Abitbol - Asbar!

Dig it! Here's a delightful cassette from singer and guitarist Haim Bobtol (billed on his Tichkaphone releases as Abitbol). You can read about Botbol's history and musical career in this old post at Jewish Magrib Jukebox. As far as I can tell, Botbol is still alive and nearly 90 years old here in 2026.

The opening tracks on each side of the album are of the fun, participatory chaâbi variety where a short phase is repeated by backup singers (and the audience) in response to the singer, who reels off line after short poetic line to keep the assembly engaged until he lets the violin take over to propel the dancing. The subsequent tracks on each side lean toward the Andalusian/classical end of the chaâbi spectrum in melody and texture. 

If you've read my posts, you know I love the sound 1980s wedding-type chaâbi groups with their raucous drum kits and strummy rhythm guitars. Botbol's style of orchestral chaâbi heard here emerges from an earlier generation. Many elements are the same: repertoire drawn from various Moroccan genres, violin driving the melody, several other instruments providing melodic and rhythmic support. But the sum of the parts feels different - somehow more urbane and more earthy at the same time. 

A contemporary in this era and approach to chaâbi is Abdessadek Chekkara, whom we profiled here last year. Both he and Botbol are children of the 1930s, born into a musical families, raised learning elite traditions (Andalusian, mehlun), but also with interest in the broad swath of Moroccan musical styles. Both began recording in the vinyl era and continued into the cassette era. 

You can hear a trace of this history in Botbol's vocal stylings - the vocal mawwal passages in the track "Lataâmal Âchir", where you can hear the ornamentation styles particular to Jewish Moroccan singers of classical genres.

The participatory chaâbi tracks feature some eclectic elements. In addition to darbuka, kamanja, female chorus and clapping, there is some kind of ghaita/oboe-sounding instrument on some of the instrumental breaks. Is it a keyboard? whatever it is, I love it. I'm also crazy about the harpsichord-sounding keyboard instrument - the same instrument can be heard on some Hajja Hamdaouia recordings of the period (late 60s? early 70s?). I wonder if there was a keyboardist in the Tichkaphone house band that added this instrument to the recordings of both artists. Finally, add Botbol's electric guitar deep down in the mix and you have a distinctive, very enjoyable track!

Hope you enjoy! I've got some more Botbol in the stash. But I'm working on a major Nass el Ghiwane post that you may see before I get back to Botbol.

Abitbol أبيطبول
Tichkaphone TCK 523 تشكافون
A1 Asbar الصبر
A2 Lataâmal Âchir لا تعمل عشير
B1 Rah Additiou راه الديتو
B2 Rassoul Lhoub رسول الحبيب
B3 Taârida 

FLAC | 320

Noujoum Bourgogne - Donia Ghadara

Here's a tape from chaâbi pioneers Noujoum Bourgogne. As mentioned in our recent post about Zitouni Bourgogne, the group came out of the Bourgogne neighborhood of Casablanca in the mid-1980s, distinguishing themselves from the typical chaâbi ensemble by eschewing keyboards, guitars, and drum kits in favor of the bendir and târija folk drums. In their use of folk instruments, their approach resembles that of the Ghiwani groups, but they retain the driving kamanja of the chaâbi ensemble and their songs are more suited for the dance floor than those of their Ghiwani contemporaries.

The sound on this album rather thin, so I did a remix to pump up the drums a bit:

 

I later found that the album can be heard on streaming platforms in a version much cleaner version than my cassette copy:

But y'all come here for that old well-loved cassette sound, right? So avail yourself to whatever version suits your taste and enjoy this fine slice of vintage chaâbi goodness!

Noujoum Bourgogne نجوم بورݣون
Donia Ghadara لدنيا غضارة (2025 Moroccan Tape Stash Remix)
A1 Donia Ghadara لدنيا غضارة
A2 Lghorba لغربة
B1 Mnin Nebda Lehdite منين نبدا لحديث لحدي
B2 El Mejdouba المجدوبة 

FLAC | 320

Zitouni Bourgogne - Chaâbi Star

This album was shared a few years by Gary ago over at Bodega Pop. (Thanks Gary!!) I finally spent some time with it and did some digging trying to identify the artist. It's a chaâbi album by the singer Zitouni and his group. Zitouni was a member of the legendary group Noujoum Bourgogne (The Bourgogne Stars, named for the Bourgogne neighborhood of Casablanca where they originated). That group went against then-current chaâbi trend of using keyboards, drum sets and guitars, opting instead to use only acoustic folk instruments: taarija, bendir, and kamanja (violin) [1]. Here is a clip from a performance of the group, featuring Zitouni on lead vocals:

The group split in the early 1990s. Of the group members, violinist/singer Mustapha Samamrkandi (known as Mustapha Bourgogne) achieved the greatest success as a solo artist. Zitiouni also continued as a solo artist, but without as much success. Many YouTube commenters lament the fact that Zitiouni's artistry is underappreciated. 

A few of Zitiouni's solo albums are available on streaming platforms - these platforms however are not able to distinguish between multiple artists that have the same name. So if you look for Zitouni on YouTube Music or Spotify, you'll find a couple of albums by our Zitouni (Gali Ndik and Sidi Abdejlil) alongside an album by an Algerian raï singer named Zitouni and some tracks by an âita group billed as Cheikh Moslih & Zitouni. Other recordings of our Zitouni can be found under the artist name Zitouni Bourgogne. That's the name that Zitouni uses on his own YouTube channel, launched in 2021 and currently active.

