Continuing from my series of posts about the group Muluk el Hwa from Marrakech (see here, etc.), this begins a series of posts that follows the careers of group members after their association with the group.
Although several members of the group seem fluent in the Gnawa repertoire, Hassan Larfaoui Baska is the only one that I can verify has worked in Gnawa ritual ceremonies, with his brothers Abbas, Ahmed, and Abdelkader.
I know of only two releases by Hassan under his name, both released on Safi Disque (a Marrakech imprint) around the year 2000. We shared Volume 2 here many years back (now reupped in FLAC here). Sharing Volume 1 today from a CD copy. This is a straight-up solid Gnawa album - guinbri, 2 or 3 qarqabas and choral responders, songs from the ritual repertoire. Like Volume 2, I think this may feature Ahmed Baska on lead vocals.
As far as I know, Hassan continues to work in Gnawa music in Marrakech but has not worked in other folkloric or fusion projects since Muluk el Hwa. However, do check out his Volume 2 on Safi Disque, which includes a sweet Gnawa blues piece.
Hassan Baska حسن باسكا Festivale Marrakech فستفال مراكش Volume 1 Safi Disque CD صافي ديسك
Kasbah is the third of the three albums released in Spain by Marrakchi folk ensemble Muluk el Hwa. Recorded in 1991 and released in 1992, the excellent album shows some personnel and stylistic changes from the previous album, but many continuities as well.
Remaining in the group for this album are guinbri player Hassan Larfaoui and percussionist Sidi Mohamed Sahal as well as the artistic director of the group, Abderrahim Elaadili. On the previous album Cançons De Jmà-El-Fnà, Elaadili is not credited with singing or playing an instrument, only with "Dirección", and as lyricist and arranger on some songs. On this album, Elaadili adds percussion, vocals, and the cover illustration to his credits.
The departure of Abderrahim Ben Bich and Abdeljalil Koddsi removed two
of the group's composers and arrangers. Filling the gap in a big way on this album is Abdeljalil Belkabir. Belkabir was a member of the group Tagada from 1973 to 1977 [1], and he provides arrangement and musical composition on 5 of the album's 7 songs. He also provides banjo, oud, and vocals to the session. Other new members add flute, oud, and violin, broadening the group's musical textures while retaining its acoustic character.
The result is another excellent mix of traditional songs and original compositions. The fine original songs "Soubanak" and "Hadafna" would appear again later on Nass Marrakech's 2000 debut album Sabil 'A 'Salaam as "Allah" and "Salaam Aleikum" (with different composer credits as well 🤔). And the folk sources include Gnawa, Sahrawi (a remake/rearrangement of "Tafla Zina"), and Hawara of Agadir (the energetic "Sidi Hbibi"). The expanded instrumental palette allows for different pairings of melodic instruments on different songs - the version of the Gnawa song "Hammadi", for example, uses violin and flute, giving it an almost Irish flavor. I hope you enjoy the album!
Marrakchi folk/Gnawa/Ghiwani ensemble Muluk el Hwa not only released a number of albums on cassette in Morocco, but also released 3 albums in Spain. According to a 1988 article in El País (1), the group came to Spain thanks to author Juan Goytisolo, "who met them by chance in the barbershop run by
one of the members of the quintet."
Their first Spanish release was the 1985 album Xarq al-Andalus, a collaboration with Valencian folk revival group Al Tall. It is the only Muluk el Hwa album available on streaming platforms.
Xarq al-Andalus is an interesting project - translations into Catalan of Arabic poetry from the region of Valencia from the 11th to 13th centuries, set to music by Al Tall with some musical support from Muluk el Hwa. Using Muluk el Hwa for the project is an unusual choice. The obvious or easy choice might have been to collaborate with an Arab-Andalusian group from North Africa, but Al Tall preferred a different trans-regional Mediterranean mix.
Muluk el Hwa's contribution to the album is rather limited. The track embedded above, "La Tirana", is the only one to feature prominent vocals from the group, and the only one to list Muluk el Hwa as a composer/arranger (at least on my CD copy).
Their other two Spanish albums, including 1986's Cançons de Jmà-el-Fnà present them doing what they do best: mixing up Gnawa tunes, Marrakchi and Sahraoui folk and popular pieces, and original compositions. As usual, they take the Ghiwani model of a folk ensemble: the guinbri, a plucked string instrument (here I belive it's some sort of mandol), and several drums, and augment it by adding qarqabas and sfiqa (interlocking clapping) to the mix, accenting that Marrakchi feeling. Cançons is a lovely album. Its varied musical textures engage the ears of listeners who may not understand the Arabic lyrics.
Of note is track B1, "Ghziel Miel". Like "Tafla Zina" (featured in a post last week), this is another song that Muluk el Hwa credits to a Saharan folk origin. Led Zeppelin fans may recognize it as the basis for the tune "Wah Wah" that was featured on the Jimmy Page & Robert Plant album No Quarter and the related Unledded live video. It's one of two songs that Page & Plant recorded in Marrakech. Hassan Larfaoui "Baska" of Muluk el Hwa can be seen playing bendir in the video:
Cançons is out of print and unavailable via streaming platforms. Happy to share it here - hope you enjoy!
Muluk el Hwa Cançons de Jmà-el-Fnà أغاني جامع الفناء Di-fusió Mediterrània LP, 1986
A1 Ued الواد A2 Taleb Hanaya طالب هنايا A3 Aununa Rijal Elah عاويونا رجال الله A4 Anti Arfa Elebia انت عارفة اللي بيا
B1 Ghziel Miel الغزيل ميل B2 La Ilaha Ila Alah لا إلاه إلا الله B3 Jhar Medlam جحر مظلام B4 Mizem De Marraquech ميزان مراكشي
A friend and neighbor of the Stash has shared with us an undistorted version of this Muluk el Hwa album. Many years ago I shared here a copy whose head and tail end are marred (or enhanced) by an amazing bit of distortion that provides a unique sci-fi cyborg-Gnawa vibe. Despite the charm of that copy, I expect many of you will be pleased to have a distortion-free upgrade.
