Jajouka: tracklist

The CD I'm passing out today:

1. "Gabahay," The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Apocalypse Across the Sky
2. "A Habibi Ouajee T'allel Allaiya," The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Apocalypse Across the Sky
3. "Bujloudia 'Bujloud Dancing with Aisha Qandisha,'” The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Apocalypse Across the Sky
4. "The Middle of the Night," The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Apocalypse Across the Sky
5. "55 (Hamsa oua Hamsine)," Brian Jones presents The Master Musicians Of Jajouka, Brian Jones presents The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka
6. "War Song/Standing + One Half (Kaim Oua Nos)," Brian Jones presents The Master Musicians Of Jajouka, Brian Jones presents The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka
7. "Your Eyes Are Like A Cup Of Tea - Beedie Mix," Master Musicians Of Joujouka, Brian Jones Presents The Master Musicians Of Joujouka -Remixes
8. "Under The Shadow Of Liberty," Bachir Attar, The Next Dream
9. "Track 7," Jajouka Musicians, One Night @ the 1001 vol. 1 (recorded by Brion Gysin)
10. "Up To The Sky, Down To The Earth," The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Master Musicians Of Jajouka (produced by Talvin Singh)
11. "You Can Find The Feeling," The Master Musicians Of Jajouka Feat. Bachir Attar, Master Musicians Of Jajouka (produced by Talvin Singh)

Excellent annotated bibliography on Moroccan music

Here is a very useful annotated bibliography and discography dealint with the theme of "Moroccan Music: The 'Foreign' and the 'Familiar.'" Written by Karla Sabin as a term paper for a course offered at Oxford in Spring 2000 called Popular Culture in the Middle East (Sociology 470).

Greatest Gnawa

Here's the track listing of the CD I'm passing out in class today. Note that the focus is on gnawa "fusion" rather than straight-up gnawa.

1. "Baba El Gnawi," Gnawa Diffusion, Algeria
2. "Lahilla Express," Gnawa Impulse, Living Remixes
3. "Baba L'Rouami," Gnawa Night Spirit Masters (Mustapha Baqbou), Night Spirit Masters
4. "Merhba," Saha Koyo, Hamid El Gnawi
5. "Jinger Mama," Hasna El Becharia, Djazair Johara
6. "Marahaba," Hassan Hakmoun and Adam Rudolph, Gift of the Gnawa
7. "Soudan Minitara," Hassan Hakmoun and Zahar, Trance
8. "Moussa Berkiyo / Koubaliy Beriah La' Foh," Maleem Mahmoud Ghania w/ Pharoah Sanders, The Trance Of Seven Colors
9. "Rojo Changó," Omar Sosa, Sentir
10. "Mimouna," Orchestre National De Barbès, O.N.B. en concert
11. "Allal," Ray Lema & Tyour Gnaoua, Safi
12. "Marhaba Moulay Koummy," M'aalim Sam, Gnawa Leila: Vol. 4-Red & Green Suites

Electro-Gnawa

Here's a link to an article on a collaboration between Gnaouis and turntablists in Marrakesh, Morocco. The first couple paragraphs to the article are translated, and a link is provided to the original, which appeared in the Moroccan magazine Tel Quel.

The most interesting example of electro-Gnawa fusion I've heard is from Gnawa Impulse (pictured above), on their release, Living Remixes (GIP Music, 2002). It's a collaboration between a group of three Marrakesh Gnawa musicians who've recorded together as Gnawa Halwa, led by Abdenbi Binizi on lead vocals, and three German musicians active in the club scene.

"Aicha": Outlandish, Gellieman

Yesterday in class I showed the music video of Khaled's "Aicha," on a DVD which comes with the import version of Khaled's latest release, Ya-Rayi. (The DVD also includes the clips for "Didi" and "Abdel Kader," as well as a great documentary about Khaled's career and the making of Ya-Rayi.)

Some of my students said they knew the song Aicha courtesy of an underground video that swept the internet a couple years ago. The video they had seen features a Belgian teenager named "Gellieman," lipsynching to a recording of Aicha put out by the Danish R&B group, Outlandish (pictured above). Outlandish's members are: Isam Bachiri (of Moroccan origin), Waqas Ali Qadri (Pakistani origin), and Lenny Martinez (Honduran origin). (I don't know how these guys are faring in the wake of the Danish cartoon uproar.)

You can view the Gellieman video here. Outlandish's "Aicha" video can be seen at the band's website. Go to "Media" and then to "Videos."

Khaled's "Didi" lyrics

Here's a link to the lyrics of "Didi"--in Arabic, transliterated, and translated into English.