At least one song of Zitouni's is a well-known classic: Daouli Ghzali. This song was burning up the wedding/party dance floors when I was in Morocco in Summer 1995, but I never knew who originally sang it. You can find an edited version of it on numerous compilations, but here's the full version from the original cassette:
 

Zitouni's solo work, like that of Mustapha Bourgogne, foregoes the acoustic-folk-instruments-only format of the Noujoum Bourgogne group. The album shared by Bodega Pop appears to be an early solo work of Zitouni's. In addition to kamanja and bendir, it features some light keyboard accompaniment (pads and bass), what sounds to me like a drum set, and a prominent darbuka. I've uploaded a few of the album's tracks to YouTube:



There are no track titles listed on the cassette or j-card. I added track titles below from listening to the lyrics and music. There are a few short instrumental pieces on the album that feature rhythmic accents reminiscent of people dancing and stepping on a qaada oil barrel, so I am calling those pieces 'qaada music'. You can grab the tracks from Bodega Pop (link below) and retag them if you like.

Orchestre Zitouni اوركسترا الزيتوني
Al-Mounafiq المنافق
Sadara Production cassette 016 إنتاج الصدارة
A1 Al Mounafiq
A2 Rani ya Sidi Ghrib
A3 Al Bahraoui
A4 qaada music
B1 Khssara Fik
B2 Lwali Bourchiche
B3 electro qaada
B4 Wa Ouladek
B5 qaada music

FLAC at Bodega Pop

Sources:
[1] Nora Dialna. "Noujoum Bourgogne, histoire d’un groupe 100% marocain". Dialna, April 19, 2021. 
https://dialna.fr/musique-noujoum-bourgogne-histoire-dun-groupe-100-marocain/

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.

 

 

 

Najat Aâtabou - Bnate Alhouma

Yes! Here's another vintage Najat Aâtabou tape! 

Judging from Edition Hassania catalog numbers, and unless there are some additional Najat releases from this period that I haven't found, I believe this is her final album to feature only plucked strings and percussion. This album expands her standard previous ensemble to include a second plucked-string instrument (perhaps a lotar or a low-pitched oud, also heard on Koun Mâaya - now upgraded to FLAC). Also heard here is a mixed male and female group of response singers, anticipating the large choral ensemble heard on her orchestral album EH 1410, also now upgraded to FLAC).

Enjoy! 

Najat Aâtabou نجاة اعتابو
Bnate Alhouma بنات الحومة
Edition Hassania cassette EH88 1380
1988

A1 Bnate Alhouma بنات الحومة
A2-B1 Elli Tedwiyou Fiya اللي تدويو فيا
B2 A Ya Men Jralha أيا من جرائها
B3 Wellah Ma Achkite والله ما اشكيت 

FLAC | 320 

Aziza El Menkassia - Special Gnawa II emoluV

I had asked the tape seller if he had any Gnawa tapes. He pulled down this one, popped it in the deck for me, and pushed play. I thought to myself this seems to me like anti-Gnawa. I wanted the warm, woody, resonant rumble of the sintir and call & response vocals of full-throated baritones. What I got was some crazy electro-drum-and-synth driving home the perpetual Moroccan chaabi 6/8 beat, and a young lady leading the call and response vocals. And yet the j-card read "Special Gnawa" and had pictures of Gnawa musicians on it, so I grabbed it, figuring it would at least be interesting to figure out what about this music signified "Gnawa".

 

Now after many years of thinking and inking about Gnawa music, I return to this tape. What does my Gnawacized (mguennoui) ear tell me about this tape with the benefit of hindsight (hind-hearing? hind-audition?) Well, one of these songs would be heard during the trance part of the Gnawa lila ceremony, namely "Jilali Dawi Hali". (Type that title into the search bar on this blog and you'll find at least 4 Gnawa tapes that feature the song.) Many of the other songs can be heard at the end of lila ceremonies when Gnawa musicians play the fun popular songs they call chaabi or more specifically Soussia. Despite the Gnawi connotations of this album's songs, the musical arrangements aren't particularly Gnawa-inflected. They are, however, unusual. 

 

There's not much information about Aziza El Meknassia online, but the good folks over at Moroccan Tapes have shared another tape from this artist. Their description of the unusual rhythmic texture heard in Aziza's recordings is worth quoting here:

"One of her signatures that one can hear across most of her records is a unique way of arranging the typical Chaabi rhythm... [The] driving hi-hat and tam-tam give us a double-time 12/8 feel, while the kick and snare create a half-time 4/4 feel, almost like a rock backbeat (if you hear it the wrong way)."

Hope you enjoy it!

Aziza El Meknassia عزيزة المكناسية
Special Gnawa - Volume II
Voix Bab Mansour cassette 38 صوت باب منصور

01 Al Mwima Lhbiba الميمة لحبيبة
02 Ribou Ya Douk Lejbal ريبو يا دوك لجبال
     Ana Lli Dert Khairi Ou Ma Ouella Liya انا لي درت خيري وما ولا ليا
 
03 Chailah شايلاه
     Qalbi Derni
     Ana Zayra Moulay Ibrahim
     Lalla Chafia
04 Marrakech مراكش
     Laman Wahia Laman
     Jilali Dawi Hali
     Touria Laghzal

320 | FLAC

Al Boudali Ahmed - New Mountain Variety

New Jeblia Selections is probably a better translation, but New Mountain Variety (which Google gave me as a translation of  منوعات جبلية جديدة) sounds like something you'd find in the Stash.