Unlike the tape I shared earlier this week, this Mluk el Hwa album consists purely of songs from the Gnawa ritual repertoire, primarily from the opening Fraja sections of the lila ceremony. Group member Hassan Larfaoui ("Baska" ) grew up in a family of Gnawa musicians in the ritual tradition, so he brings that tagnawit feeling to the session. The rest of the group add qaraba and clapping and on some tracks add the banjo and hand drums, giving that Ghiwani edge to the proceedings.
Discographic note: My copy of this album was published on Sakhi Disque. Today's copy was released on an imprint called Sawt el Hassania (not to be confused with the Edition Hassania that released the classic early albums of Najat Aatabou). The tracks on side 1 of my tape appear on side 2 of this copy, and vice versa. Track titles below are taken from the j-card of the Sakhi Disque cassette.
Muluk Lahwa ملوك لهوى Sawt Hassania cassette صوت حسنية
A1 Allah Allah Moulana الله الله مولانا A2 Ahayo آه أيو A3 Baniya بنيا B1 Âli علي B2 Laghmami لغمامي B3 Zid el Mal زيد المال
Daleks battle Gnawa folk revivalists Muluk el Hawa for galactic domination on the battlefield of audio tape in the late '80s or early '90s. Although Daleks get the final word in the fade-out of side 2, Gnawa, by expressing their devotion to the Prophet and calling on the saints, avoid extermination and ultimately win out. Gnawa go on to get their own festival in Essaouira in 1998. Daleks must wait until 2005 to re-invade world consciousness with the return of Doctor Who to the BBC airwaves. Yes, Gnawa and Daleks both live to battle another day.
Which is to say, this is a very nice tape of traditional Gnawa songs by the band Muluk el Hwa,
but it happens to be marred (or enhanced, depending on your taste) by
the dissolving out of and into 1:35 of strange, beautiful and menacing
audio distortion at the beginning of side 1 and the end of side 2.
Enjoy. Enjoy. E... Ex.. EXTERMINATE!!
Muluk el Hwa (SL384)
01 Âli (=Yomala)
02 Laghmami (=Baba Lghmami -> Siyaf)
03 Zid el Mal
04 Allah Allah Moulana (=Khali Mbara Meskin) 05 Ahayo (excerpt below)
Here's a solid cassette from Hassan Baska and group. I wrote a bit about Hassan and his brothers in my post on Muluk el Hwa last week. This tape is from around Y2K. Tracks 1, 3 and 4 are straight-up, fiery Marrakchi tagnawit (that is, music from the Gnawa ritual repertoire). Quite nicely recorded, and high in energy. (Marred slightly by vocals going sharp on the first piece of track 3). The lead vocalist sounds to me like it could be Ahmed Baska rather than Hassan, but I'm not sure.
Track 2 is an unusual gem, featuring 2 songs I believe to be originals. (They're certainly not from the tagnawit repertoire.) "Mamayo" features a darbuka in addition to guinbri and qraqeb. It is sung in a blues pentatonic (rather than the typical Gnawi pentatonic) and in a typical Maghrebi 2/4. In the second piece "Sudani Mani Zara", guinbri and qraqeb lock into a blues-swing groove! (totally weird - totally works!) There are so many overblown Gnawa fusions - this one is about as simple as it gets, and is all the more sweet for it! The vocalist is different on this track than on the rest of the album. I think it may be Hassan singing here and Ahmed on the other tracks, but again, I could be wrong.
Discographic note: I own 2 cassettes of Hassan Baska. The j-cards for both read "Edition Safi Disque". The cassette shells for both read Sawt al-Kawakib. Go figure...
Muluk el Hwa (the "Demons" of Love) formed in the late '70s in Marrakech, riding the folk revival wave of groups like Nass el Ghiwane, Jil Jilala and Lemchaheb. Unlike these groups, Muluk el Hwa performed primarily traditional songs rather than original material. Forefront in their particular mix of traditional forms was Gnawa music.
According to a 2005 resume, the group was "discovered by Spanish author Juan Goytisolo" in 1980 and went on to produce 7 cassettes of traditional Gnawa song, 4 cassettes of Gnawa popular music and 3 cassettes of love songs. The group also collaborated with the Spanish group Al Tall on the album Xarq al Andalus, which focused on medieval Valencian-Andalusian traditions.
Another member, Hassan Baska, is one of several brothers very active in Marrakech Gnawa life. The maalem
of the family is Abbas, who is featured on the 3 hours of YouTube audio I linked to in my last post. Abbas, who was one of my primary
interlocutors during my dissertation research on Gnawa music, is also
featured on several CDs of Gnawa music - World of Gnawa on Rounder, and
Kamar Music's fantastic 3-CD Black Album (2 discs of Gnawa and one of
Gnawa-inspired electronic dance music). The latter album is available at CD Baby, where you can also purchase the 2 Gnawa discs seaprarately as mp3 downloads. A third brother, Ahmed, is one of the most recognizable faces in Moroccan Gnawa music. A fabulous dancer-singer and a charismatic presence, he's performed with many Marrakchi maalems on television and CD, including Mahjoub Khalmous, Mustapha Baqbou, and Hmida Boussou. A beautiful album, if you can track it down is Rhabaouine by Gnawa Halwa, featuring Abbas and Ahmed Baska in an atypically pianissimo Gnawa recording.
1) Sa'di bil wali jani
2) Sahiyoun 3) Salah el Bahja (=Chalaba Titara)
