Al-Hajj Muhammad Al-Barraq - Praises and Supplications

Ramadan Mubarak! Wishing you all a month of reflection, remembrance, and inspiriation. Here is a cassette of amdah religious chants from the reciter Al-Hajj Muhammad Al-Barraq and his group. This is a lovely cassette featuring only vocals - both solo and group. 

I cannot find much information about the reciter Al-Barraq. He released several cassettes of religious chants on Tichkaphone - you can find three of them still available on the wonderful but defunct blog Oriental Traditional Music from LPs & Cassettes. 

The j-card and the cassette shell lists the titles of 2 poems: 

• Side 1: Assalatu Âla L-Mudallal Bilghmama الصَّلاة عَلى المُضَلَّلِ بالغمامة 
• Side 2: Talâa L-Badru Âlayna طَلعَ البَدر عَلَيْنَا

I hear just a few verses of each of these poems on side 1 and none on side 2, but I have retained the track names as listed. Here is an excerpt of side 1 containing some verses of Assalatu Âla L-Mudallal Bilghmama:

The poem title translates as "Prayers for the one one shaded by a cloud". This refers to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), of whom it is said that in his youth when he walked under the hot Arabian sun, a small cloud followed him around to provide him with shade.

Talâa L-Badru Âlayna is probably the most famous poem in the Islamic tradition. The cassette features just one verse from this poem, at the end of side 1. The recordings feature verses from many different poems, flowing without interruption. Hope you enjoy!

Al-Hajj Muhammad Al-Barraq and Ensemble الحَاج مُحمّد البرّاق والمجموعَة
Amdah w Ibtihalat (Praises and Supplications) أمداح  وابتهالات
Min Anshad (chanted by) من انشَاد
Al-Muqri Al-Hajj Muhammad Al-Baraq المقري الحاج محمّد البرّاق
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 843 تشکافون

A) Assalatu Âla L-Mudallal Bilghmama الصَّلاة عَلى المُضَلَّلِ بالغمامة
B) Talâa L-Badru Âlayna طَلعَ البَدر عَلَيْنَا

FLAC | 320

El Madad Ya Rasul Allah - El Haj Muhammad Bouzoubaa

Here's some nice religious chaâbi-amdah for ya from Muhammad Bouzoubaa (b.1940, Fes). Bouzoubaa grew up in the milhun tradition and his chaâbi stylings stay toward the classical Andalusian and milhun end of the spectrum. He's particularly known for his religious odes (amdah), 3 of which are included here. I found this out-of-print (outside of Morocco, at least) Tichkaphone CD in Berkeley!

There's more nice Bouzoubaa over at Yala.
And Toukadime recently uploaded some sweet vintage Bouzoubaa vinyl rips to YouTube.
And head over to Bouzoubaa's Facebook page to find a 2-part video biography (in Arabic) from Moroccan television.

Ramadan Mubarak to those celebrating, and best wishes and blessings to all!

Hajj Muhammad Bouzoubaa - El Madad Ya Rasul Allah

1) El Madad Ya Rasul Allah (excerpt below)

2) Ala M'habtek Ya Rasul Allah
3) Ya Jenna Ya Naïma

Get it here.

Amdah Nabawiya & Qur'an Recitation (Mabrouk Eid al-Miloud)

I don't recall how or when this tape fell into my hands. It contains some nice solo and group amdah (praise poetry in honor of Prophet Muhammad) and some solo and group Qur'an recitation.  Melodies and cadences are very Moroccan in character.  (Middle Eastern styled recitations and religious song are also common in Morocco, so it's nice to find some of that down-home religious sound).

Particularly lovely is the group recitation of Qur'an 2:284-286 (track 3). I'm fascinated with group recitation of the Qur'an, something I've heard only in a Moroccan context. Since there are no set melodies associated with the text of the Qur'an, I always wonder how reciting groups stay together in pitch and time. Here, it sounds like there is one primary reciter and the rest of the group follows his lead.

For those of you commemorating Eid al-Miloud (a.k.a. Mawlid or Milad en-Nabi or the Prophet's Birthday), may your celebration be filled with love, remembrance & blessing!

1)  Madh 1 (group)
2)  Madh 2 (group)
3)  Quran 2-284-286 (group)

4)  Qur'an 25- 58-77 (solo - cuts out during verses 60-61)
5)  Madh 3 (group)
6)  Madh 4 (solo)
7)  Madh 5 (group)


Get it here.

Arab-Andalusian-style Qur'an recitation and Nashid at the Oriental Traditional Music blog

 

Several fantastic posts this month over at the Oriental Traditional Music from LPs and Cassettes blog. 2 cassettes of the rarely heard Moroccan style of Qur'an recitation that follows the melodic structures of Arab-Andalusian music. I'm told that this reciter, Al-Haj Abd er-Rahman ben Moussa, used to be featured prominently on Moroccan state media years ago. These days, the Qur'an recitation on the Moroccan channels tends to follow a more Middle Eastern model.

Also available, some lovely a capella amdah and inshad (religious poetry), also in Arab-Andalusian style, from the munshid Al-Haj Muhammad al-Barraq.

Many thanks to Tawfiq for making these available for Ramadan enjoyment!

Visit Oriental Traditional Music from LPs and Cassettes.