And a nice variety it is, too, provided by the artist Al Boudali Ahmed, about whom I can find absolutely no trace on the interwebs. Side A is a nice long track of taktouka jabalia, and side B contains two tracks of Jbala-flavored chaâbi. Here's a pinch:

I picked up this tape during my visit to Tangier in 2001. Find additional varieties from Northern Morocco in my 2013-14 posts here and here.

Al Boudali Ahmad الفنان البودالي احمد
Visa Disque cassette 10 ڤيزا ديسك
A1 Taktouka Jbalia
A2 Bonus Derdeg
B1 Moulay Bouchta
B2 Jibouli Ezzine Nchoufou

320 | FLAC

Haj Abdelmoghit - Star of the Âita Bidaouia

2 long tracks of 21st century âita & chaâbi for your pleasure, from the microphone of Haj Abdelmoghit. I know I tend to wax nostalgic for the era of electric guitars and raucous drum kits in chaâbi, but I am not immune to the joys of more recent stylings. This album keeps it real with a viola, some light keyboard (and yeah, a synth bass), heavy on the percussion, and isn't that a drum kit down there in the mix? This works for me. And the album has the flow of an actual live set of music as you'd hear it in performance: begin with something slow and heavy, move through several songs, connected via violin-driven instrumental passages as the tempo speeds up and the sung call/response phrases get shorter and shorter, and ending at blistering speed with a punchy rhythmic phrase to cue the end of the song.

Ah that good âita bidaouia feeling! Abdelmoghit Essaidi (b. 1965, Casablanca) quit his bank job to pursue a career singing it. He's enjoyed great success as a real crowd-pleaser of course at weddings but also at concerts (such as the big Mawazine Festival in 2017). And he has even become a favorite among the Moroccan royals, performing at the wedding of Princess Lalla Soukaina in 2013.

Several of his albums can be streamed at Ournia: https://www.ournia.co/artist/el-haj-abdelmoghit#

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hajabdelmoughitofficiel

Abdelmoghit عبد المغيت
Najm al Âita al Bidaouia نجم العيطة البيضاوية
Moughitphone 20/06/07 مغيت فون
2007

Side A
 Settat Bladi السطات بلادي
 Nti ou Ana انتي وانا
 Souhaba الصوحابة
 
 Irjaâ Oulad Bladi ارجع اولاد بلادي
 Touachi تواشي

Side B
 Hani Mourak Hani Kdamek هاني موراك هاني كدامك
 Moula Âin Ettout مولا عين التوت
 Lemouima الميمة
 Al Âar al Hbab العار الحباب
 Chibani الشيباني
 Touachi التواشي

320 | FLAC

Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne - Nadia Nadia Bache Bdeltini

Here's some of that good early 90s chaâbi! The artist here is Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne - not to be confused with the famous Noujoum Bourgogne/Mustapha Bourgogne, though one assumes that they hail from the same neighborhood, namely Bourgogne in Casablanca. The catchy catchy "Nadia Nadia" was a big hit in the summer of 1993, if my memory is correct.

I thought Nassim was the name of the singer, but in fact it's the name of the group - Nassim Bourgogne means "The Bourgogne Breeze". Facebook and YouTube are my only sources of information about the group. The Facebook page شعبيات شبابية مغربية identifies the 3 members of the group as Majid Meziane (singer), his brother Saïd Meziane (percussion) and Fakir Mohamed (viola). They appear to have gained some success in the 1980s and 90s.

Many audio and video clips of the group can be found on the YouTube channel TV HADJ BOUIDI, including this great extended clip from a 1994 concert.

The album we're sharing today has orchestration similar to that in the above live clip - there's a drum kit, an electric rhythm guitar and a keyboard. The guitar doesn't get to play much obbligato, other than the opening to "Nadia". I'd love to hear more of that, but I'm also happy to hear it play rhythm/chords, which I prefer so much more than hearing keyboard string or horn pads. And it does play some nice syncopated rhythmic figures during the âita piece that opens side B (audio clip below) - love it!

Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne اوركسترا نسيم بورگون
Nadia Bache Bdeltini نادية باش بدلتيني
Sawt El Farah cassette صوت الفرح
c. 1993

A1 Nadia Bache Bdeltini نادية باش بدلتيني
A2 S'hour Ettaleb سحور الطالب
B1 Chalini الشاليني
      Zaêri زعري

B2 Qalbi Ouellate
B3 Ghebti Ya Hbibi غبتي يا حبيبي

320 | FLAC

 

 

Pluck Yeah! 1980s Electric Guitar Chaâbi Orchestre Plays Rouicha

Well here's something old yet different - it's a tape of songs by lotar-master Rouicha, performed by a 1980s chaâbi orchestre - viola, drum kit, and darbuka, and driven by an electric guitar! I was just remarking a couple weeks ago how Middle Atlas lotar songs work so well in a chaâbi context and vice versa. Here is more evidence (apologies - the audio quality is not the best, but the grooves are so good!):

The vibe here ☝️ reminds me somewhat of the âita-based guitar-driven sound of Noujoum el Haouz. The drum kit is similarly propulsive, and the darbuka and viola pull the track toward the âita sound world. On another track 👇 however, the âita/chaâbi stylings fall away - there is no viola, the singing is in Tamazight, and the drum kit and darbuka switch from chaâbi propulsion to a laid-back Middle Atlas swing. This foreshadows a bit the flangey acoustic guitar-driven Middle Atlas grooves that Moulay Ahmed el Hassani would popularize a few years later.

Unfortunately, I have no idea who are the musicians on the cassette or from where they hail. The Sawt Nassim label was (is?) based in Casablanca, but that doesn't guarantee that the ensemble was based there. I hope someone in YouTube comments can identify the musicians!

