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

Najat Aatabou - The Orchestral Album

Here's another goodie from Najat Aatabou, the siren of Khemisset, whose first album I posted here some time ago. As I mentioned then, my favorite recordings of hers keep the texture simple. In the early days, this was an oud and some percussion (bendir-s & maybe darbuka). This album, from around 1987, was, I believe, the first time she broke out of that style.

And what a way to go. You can tell this tape is something special because it has an extra fold-out panel at the right side of the j-card. The only Moroccan cassettes that get this sort of treatment are of the chanson moderne genre, where it is customary to list the lyricist, composer, and singer, in that order. (See, for example, the tape of Latifa Raafat I posted a few months back.)

Indeed, this is Najat Aatabou singing chanson moderne with a large, modern orchestra. Sort of like Hank Williams singing with the Nelson Riddle orchestra. Improbable, but it sort of works! The sharp, country edge of Najat's voice makes a nice contrast with the lush arrangements and melodies of Ahmed el Alaoui (who's written some nice stuff for other singers, including the song "Nasyak" on the aforementioned Latifa Raafat album.) It's an interesting combination, and I wonder what was the backstory to this cassette - Whose idea was it? How did it come to fruition?

Oddly, the j-card omits track 3, "Lillah Ya S'haba". It's listed on the cassette shell, so why isn't it on the j-card? It's the only track not written by lyricist Ali el Haddani and composer Ahmed el Alaoui. The out-of-print Globestyle album "The Voice of the Atlas" credits this song to Najat herself. She tends to compose her own material most of the time, but most chaâbi cassettes do not list composer credits.

"Lillah Ya S'haba" is an interesting song of Najat's. Unlike most of her compositions, which follow a simple verse/refrain form, this one is an extended long-form composition with several discrete sections. Yep, it's basically a chanson moderne form. Well done, Najat! The version on this album appears to be a live performance (dig the feedback at about 4:35). Here's a performance of the song with a more typical Najat backing group:



If you have the "Voice of the Atlas" album, then you already have all 4 of these tracks. Perhaps it's understandable that a western release included these orchestral tracks - its target audience might get bored with a whole album of just oud and bendir-s. Or perhaps the folks over at Editions Hassania, when approached for international licensing, chose to pitch these more "serious" tracks of Najat's. But these orchestral tracks are not what made Najat Aatabou famous - it was the stripped-down stuff like this. Don't get me wrong - I love this album, it's just not the most "representative" of her work. If you like the tape, you should seek out a copy of the Globestyle album - much nicer digital transfers from the master tapes than my garage transfer from an old well-loved cassette... (but you can hear the love, can't you?)

Discographic note. The first song, Baghi Nertahuh, appears on both the Globestyle album (where it is listed as "Baghi Nerjah") and the Rounder CD "Country Girls and City Women" (where it is listed as "Ar-Rih").

01) Zourouni Lillah
02) Baghi Nertahuh
03) Lillah ya S'haba

04) Feen Triqi

 

FLAC | 320

Latifa Raafat - Ash-shouk

 

A lovely album from my fave singer of chanson moderne (or musiqa 'asriya). This genre represents the Moroccan version of 20th century Arab art song, based on the model of great Egyptial musical artists such as Umm Kulthum and Muhammad Abdel Wahab. Big orchestras, lush arrangements, large-scale song forms, thoughtful poetry.

More recent works in this style tend to feature percussion and dance beats more prominently than in the past (e.g. this recent album from Latifa).

The cassette featured here was pretty new when I got it in '92 and has that old-school-modern feel to it.  Enjoy!

1. Ash-shouk
2. Nasyak
3. Harou f-'Amri
4. Nasyak (instrumental)

Get it here:

FLAC | 320