Putumayo Presents Arabic Groove (2001)

«If you want to know what's rocking the kasbah these days, Arabic Groove is where to start. From Algeria, Morocco, Egypt an other Arab countries we hear the dance-floor grooves and detect the influence of Western pop, notably funk, hip-hop and electronica. This of course makes sense from the Arabic point of view as those artists now get played alongside Westerners.

In 1996 Khaled had a number one hit in France with "Aisha" and since then groups like alabina and Natacha Atlas have further popularized Arabic music. In the club scene there's Transglobal Underground and others.

This album kicks off with a new single by Abdel ali Slimani, noted frontman for Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart. There's no space between cuts so you really get the sense of a programmed sequence for the dance-floor. Arabic Groove stands as one of the best sequenced and consistently great compilations ever.» (Muzikifan)

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Majid Bekkas - African Gnaoua Blues (2001)

«American continent is not the only place where descendants of black slaves make wonderful music. The Moroccan Gnawas are well known for their trance music and healing rituals. Their history spans more that 4 centuries. When the Moroccan army captured Timbuktu in 1591, several thousand men and women were brought north as slaves. Caravans were transporting unfortunate black Africans to the slave market of Marrakech. This lasted until 1912. "Tied in sacks they brought us, in the camel bags. And they sold us in the wool market. May God pardon them." Other Moroccans look at Gnawas with mixed curiosity and supremacy. Their music is linked to the sub-Saharan spiritual world. Their mournful singing, shattering rhythm of the metal castanets and bass-guitar like sound of guimbri make base for the all night lila rituals, which culminate in the exorcist session early in the morning.

Majid Bekkas was raised in a Gnawa family in Salé, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. where he began playing the guimbri in healing ceremonies. Inspired by the traditional-pop fusion of the group Nass El Ghiwane in the '70s, he began to branch out, and never stopped. Playing guitar and guimbri and singing in a variety of styles, he has worked with popular, jazz and experimental musicians. Fours years ago he emerged as a talent in his own right.
His albums African Gnaoua Blues (Igloo, 2001) and Mogador (Igloo, 2004) show links both to the American bluesman John Lee Hooker and the Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré. Bekkas is fascinated by the similarities between Gnawa and blues, both musical genres created by African slaves in a foreign cultural context. When an African musician hears black music from America, he notices kinship. He can play the same tune, but with a different feeling. A transcultural discharge occurs, soft blue notes cascading like summer lightning.
Resembling American blues, also Bekkas's songs have the power of personal statement. On stage, he switches guitar with the traditional Gnawa guimbri. A wooden flute and percussion complete very intimate soundscape. If you are looking for Taj Mahal with African charm, meet Majid Bekkas.» (Respectmusic.cz)

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B'net Houariyat - Poèmes d'Amour des femmes du Sud Marocain (1994)

«B'net Houariyat is formed by five women from the region of Marrakech, singing and dancing to the rhythm of their drums, performing traditional music of the Houara (the region between Taroudant and Tiznit), of the Hammada (plain of the Dra'a), together with Berber dances and urban styles like the Aitci (female seductive appeal) and the Chaabi, popular style that originated Rai music. The image of women as represented by the music of B'net Houariyat reflects the multiple facets of Islam on a daily life and the female condition, above and beyond the stereotypes, with emotion, humor and energy. Among the themes of their songs: the exaltation of love and beauty, the cry of the young woman that refuses the combined marriage with a rich old man, the derision of the man that has more wives and that works to maintain them, the ritual dance of the woman possessed by her spirits, the incitement to the Moroccan football team in occasion of the World Cup 1998, the criticism of Bob Marley and pop's fanaticism. The group played for the first time out of their traditional context in July 1995, in Milan, at the Festival Notti di San Lorenzo. Since then, B'net Houariyat has numerous international festivals and concert halls.» (WorldMusicCentral)

Thanx to Giuliano for this post

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Nour-Eddine - Zri-Zrat (1997)

Musicista, cantante e coreografo dalle antiche origini berbere, Nour-Eddine ha guidato vari gruppi musicali di musica etnica e Gnawa, fra cui Azahara, Desert Sound e Jajouka, con i quali ha tenuto concerti sia in Italia, sia all’estero. Ha all’attivo numerose collaborazioni (con Tony Esposito e Trancendental, per citarne solo due) e partecipazioni a colonne sonore. Nel 1997 ha fondato il gruppo Nour-Eddine, progetto culturale e musicale del deserto, con cui ha vinto il festival folk di Vejano. Dopo questo commosso omaggio alle tradizioni e alle musiche di Zri-Zrat, il suo villaggio d’origine, Nour-Eddine ha pubblicato il cd Gnawa & Jahjuka Trance, dedicato alla ricca e affascinante tradizione tribale e rituale Gnâwa e Jahjûka, di ascendenza sufi. Con il lavoro successivo, Coexist, Nour-Eddine ha allargato ulteriormente i propri orizzonti sonori, aprendosi ancor più che in passato alle moderne sonorità della musica occidentale.

«Zri-Zrat è un villaggio di Berberi arroccato tra le montagne, dove la gente festeggia il raccolto con canti e danze. È un luogo di culto, dove gli uomini pregano e cercano la saggezza. È il paese di mio nonno, Maâlam Ahmed, capace di guarire gli ammalati col suono del suo ghaîta. È un tesoro custodito nello scrigno della memoria, il luogo incantato della mia fanciullezza.» (Nour-Eddine)

«Dai rituali di trance all’espressione di una nostalgia che è sentimento universale, dalla celebrazione del viaggio del profeta al gnawa, blues del deserto in cui si incontrano le culture araba, berbera e africana... La strada percorsa da Nour-Eddine ci coinvolge in profondità, intensa e magica. Zri-Zrat, un cd vero e vivo dalla prima nota all’ultima.» (Re Nudo)

This beautiful album by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist, singer and choreographer Nour-Eddine is his personal, deeply felt tribute to his home village, Zri-Zrat. Music and lyrics are mostly by Nour-Eddine himself and are inspired by Berber, Rif and Andalusian traditions.

«Zri-Zrat is a Berber village lodged in the mountains, where the inhabitants celebrate the harvest with songs and dances. It is a place of worship, where men pray and search for wisdom. It is the village of my grandfather, Maâlam Ahmed, capable of healing the sick with the sound of his ghaîta. It is a treasure kept in the safe of my memory, the enchanted place of my childhood.» (Nour-Eddine)

«The songs are mostly ritually inspired, and the astute use of reverb not only fills out the sound but creates a haunted air just right for the remote setting being evoked.» (Folk Roots)

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