By the way, this cassette came to me from Essaouira (shukran T!) with the j-card pictured at right. I was looking forward to hearing it - the duo Arouiha and Oulad Cherif were featured in this old post over at Awesome Tapes From Africa. Was disappointed that the tape did not match the j-card. Luckily, the Sawt Nassim tape it housed is pretty great. Still - that leather tie!

The songs on side B of this album are both featured on Rouicha's fabulous album TCK790, still available here: https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mohammed-rouicha-afak-al-hwa-hda-liya.html. I couldn't identify the first track on side A, but the second track, 'Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit' (featured in the YouTube clip above) can be found on YouTube in several versions, one of which is attributed to Rouicha. (There's no discographic information, but a YouTube commenter claims it was recorded by Rouicha in 1981). It clearly remains a well-known song, as one can find versions of it performed by many artists on YouTube.

Editing note: Side A and Side B of the tape both end with instrumental intros, and both sides begin with intros cut off. So I grafted the intro from the end of each side to the first track on the other side.

Pluck Yeah! 1980s Electric Guitar Chaâbi Orchestre Plays Rouicha
Unknown Guitar-Driven Chaâbi Orchestre
Sawt Nassim cassette 

A1 Piste 01
A2 Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit ماني العهد ماني العزازيث (video embedded above)
B1 Toub Toub A Rasi توب توب اراس (audio embedded above)
B2 Lawah a Lawah Ammi Lhubb Iâddeb لواه امي لواه الحب يعدب

FLAC | 320

Said Oueld El Houate Volume 3

If you read my blogposts, you know I'm not always a fan of the keyboard bass that became prevalent in the mid 1990s in Moroccan chaâbi music. Full disclosure - I am a bass player, so my personal preference is for the sound of the bass guitar, operated by a specialist in that instrument, rather than the sound of a keyboard bass, operated by the left pinky finger of a keyboard player who is concentrating on various chord pads and synthetic voice timbres.

That being said, a good keyboardist knows how to excel in all areas, and I often set myself up to eat my own words, so here's a really great chaâbi tape from Said Ould El Houate that uses the trappings of early 21st century chaâbi production to good effect. Yes, it has keyboard bass, but it's in the pocket, funky, and not monotonous. Yes, it has autotuned vocals, but the female backup vocals sound awesome that way. Yes, it has applause from a fake audience connecting each track to the next, but it actually makes for nice segues. Above all, the musical textures remain rich, between Said's grainy vocals and scratchy viola, and the occasional percussive oud or qarqaba to kick the energy up to the next level.

We featured an early, fully acoustic tape of Said Ould El Houate a few weeks ago, but he really made his name with recordings that sound like this one. Enjoy!

Said Ould El Houate سعيد ولد الحوات
Volume 3
Production Said El Houate Vision cassette
late 2000s/early 2010s

1) Bnat El Koliya
بنات الكلية
2) Waleft Chrab والفت الشراب
3) Ktab Liya Nerâak كتاب ليا نرعاك  

4) Al Âita Al Âmaala العيطة العمالة
5) Wahda Tlouhek Lwahda وحدة تلوحك لوحدة
6) Kob Sek Alach Nwasek كب السيك
7) Dawaqni Lhoub Aâdabou دوقني الحب اعذابو
8) Al Saken Al Ârbi Al Bouhali  الساكن العربي البوهالي

320 | FLAC

Orchestre Abdou El Filali - The Bride Has Come, also Funky French Verb Conjugation

Aaaah... a Moroccan wedding on a hot urban summer night about 30 years ago. The smell of mint tea and the amplified, saturated sounds of a big jawq/orchestra animating the crowd. After a bit of slow stately music (melhun or Andalus), the bride is paraded in, in all her glory, the ululations fly, the crowd rises, and the band launches into Lâaroussa Jat:

I picked up this cassette on my first trip to Morocco in 1992. It's your typical wedding chaâbi fare, but with an nice punch to it - the drum kit is propulsive, the electric guitar nice and twangy, and the bass and strings also pack a punch (unlike the smooth timbres that would become the norm a few years later). And Abdou el Filali's singing is appealing, energetic, and enthusiastic.

Filali was born and raised in Kenitra. His early musical career was spent with Ghiwane-style groups Layali el Ounss and L'Mghariyine. He later attended the conservatory in Kenitra, where he found his voice as a chaâbi singer. If the info I found online is correct [1], it was Filali who popularized the song Laâroussa Jat, via the version on this cassette. The song subsequently became a wedding standard - that's a notable achievement for any singer! [I'm pretty sure it was played at my wedding - I wonder whether it's still in the repertoire for weddings today.]

Another rhythmic track from the album caught my ear. "Oh, they're singing in French", I thought... "Wait, did he just say 'passé composé'? Are they... conjugating verbs to a chaâbi beat?" Yep - here's what I got:

Poste. Téléphone. Télégraphe. P.T.T. Répétez

Poste. Téléphone. Télégraphe. P.T.T. Répétez

Le verbe 'chanter' en passé composé

J'ai chanté 

Tu as chanté

Il a chanté

Nous avons chanté

Vous avez chanté

Ils ont chanté

Filali remains active today. You can find some recent videos at his YouTube channel. There are some old cassette covers and photos on his Facebook page. And Soundcloud has a rip of the song Lâaroussa from a tape of better quality than my copy. This version also contains the opening ululations and Slaaaaaa ou Slaaaaaaams that are cut off on mine.