This link has now gone dead, it seems, so here's an alternative, from Leo's Lyrics Database:

ena bhar aaliya ou entia la
(I'm burning in the fire of love but you're not)
ma ndeerik ba'eeda ma nebki aalik
(I will not make you away from me so I don't cry later i.e. he wants to be always close from her)
la zhar la memoon la aargoob zine
(but I just have a bad luck and destiny)
CHORUS:
didi, didi, didi, didi, zin di wah
(take take, take take, take take, take take the beautiful girl away)
didi wah, didi, didi di hazzine daaayyeeeah
(take take, take take, take take take this beautiful girl away)
ma ndeerik ba'eeda ma nebki aalik
(I will not make you away from me so I don't cry later)
ma ndeerik ba'eeda ma nsaksi aalik
(I will not make you away from me so I don't ask about you later i.e. because she'll always be close from him he'll know everything about her and won't need to ask people about her)
la zhar la memoon la aargoob zine
(but I just have bad luck and destiny)
[CHORUS]
la baadouk aali l'jbal l'ghamqa
(even if they take you to the top of the highest mountain...)
derna l'melqa fil'jbal l'ghamqa
(I will still come to see you)
hzamt l'meryoula aala men darga?
(This literally means "who doesn't know her belt?". It's a metaphor that means "everybody knows her" or possibly means that she's known well by other men because she always hangs in bars, or maybe he's just saying "just like a woman that hangs in bars is known very well to other men, it's also very clear how I feel towards you (e.g. I love you)". This last one makes more sense to me and it's probably what Khaled is trying to say)
[CHORUS]
la zhar la memoon la aargoob zain
(I have a bad luck and destiny)
la zhar la memoon la qassam zain
(I have a bad luck and destiny)
qees el-shebka fil'bhar ou ebki aal'zhar
(drop the fishing net in the sea and cry on the bad luck -- this is another metaphor, he's describing his bad luck just like a fisherman who drops his fishing net in the sea and gets no fish)
[CHORUS]
hzamt l'meryoula aala men darga?
(who doesn't knokw her belt? (explained above)
rofd ahta ya moul el-taxi
(he's talking to the taxi driver but I'm not sure what he means by "rofd ahta")
hzamt l'meryoula khait spylo
(her belt is made of "spylo")

[CHORUS]

la zhar la memoon la aargoob zain
(I have a bad luck and destiny)
la zhar la memoon la qassam zine
(I have a bad luck and destiny)
qees el-shebka fil'bhar ou ebki aal'zhar
(drop the fishing net in the sea and cry on the bad luck)

[CHORUS]

aynik ki ayni aynik naymeen
(your eyes are sleepy -- he's describing her eyes, he says that they're not wide open, they're opened a little bit only. This is a sign of beauty (for him at least)
aynik ki ayni aynik mbalgeen
(your eyes are nice)
aynik ki ayni aynik shabbeen
(your eyes are beautiful)
[CHORUS]
derna el-melqa fil'jbal l'ghamqa
(I'll come to see even if you're on the top of the highest mountain)
derna el-melqa aand el-soosi jarha
(or I'll come to see you in the neighborhood (i.e. wherever she is, he'll do anything to see her)
rofd ahta aa moul el-taxi
(he's talking to the taxi driver, but again, I don't know what he means by "rofd ahta")

Lyrics of Khaled's "Aicha"

Comme si je n'existais pas
Elle est passée a coté de moi,
Sans un regard, reine de Saba
J'ai dit: Aicha, prends tout est pour toi

Voici, les perles, les bijoux
Aussi l'or autour de ton cou
Les fruits bien murs au goût de miel
Ma vie, Aicha, si tu m'aimes

J'irai ou ton souffle nous mene,
dans les pays d'ivoire et d'ebene
J'effacerai tes larmes, tes peines,
rien n'est trop beau pour une si belle

Aicha, aicha, écoute moi
Aicha, aicha, t'en vas pas
Aicha, aicha, regarde moi
Aicha, aicha, reponds moi

Je dirai les mots, les poèmes
je jouerai les musiques du ciel
Je prendrai les rayons du soleil
pour eclairer tes yeux de rêve

Aicha, aicha, écoute moi
Aicha, aicha, t'en vas pas

Elle a dit garde tous tes tresors
Moi, je vaus mieux que tout ça
Des barreaux sont des barreaux mêmes en or,
Je veux les mêmes droits que toi
Du respect pour chaque jour
Moi, je ne veux que de l'amour

Comme si je n'existais pas
Elle est passee a cote de moi,
Sans un regard, reine de Saba
J'ai dit: Aicha, prends tout est pour toi

Aicha, aicha, écoute moi
Aicha, aicha, écoute moi
Aicha, aicha, t'en vas pas
Aicha, aicha, regarde moi
Aicha, aicha, reponds moi