). Egypt, the Arab east, and most of the Muslim world typically use the Hafs recitation tradition. (See here for more on the different recitation traditions.)
If you want more of Cheikh Laayoune's recitation, there is a phone app that includes the entire Qur'an recited by him.
Al Mouqri' Laayoun Al Kouchi المقرئ العيون الكوشي
Qur'an Karim قرآن
كريم
Sakhi Disques cassette 474 الساخ ديسك
B1 Surah Luqman سُورَة لقمان
B2 Surah As-Sajda سُورَة السجدة
B3
Surah Al-Ahzab (1-11) سُورَة الأحزاب
A1 Surah Al-Ahzab (12-73) سُورَة
الأحزاب
Surah Saba (1-3) سُورَة سبأ