Orchestre Abdou el Filali - اوركسترا عبدو الفياالي
K (Kennedy) Music cassette 12 - موسيقة كنيدي
early 1990s

1) Lâaroussa (لعروسة)
2) Hnia (هنية)
    Mali ou Mali (مالي و مالي)
3) Moulat Wa7ed (مولات واحد)
4) Telephone (التلفون)
    Al Wali Sidi Bennour (الوالي سيدي بنور)
    Jaya Min Eddouar (جاية من الدوار)
5) Ma Kayn Khir (ما كين خير)

320 | FLAC

[1] There's not much info about Filali online. The info in this post is based on a scan of an old newspaper article and a biographical sketch accompanying a video clip on the excellent YouTube channel of Hasan Amahch.

Jadwane - Moul Enniya Kairbe7

Here's a very nice album by Jadwane (usually spelled Jedwane, usually billed as Orchestre Jedwane). El Mokhtar Jedwane is a chaâbi singer and composer from Rabat. Quite popular in the 90s and 00s, Jedwane retired from chaâbi in 2008 after making the Hajj to Mecca. [1]

Jedwane's style of chaâbi is of a very different variety than that of Said Ould el Houate which I presented last week. No real âita influences here. This is a much smoother chaâbi, with some traces of Andalusian melodies (see track 2), and orchestral flourishes that would be at home in Middle Eastern pop music or Moroccan chanson moderne. This sort of chaâbi typically bores me pretty quickly, but I must say Jadwane does it well and thoughtfully, and he has a lovely and sweet voice.

An interesting track here is "Oufigh Idjes Inmaden". It opens with a northern Moroccan style of melody and rhythm. Jedwane announces the title of the song in Arabic, "Lqit Bent Ennas", which he dedicates to Riyafa wherever they are, inside or outside of Morocco. Rather than singing in Arabic over this Riffi beat, though, Jedwane switches over to a standard chaâbi melody and rhythm, but starts singing in Tamazight (I assume it's the Riffi/Tariffit dialect.)

It's an unusual approach - for an Arabaphone chaâbi singer to translate an original song into Tamazight and sing in that language. As a way of evoking or playing across the linguistic and cultural divide, it certainly takes a greater commitment and effort than simply playing a Sousiya song and singing in Arabic, as I described some time ago. Jedwane thought enough of the work to include the lyrics on the j-card in both Arabic (Darija) and Tamazight (Tarifit).

This was not the first time he undertook such a project. His online biographies mention that in 1998 he spent 8 months on a translation of his song "Bghini Nebghik" into Tachelhit. [2] 

I know I was complaining last week about keyboard bass in chaâbi. This album is full of it, but it's used here unobtrusively, and quite nicely. 

There's another album of Jedwane's over at Moroccan Tapes and lots more at Ournia.

Jadwane - جدوان
Moul Enniya Kairbe7 - مول النية كيربح
Fes Maatic cassette
c. 2003

1) Moul Enniya Kairbe7 - مول النية كيربح
    Echafi3 Fina - لشافع فينا
    Hezzit Yedi Lessma - هزيت ايدي للسماء
2) Njerreb Zahri W Nsal - نجرب زهري و نسال
3) Oufigh Idjes Inmaden - وفيغ ادجس أنمدن

4) 3tit Lkelma ou Ndemt - عطيت الكلمة و ندمت
    Kayen Had Chi Wella La - كاين هاد الشي ولا لا
    Dima Halou Ki Houwa - ديما حالو كي هو
5) L3arousa Moulat Lhemma - لعروسة مولات الهمة

320 | FLAC

[1] Interview with Jedwane at Hespress.

[2] Biography of Jedwane at Music Chaabi.

Jamal Eddine Said Elhouate

Here's a tape by a young Jamal Eddine Said Elhouate, known commonly these days as Said Ould El Houate. The singer and viola player was born in 1968 in Casablanca. His real name is Jamal Eddine Said, and he was nicknamed ould el houate (son of the fishmonger) because his father worked at the port [1]. He rose to fame in the 2000s and 2010s with a chaabi style rooted in aita.

This album dates from the mid 1990s, and it benefits from the simple production values of the time. This is the simple and satisfying combination of a scratchy viola, a couple of tightly strung bendirs, Said's lead vocal, and some shikhate singing response vocals. Most recordings you find of Said Ould El Houate date from the 2000s and later, when it becomes hard to find chaabi recordings without a keyboard bass. This older style is refreshing, sort of in the vein of Abdelaziz Stati. Like Stati, Said appears to be an aficionado of aita. He has spent time in Safi learning and reviving old songs from the Abda variety of aita [1].

I was surprised to see the song title "Koubaily Baba" on this cassette. The name is reminiscent of Gnawa songs "Koubaily Bala" and "Koubaily Mama". Said's song does not sound like either of those songs, but the lyrics explicitly reference possession, Gnawa and Baba Mimoun. The music evokes Jilala trance music, with the bendirs playing a very syncopated pattern where drum strokes rarely coincide with the beat. So this track is a chaâbi evocation of a Jilala approach to Gnawa spirits.

Said Ould El Houate remains active and popular today. You can stream many of his albums at Ournia and a few on Spotify. And you can find lots of content on his Youtube channel.

Jamal Eddine Said Elhouate جمال الدين سعيد الحوات   
Sawt Ennachat cassette صوط النشاط   
mid 1990s

1) Essamra Qilini - السمرة قيليني
2) Mal Ezzine Tghayer - مال الزين اتغير
3) Ma Bin Lila ou Nhar Lhubb Tghayer - ما بين ليلة و  نهار الحب اتغير
4) Daq Alhal - داق الحال
     Koubaili Baba - كبيلي بابا
5) Moulay Abdellah Ben Lhoucine - مولاي عبد الله بن لحسين

320 | FLAC

[1] Interview with Said Ould El Houate at Doukali Bouhali blog.

