Here are a pair of delightful albums of Moroccan tarab al andalusi (aka al âla, aka Arab-Andalusian music). These come to us courtesy of Peter Doolan, curator of the great Monrakplengthai blog.
Haj Abdelkrim Raïs (1912-1996) was a pivotal figure in the Moroccan Andalusi musical tradition. His career spanned from the era of the French protectorate to that of independence and from the era of oral tradition to that of mechanical reproduction (recordings and transcriptions) and the documentation of patrimony. He began his career performing with the Al-Brihi Orchestra in his native Fes. After the death of the orchestra's leader Mohamed al-Brihi in 1946, Raïs took over leadership of the orchestra but retained its name Al-Brihi in honor of his master.
In addition to maintaining the performance and transmission of the centuries-old Moroccan al âla repertoire with the al-Brihi Orchestra, Raïs worked to document the repertoire through published works. Among these are a collection of poetry drawn from the repertoire and a complete musical transcription of the nouba (suite) Gharibat Al-Husayn.
Raïs also made many recordings over the span of his career. He recorded 4 complete noubas as part of the anthology of CD box sets produced by Maison Des Cultures Du Monde with the Moroccan Ministry of Culture in the 1990s. The Nûba al Istihlal recording is available on streaming platforms and it is 7 hours and 40 minutes in duration. The earliest recording of his that I found is that made by Paul Bowles for the Library of Congress in 1959. I had a look at Hachlaf's discography of Arab music on 78s but did not see any entries for the al-Brihi Orchestra. You can find many other recordings of his on Discogs.
As I've written before, I find the Moroccan commercial cassettes of tarab al-andalusi to be more enjoyable than those recordings made for international audiences. The cassettes are made with a Moroccan audience in mind and tend to be more energetic and less clinical sounding than those made for the international audience or for more documentary purposes. Please enjoy these, which feature the singers Abderrahim Souiri and Abdelam Sefiani.
Haj Abdelkrim Raïs الحاج عبد الكريم الرايس
Al-Jawq Al-Brihi الجَوق البريهي
B-Riasa برئاسَة
Al-Haj Âbdelkrim Ar-Raïs الحَاج عَبْد الكَرَّيم الرايَس
At-Tarab Al-Andalusi Al-Maghribi الحَاج عَبْد الكَرَّيم الرايَس
Al-Juz 1 الجزءا & Al-Juz 2 الجزء٢
The Al-Brihi Orchestra
Under the direction of
Haj Abdelkrim Raïs
Moroccan Tarab al-Andalusi
Volume 1 & Volume 2
Fassi Disque cassettes 1 & 2
1A) Nouba Al-Hijaz Al-Kabir نوبة الحجاز الكبير
Mawwal: Abderrahim Souiri موال عبد الرحيم الصويري
1B) Insiraf Al-Btaihi Al-Ôchak انصراف البطائحي العشاق
Mawwal: Al-Munshid (Abdeslam) Al-Sefiani موال المنشد السفياني
2A) Nouba Rasd نوبة الرصد
Mawwal: Abderrahim Souiri موال عبد الرحيم الصويري
excerpt:
2B) Insiraf Al-Btaihi Al-Quddam انصراف البطائحي القدام منه
Mawwal: Al-Munshid (Abdeslam) Al-Sefiani موال المنشد السفياني
