Muluk el Hwa Postscript 2: Nass Marrakech and other Muluk el Hwa outside of Muluk el Hwa

This is the second of three posts following the careers of members of the group Muluk el Hwa after their association with the group. Last week we shared an album by Gnawa musician Hassan Baska. This week, I'll share info and links that I was able to find online about several other group members' trajectories. 

Mohamed Ait Brahim - The violinist who joined the group for the 1992 album "Kasba" is later credited on a recording of Melhun music by the Marrakech-based Ensemble Amenzou. 

Abderrahim Ben Bich - As mentioned in a previous post, Ben Bich established an internet presence for a rebooted Muluk el Hwa in 2022 and included there his earlier collaborative recordings withe the French group No Problemos under that umbrella. 

Prior to this, and after his 1980s tenure with Muluk el Hwa, Ben Bich worked with the group Nass el Hal, which released at least one cassette in the 1990s. It's a nice album, if you don't find the keyboards too jarring. (This Nass el Hal should not be confused with the 2010s/2020s group Nass el Hal, which includes Allal Yaala and Redouane Raifak, formerly of Nass el Ghiwane). 

 

Abderrahim Elaadili - the ostensible musical director of Muluk el Hwa in its late 80s/early 90s form, I cannot find any record of his musical activities outside of the group. I did get a hit on his name at IMDB where an Abderrahim El Aadili is listed as appearing in 3 films in the 1990s. Is this the same person who found success with Muluk el Hwa? I can't tell, but it seems within the realm of possibility. Here is his performance as "Rude Passerby" in the first installment of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, filmed in what appears to be Marrakech:

 

According to YouTube commenter @IsmAil-qt2ig, Elaadili is no longer among the living.

Abdeljalil Kodssi in Nass Marrakech

Of all group members, Abdeljalil Kodssi has the most distinguished career outside of Muluk el Hwa. He appears to have left Muluk el Hwa and formed Nass Marrakech in 1990 or 1991 with oud/mandol player Sherif (Moulay Mohamed Ennaji) and guinbri player Abdelkbir Benselloum (aka Maâlem Kbiber). I will dedicate a subsequent post to Kodssi's work post-Nass Marrakech. For now, I will spiel about Nass Marrakech, because there are strong continuities between Muluk el Hwa and Nass Marrakech.

Nass Marrakech take the approach that Muluk el Hwa abandoned in the mid-1990s, namely infusing Moroccan folk songs and styles (primarily Gnawa) with instruments from other folk traditions, at least on Sabil 'a Salam (2000) and an excellent live album Dal Vivo A "Suoni Migranti" (2005). Their 2002 album Bouderbala moved in the direction of fusion with the participation of jazz pianist Omar Sosa and Spanish guest artists. 

Like Muluk el Hwa, Nass Marrakech recorded arrangements of Gnawa songs as well as original compositions. Interestingly, the original compositions on their albums are primarily pieces that were originally recorded by Muluk el Hwa. As far as I can tell, Nass Marrakech, while rooted in Marrakech, maintained a career primarily in Spain, in particular Barcelona. I am not aware of any recordings they made for the Moroccan market - their 3 albums were released in Europe.

A great half-hour live video from 2002 is available to watch on RTVE if you create an account (or just x out the popup box). Unless some other videos surface, this is about as close as we'll get to seeing what Muluk el Hwa was like live onstage. Abdeljalil Kodssi is a charismatic presence on stage. 

SONG TRAJECTORIES

In addition to the trajectories of musicians, we can also trace the trajectories of several songs from Muluk el Hwa's repertoire that lived on outside of the group. Here is a playlist containing Muluk el Hwa recordings and remakes/interpolations of those songs by others. Details are below the playlist:

• Hadafna from Muluk el Hwa's "Kasbah" album (1992)
• Remade as the second half of Nass el Hal's As-Salaam (1998)
• Remade by Nass Marrakech as Salaam Aleikum on the "Sabil 'A 'Salaam" album (2000)
• Interpolated in Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects' Nenzak on Shabeesation (1993) and El Haoua - Live (1995)
• Shama - I am guessing there is a Muluk el Hwa version of this take on the Gnawa song Bouchama because it is later recorded by:
• Nass el Hal (1998) 
• Nass Marrakech on the "Sabil 'A 'Salaam" album (2000) 
•  Soubanak from Muluk el Hwa's "Kasbah" album
• Remade by Nass Marrakech as Allah on the "Sabil 'A 'Salaam" album (2000)
•  Ghziel Miel from Muluk el Hwa's "Cançons de Jmà-el-Fnà" album (1986). This is a popular song recorded by other artists, but some of the lyrical turns from Muluk el Hwa's version are retained by:
• Nass Marrakech on the Bouderbala album (2001)

"Hadafna" and "Soubanak" are beautiful songs and hold a special place in my heart - they were sung informally by Gnawa musicians I hung out with in Marrakech in 1992 and after. Muluk el Hwa's part in the history of these songs is one of the reasons I like them so much. 