Samaoui and Soussiya - Simulacra and Standards for Weddings, Parties, Anything

Here's a sampler from the label Sawt Bab Mansour out of Meknes. 4 long tracks each by a different artist. This was released in the sunny spring of 2001 when Orchestre Hamri scored a smash hit with "Samaoui". The song remains popular today. On revisiting the tape, I recognized another song, "Soussia", that is something of a standard at Moroccan parties (at least at the ones I attend in the San Francisco Bay Area). The two songs are quite different, but they share something in common - they both exist within the realm of Moroccan chaabi music, but refer (sometimes with lyrics, sometimes with musical tropes, and sometimes with both) to musical traditions and bodily experiences not native to the chaabi dance floor.

SAMAOUI

In spring 2001, this song was everywhere in Morocco, coming out of every tape deck, played at every wedding. I even heard Hassan Dariouki's aita haouzia group sing it at a soiree for a bunch of ethnomusicologists in Tangier!

In the early days of Moroccan Tape Stash, I wrote about the early 2000s wave of chaâbi hits that made reference to trance or trance brotherhoods:

"I don't mean pop versions of Gnawa or Jilala songs. Rather, I mean NEW songs with lyrics referring to the spirits or to the experience of trance. What struck me as odd was that most of these songs made no musical reference to trance music of the Gnawa, Jilala or other groups. Rather, they fit the basic mold of chaâbi songs, ready to slip into the repertoire of a wedding band with a viola player and a nicely dressed lead singer"

In retrospect, Al Hamri's "Samaoui / Ha Huma Jaw", while featuring smooth smooth vocals and moderne orchestral string glissandos, does actually make some musical references to the trance traditions. The bendir frame drum is being played in the loopy, topsy-turvy, syncopated way that Jilala musicians play it. The solo viola (as opposed to the orchestral strings) has the unusual processed, throbbing sound featured in Said Senhaji's hit "Aicha al Mejdouba" which, as I noted previously, resembles the throb of the Jilala gasba flute. And the cymbals of the tar tambourine are being played in a way that resembles the qarqaba metal clackers used by Jilala and Gnawa musicians. It's still to my ear a strange juxtaposition:



And yet... the song is undeniably catchy! Our local Moroccan DJ played it at the most recent party I attended, and the crowd ate it up! On the dance floor, everyone sang along "Wa Samaoui / Allah idawi / Aw s7ab el 7aaaaaaal". Samaoui is one of the entities invoked during Gnawa ceremonies. "Oh Samaoui / God heals / Oh friends of the traaaaaance / Bring the incense / bring the charcoal burner / I want to trance". Of course, none of us did trance - there was no incense, no ritual specialist, no guinbri, so it was probably for the best. And yet there we were, miming some of the gestures of trance, mouthing signifiers of trance, to a simulacrum of some of the sounds of trance music. And we enjoyed it, like we did 19 summers ago!

SOUSSIA

Another staple of our local Moroccan parties is the second song on this tape, here called "Soussia". The term soussia is a noun/adjective that refers to something or someone (female) from the Moroccan Souss region. I don't know whether there is an "original" version of this song, but if there is, I'm guessing this is not it. I've never known a proper title for the song - I just think of it as "A Mwi Lalla", or "that Berber-sounding song that gets sung at non-Berber parties".

In this version, sung by Mustapha Baidou, a metal percussion instrument sounds like a naqqus, drums sound like those used in ahwach performances, melody is based in the Soussi pentatonic scales. Yet the lead singer has that smooth delivery of a wedding band singer, and we again hear orchestral string phrases. And at the end of the track, the music shifts into typical chaabi taârida riffing, dropping the pentatonic mode and the naqqus sound.



A quick Google search for chaabi songs called "Soussia" revealed not the same song, but different songs that featured similarly Soussi-styled melodies (pentatonic) and musical tropes (drum timbres, naqqus-sounding percussion, sometimes a synth banjo), typically with lyrics in darija (Moroccan Arabic). An example:



As "Samaoui" invites dancers to simulate the hair-flipping, head-bopping of Jilala or Gnawa trance on a chaabi dance floor, when "Soussia" songs get played, dancers' movements immediately shift from the hips to the shoulders, simulating the style of an ahwach dance.

WEDDINGS, PARTIES, ANYTHING

Trance- and Soussi-styled songs make sense in the repertoire of a well-rounded Moroccan urban Arabophone wedding/party band. When you're playing at a party that goes on for hours, you want to be able to vary things up and pace the event. Wedding parties usually start off with slow and stately music to welcome and ease people into the event. So a wedding band should know at least one or two songs from the Andalusi and/or melhun repertoire to provide this function, as well as some long-form chanson moderne classics from the likes of Abdelwahab Doukkali or Abdelhadi Belkhayat. Wedding musicians don't need to be experts in those repertoires - just need to do a passable job on a couple of songs. They will probably throw in some well-known Middle Eastern hits from Egypt or Lebanon early on, to mix up the groove and allow dancers to mix up their moves. But eventually the floor succumbs to the inexorable pull toward the infectious chaabi beat.

