Noujoum Eddiwane Quartet - live on KPFA

Something different this week. This is a recording of four members of the Algerian group Noujoum Eddiwane who spent a couple months in the San Francisco area (the East Bay - Richmond, specifically) in the summer of 1997. In addition to a handful of live performances, they performed this short set on KPFA radio's "Majoun Traveler" - a program that aired Mondays at midnight (technically Tuesday mornings) and was hosted by the dearly missed DJ Cheb i Sabbah. 

Noujoum Eddiwane (The Stars of Diwane) hail from Sidi Bel Abbès. They are formed as a cultural association dedicated to the preservation of diwane. The Algerian diwane ritual/musical tradition is analogous to that of the Moroccan Gnawa. The instruments are the same (guinbri and qarqaba), nightlong ceremonies invoke a sequence of suites dedicated to different groups of saints and spirits, and the traditions are understood to have roots in sub-Saharan African cultural groups. Some songs of each repertoire are clearly related to each other; others are unique to regional repertoires. The term diwane is short for Diwane de Sidi Bilal, a reference to Bilal, a companion of Prophet Muhammad, whom both traditions hold in reverence as a spiritual forbear.

In California in the 1990s, we were able to hear Moroccan Gnawa music via CDs and the occasional touring group (Hassan Hakmoun came from New York sometimes, and even Hmida Boussou performed once in Berkeley.) But there was no absolutely no information about diwane and no way to hear this music (other than a single OCORA album), so it was an unexpected pleasure to have Noujoum Eddiwane spend some time in our area to give us a taste of this deep tradition. 

In the ensuing years, YouTube has made it easy to search, click, hear and see diwane musicians. (Dig this channel!) And some outstanding scholarly work has been done on diwane - Dr. Tamara Turner has published several articles and book chapters, and her book will be coming out next year! Yet high-quality audio recordings remain few. This one is a bit rough (live radio broadcast), but the energy and music are great. Hope you enjoy.

Noujoum Eddiwane
"The Majoun Traveler" KPFA 94.1 FM, Berkeley, CA, USA
August 19, 1997

1. DJ Cheb i Sabbah intro
2. Salaamu Alaykum intro
3. Lâfu ya Mulana (Salaamu Alaykum)
4. Ya Bulali Ba Dawi
5. Wayna Zuru ya Kama
6. DJ Cheb i Sabbah outro

Youssef Mazouzi - goumbri, solo vocal
Ada Belamri - derbuka
Abdellah Benhada - karkabu, vocal
Mustafa Elbordji - karkabu, vocal 

FLAC | 320

Najat Aâtabou - Bnate Alhouma

Yes! Here's another vintage Najat Aâtabou tape! 

Judging from Edition Hassania catalog numbers, and unless there are some additional Najat releases from this period that I haven't found, I believe this is her final album to feature only plucked strings and percussion. This album expands her standard previous ensemble to include a second plucked-string instrument (perhaps a lotar or a low-pitched oud, also heard on Koun Mâaya - now upgraded to FLAC). Also heard here is a mixed male and female group of response singers, anticipating the large choral ensemble heard on her orchestral album EH 1410, also now upgraded to FLAC).

Enjoy! 

Najat Aâtabou نجاة اعتابو
Bnate Alhouma بنات الحومة
Edition Hassania cassette EH88 1380
1988

A1 Bnate Alhouma بنات الحومة
A2-B1 Elli Tedwiyou Fiya اللي تدويو فيا
B2 A Ya Men Jralha أيا من جرائها
B3 Wellah Ma Achkite والله ما اشكيت 

FLAC | 320 

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