Muluk el Hwa postscript 1: Hassan Baska

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

1) Tingouba - Berrma Berrma Soutanbi
2) Sala Nabina (Musawi) - Sidi Musa
3) Fofo Dinba - Rijal Lghaba
4) Bangoro Bangoro - Amara Musaye
5) Yobati - Kalkani Boulila
6) Fulani Hiriza - Ahayo 

320 | FLAC 

Âita with Beats - Trio El Farah Lamnawar and Aïta Mon Amour

Âita, Moroccan deep Arabic folk song, doesn't need modernization - it's perfectly fine and powerful in its own right as performed by traditional ensembles. At the same time, it doesn't necessarily suffer when musicians put it into conversation with other genres and styles. Sure, this CAN be done in a simple way that doesn't add anything interesting and just waters down the hard-hitting time-tested acoustic textures of aita with modern instruments or vocal styles. In the best cases, though, something interesting emerges.

Last week I digitized a 1990's tape that Gary from Bodega Pop sent me by the group Toulati El Farah Lamnawar. It's a chaâbi album of the era but it's based in the âita repertoire, and pushes the right buttons for me. I also found out this week that the debut album of the group Aïta Mon Amour came out in January of this year. Their initial singles caught my attention last year with their clever settings of âita songs to modern electro beats and the powerful vocals of singer Widad Mjama. 

Toulati El Farah Lamnawar

The cassette comes to us courtesy of Gary of Bodega Pop whose weekly program on WFMU's Give The Drummer Radio stream is eclectic, educational, and always entertaining.

The group Toulati el Farah Lamnawar [1] was led by the late producer, songwriter, and musician Abdeltif Lamnawar (1968-2022), who I believe is from Casablanca. I was not familiar with the group previously, but they seem to have produced a lot of music over the years in a number of formations. The presence of the name Lamnawar after Toulati el Farah suggest that this is Lamnawar's version of the group, which reached its initial successes as simply Toulati el Farah. You can find a couple of these early albums on the streaming platforms under the names "Dami" and "Ana Melit". I believe the initial formation of the group included Lamnawar as well as the vocalist Hassan Lougato. Later albums are attributed to "Orchestre Toulati el Farah" (Trio el Farah Orchestra). And I see some recordings and videoclips that mention the participation of the well known chaabi singer/violinist/arranger Mustapha Bourgogne. At any rate, as Lamnawar relates in this interview, the group formed around the idea of doing the old bendir-and-kamanja (violin) songs with drum set, guitar, and keyboard.

Followers of this blog know that I'm a sucker for electric guitar and drum set, so yes I did enjoy the early 1980s version of Toulati El Farah linked above. This cassette, however, dates from sometime in the 1990s, and chaâbi styles, like all popular music styles, can change substantially in a few years' time. How different is this? Well, it's smoother - seems like there is some drum programming that keeps the beat very steady, as opposed to the raucous drum set of the earlier recordings. However, the darbuka is high in the mix, keeping the music punchy and live. As a bass player, I tend to disdain the use of programmed keyboard bass, but I gotta say, this one here is pretty enjoyable - its syncopated runs provide some of the rhythmic variety that was previously provided by fills on the drum set. And the electric rhythm guitar is still there, buried a bit in the smooth mix, but prominent enough to provide that strummy goodness. Best of all, the 2 fine singers trade off verses, retaining the interactive excitement of shikhat groups. My assessment is of course a completely subjective one, based on my own personal tastes and experiences dancing to this sort of band years ago. For others, this may just sound old-fashioned, or may not work at all. But hey, you can be your own judge:

Toulati El Farah Lamnawar الثلاثي الفرح لمنور
Rddou Ouarana Âacha ردو ورانا عاش
Disco-Disc cassette ALBUM 19 ديسكو ديسك

A1 Ntfarqou Khout انتفرقو خوت
A2 Marsaoui مرساوي
B1 Âacha - Rddou Ouarana عاش - ردو ورانا
B2 Swaken - Lgnaoui الكناوي - السواكن
B3 bonus tikchbila

Produced and Mixed by Lamnawar تنشيط ومكساج: لمنور
Words and Music by Lamnawar Abdeltif كلمات والحان: لمنور عبداللطيف 

FLAC | 320

[1] Depending on which words you want to translate and how, the group's name can be translated something like:

• Lamnawar's Trio El Farah
• Lamnawar's Trio of Joy
• Lamnawar's Happiness Trio 

Aïta Mon Amour

The group Aïta Mon Amour released their debut album Abda in January 2025. I'd been greatly anticipating the album after hearing the group's initial singles in 2024. The group is a powerhouse duo: Widad Mjama on vocals (and occasional drum pounding) and Khalil Epi on multiple instruments.

Like Toulati el Farah, the group was conceived as a vehicle for presenting the old songs in a new format. Here, the venue is not the chaâbi dance/wedding floor, but concert and festival stages, and the beats are contemporary and electronic. Normally I like my âita with a group of singers and musicians to provide that interactive texture that is such a vital part of this music. What Aïta Mon Amour lacks in that regard is made up by the power and expression of Widad's singing and the complex, suprising textures of Khalil's arrangements.

You can hear their album on all of the streaming platforms, but why not support the band and purchase a copy on Bandcamp.

How will these beats sound to ears 30 years from now? Who can say? But I have no doubt that the deep well of âita will still be a source of inspiriation for generations to come.