Chaabi (literally, "popular"), is a wide field, that ranges from urbane Andalusi melodies to country aita-based melodies and regional varieties, from simmering slow jams to raucous, explosive bangers, from Houcine Slaoui classics from the 1940s to Hamid Zahir hits from the 1960s to Najat Aatabou hits from the 1980s to Daoudi hits from the 2000s to the latest offerings on YouTube. The viola and the darbuka reign supreme. Ouds may or may not appear. (Of course a keyboard can give you that plucked-string sound, and double as a qanun zither, a banjo, or a horn section too.) Chords were once provided by electric guitars, but those have given way to keyboards as well. But whatever the origins or musical textures of songs may be, chaabi performers slot them into musical suites that inevitably end up with the climactic, raucous, joyful 6/8 groove.

Musics come in and out of the urban wedding band repertoire as the years roll on. When rai music was popular in the 1990s, you sometimes heard a few rai songs at weddings. I'm told that in the 1980s, wedding bands would sometimes have some Bollywood tunes ready (or perhaps some faux-Bollywood-styled chaabi tunes?) in case the bride's array of costumes included an Indian-styled outfit. In my day, said array typically included a Berber-styled outfit, so some Berber-styled songs come in very handy in the repertoire for the moment the bride switches to that outfit.

So "Soussi" songs serve a function within a wedding band repertoire, accompanying a particular moment in the itinerary of the bride's clothing trajectory. On another level, they release the dance floor, temporarily, to a different way of celebrating, a different way for the body to let loose and move. This is also the case with chaabi pop-trance songs like "Samaoui" - the dance floor is given over, momentarily, to trance movements and lyrics, letting people groove and move in a different way. But the chaabi imperative eventually brings the floor back from these excursions. Both "Samaoui" and "Soussia" on this tape finish up with an exit from Soussi- and trance-styled lyrics and sounds, bringing it all back home chaabi-style.

Weddings, parties, anything - and trance and Soussi jams a speciality...

Sawt Bab Mansour presents صوت باب منصور يقدم
Samaoui السماوي
Sawt Bab Mansour cassette, 2001

Al Hamri الحمري
    1) Samaoui السماوي
    2) Ha Huma Jaw هاهما جاو
    3) Shera3 oul Qanun الشراع و القانون

Mustapha Baidou مصطفى بايدو
    1) Soussia السوسية

Âbd al Hamid عبد الحميد
    1) Almajdoubiate المجدوبيات
    2) Sidi ouel Qalb M3akoum سيدي والقلب معاكم
    3) Galuli Ghir Ensah كلولي غير انساه

Al Berbouchi البربوشي
    1) 3lach A Lalla علاش الالة
    2) Ouahia Almra Ouahia واهيا المراة واهيا

Get it all HERE.

PS - I patched a couple of short dropouts in the Al Hamri and Al Berbouchi tracks with versions found on YouTube.

Chaâbi Sweet Spot - Orchestre el Ânq (اركسترا العنق)

Long drawn out medleys? Check. Âita melodies and structures? Check. Scratchy viola and punchy darbuka? Check. Drum kit, electric guitar and organ? Yes - right there!

This swell tape comes from a little stash of tapes that fell into my lap a few months back. All without j-cards and most with only the name of the production house on the cassette shell. This one is from a company called Sawt el Ânq (انتاج صوت العنق). I'm guessing it's from Casablanca, but only because the singer gives a shout out to the soccer teams Raja and Wydad.


[blogger knows he's seen that logo before, goes digging around in the stash...] 

Well - I knew I'd seen that Sawt el Ânq logo before on an orphaned j-card in the stash. (And a fantastic logo it is, too!) Went looking for it, hoping it would reveal the location of the production house. No luck there, but... the song titles were a match for this tape!! The tape must have bounced around among the Moroccan ladies in the Bay Area for 20 years and then landed back here in the stash where its j-card was waiting for it!

Also, my friend Jamal confirms that El Ânq is a neighborhood in Casablanca, so we're pretty sure this is a Casa production.

This is some vintage late 1980s chaâbi. Hope it hits your sweet spot too!



Orchestre el Ânq (اركسترا العنق)
Sawt el Ânq (انتاج صوت العنق) cassette
1) Sid el Qadi سيدي لقاضي
2) Melki Ma Jiti
3) Zaeri - Musa ben 3amran الزعري ‫-‬ موسى بن عمران
4) Al 3aloua Hddariya  العلوةحضارية
5) Khellik M3aya - Taârida خليك معايا ‫-‬ تعريضة

Get it all HERE.

L'AGE D'OR de la musique andalouse - WELCOME with the singer BAJADOUB

Ramadan Mubarak - may your month be full of thankfulness and remembrance, and may you be uplifted and sustained.

In bygone times, the link between Ramadan and the sound of Arab Andalusian music (a.k.a. tarab andalusi, a.k.a. al-âla) was a strong one for Moroccans. RTM (Radiodiffusion-Télévision Marocaine) used to broadcast clips of this music right before and after the sundown call to prayer during the holy month. Back when there was only 1 or 2 TV stations, this meant that for years a huge portion of the Moroccan population would have been at home with this music on the tube as the soundtrack to the breaking of the daily fast around the family table.

I'm not sure whether that's still the case. Even if it is, with the spread of satellite TV, home internet and portable phones in the 21st century, folks are tuned in to many different things now, so it's unlikely that the Andalusian tones are as ubiquitous as they once were at iftar time.

At any rate, here's a nice tape that I dubbed in 1992. My dub is pictured above, but I believe the j-card looked something like this:

Mohamed Bajeddoub was at the time the most renowned singer of the Moroccan Andalusian tradition. (Within a few years, Abderrahim Souiri would rise to similar heights.) LIke Souiri, Bajeddoub rose to fame as a member of the ensemble of Haj Abdelkrim Rais. .

