Latifa Raafat - Chawar Âliya

Here's a swell tape from singer Latifa Raafat, one of the great latter-day singers of Moroccan chanson, aka chanson moderne, aka musiqa âsriya. I particularly enjoy her recordings from the 1980s and early 1990s which feature long-form compositions and full orchestras recorded live, before the intrusion of keyboard-bass (shudder) and studio multi-tracking into this musical genre. 

Latifa Raafat's early recordings were released on the label Adouaa al Madina out of Rabat. Discogs lists her albums as having serial numbers between 1027 (the song "Khouyi") and 1246 (excluding 1733, which looks like a compilation). Wikipedia suggests that "Khoui" (AM1027) dates to 1985 so the album we're sharing today (AM1033) likely dates to around 1986 or so. We shared another one of these albums here many years ago (AM1139, now re-upped in FLAC). 

I'd like to again highlight the delightful composition and arranging style of Ahmed el Alaoui on the album's first track Chawar Âliya. 

Something about his style just clicks with me - perhaps it's the occasional slowly-strummed electric guitar chord, something about the bendir locking in with the stand-up bass, but there's always something shimmering going on that catches my ear in his pieces. I've shared a couple of things composed by him here and here. 

Also notable: the version of "Ka'anou Ma Kan" available on streaming platforms is shorter in duration (12:39) than the one available here (16:19). It's the same recording, but at least one verse is edited out of the version on streaming platforms. Here, you get the whole recording. I even stitched together parts 1 and 2 for you because it begins on side A and ends on side B. (spot the edit? good luck! 😎)

Melt the guns, Free Palestine. Enjoy!

Latifa Raafat لطيفة رأفت
Adouaa al Madina cassette AM1033 اضواء المدينة

A1 Chawar Âliya شور على
   Lyrics كلمات : Mohamed El Batouli محمد الباتولي
   Music لحن : Ahmed Alaoui أحمد العلوي

A2-B1 Ka'anou Ma Kan كانو ما كان
   Lyrics كلمات : Fath Allah Lamghari فتح الله المغاري
   Music لحن : Abdelkader Rachdi عبد القادر الراشدي

B2 Douâa دعاء
   Lyrics كلمات : Ahmed Taib El Alj أحمد الطيب لعلج
   Music لحن : Abdelkader Rachdi عبد القادر الراشدي

B3 [bonus asri machine]

FLAC | 320