This tape contains a couple of the most famous and popular songs of the Moroccan Andalusian repertoire: "Shams al Âshi" and "Bouchra Lana". The version of "Shams al Âshi" is quite spirited, and segues into some energetic, festive chaâbi.

WELCOME L'AGE D'OR de la musique andalouse with the singer BAJADOUB
1) Shams al Âshi
2) Mawwal 1
3) Mawwal 2
4) Bouchra Lana

5) Mawwal 3

Get it all here.

More Bajeddoub available here:
https://www.ournia.co/artist/al-haj-mohammed-ba-jeddoub

Najat Aâtabou - Non-Stop Derdeg in the 21st Century

Here's another Najat Aâtabou album that I don't see anywhere else online. It's from 2001, the followup to "Attention A Monsieur", which I posted a few months back. It has a mainstream-chaâbi feel similar to that album, except that the viola and oud (?) are replaced by what sounds like a steel-stringed plucked instrument - can't tell if it's a bouzouk or possibly a guitar.

At any rate, as with the previous album, the keyboard bass gives the album an overall "programmed" sound. The percussion is prominent in the mix, and the textures vary nicely from song to song and verse to verse. As is typical for much 21st century Moroccan chaâbi, the production is a little too perfect for my ear. Still, Najat's singing is as powerful as ever, and it's hard to argue with the kicking, 13 minute medley that closes the album.



Apologies to those to whom I owe an email, shout out, or other overdue salaam! Wishing everyone a good and groovy New Year!

Najat Aâtabou - نجاة اعتابو
Ândak Tkoun Boudina - عنداك اتكون بودينة 
Edition Sonya Disque cassette T.C. 1953 (2001)

1) Ândak Tkoun Boudina عنداك اتكون بودينة
2) Haouli 3a Lkbida حاولي عا لكبيدة
3) Stop Haddek Temma حدك تما STOP
4) Malek Timid A Loulid مالك تيميد ا لوليد
5) Ana Sehrouni انا سحروني
    Ya Lousti Khlini Menni L-Rajli يا لوستي خليني مني لراجلي
    Moutou Lli Dwaw Fiya موتو يا اللي داواو في

Get it all HERE.

Khalid Bennani - Fes-Style Chaâbi, Saxophone included

Salaams, good people! Sorry for the long dry spell. All's fine here at Moroccan Tape Stash, despite the generally befuddling times.

If you’ve visited Moroccan Tape Stash before, you know that your humble curator loves chaâbi tapes from the days of drum kits and electric guitars. How about we add some saxophone to that mix! Here’s a vintage gem from the stash - an early tape by Khalid Bennani, picked up on my first trip to Morocco in 1992.

According to his biography at Ournia, Bennani performs primarily for “private parties such as weddings and engagement ceremonies”. I have the greatest respect for a good wedding band - being able to satisfy folks old and young, from near and far, is not always easy. And if we’re talking about Moroccan weddings, that means having a fresh, diverse, and extensive repertoire that will give rhythm to a party for hours, often deep, deep into the night.

In addition to wedding work, Bennani continues to record prolifically and to give concerts outside of Morocco. (Apparently he performed some dates in Texas earlier this year!)

Bennani is based in Casablanca but is a native of Taza (between Fes and Oujda) and plays a Fessi repertoire, including melodies reminiscent of the Arab Andalusian and melhun repertoire, devotional strains from the Aïssaoua brotherhood, and tunes evoking the Jbala region of northwestern Morocco.

Fessi chaâbi is usually too smooth for my tastes. I prefer things more raucous, à la Casablanca or Marrakech style. This album, though, manages to achieve a texture that is somehow both smooth and raucous! Maybe it's those snare drum punctuations from the drum set along with the syncopated electric rhythm guitar, a darbuka prominent in the mix.

Enjoy!

Khalid Bennani خالد بناني

Oscariphone (اسكارفون) cassette 11

ca 1992

1) Lhwa Bia - Ma Ândi Zhar  لهوى بيا - معندي زهر

2) Yom l-Miâd - A Latif  يوم الميعاد - ألطيف

3) Ana f-Ârek - Daba Tendem Âliya   انا فعارك ‪-‬ دابا تندم عليا

4) Goulou l-Hbibi  قولو لحبيبي

Get it all HERE.

Najat in the 90s

After the success of Nouveau 92, Najat Aâtabou did not return to the oud and bendir format of her earlier hits. Rather, she adopted various other instrumental combinations, moving eventually toward a more mainstream chaâbi sound.

I own copies of some of these cassettes (without j-cards), and have lost a few along the way. Also, some of these are available to stream or purchase online. So I'll mainly post here links to existing web resources and try to piece together her discography between Nouveau 92 and Attention Monsieur (2000).

Souaret (1993)

This album came out as a cassette on Edition Hassania in 1993. My copy went missing long ago, but I believe the j-card may have had this photo, which accompanies Amazon's version:

The production sounds similar to that of Nouveau 92, using the same funky synth bass on many tracks. I remember at the time being a bit disappointed with the album, feeling it was less hard-hitting than Nouveau 92, and contained no super-catchy single. Listening to it again now, though, it sounds like a breath of fresh air! It augments the unusual synth and viola texture of Nouveau 92 and fills it out with a more organic early-90s chaâbi orchestra: live strings, bendirs, full drum kit, and an occasional electric guitar. It's a more organic, orchestral overall sound. (Admittedly, I'm a sucker for the chaâbi sound of that era.)

And Najat's singing is spectacular. Those folks over at Edition Hassania really knew how to record her - whether accompanied by a simple oud-and-bendir ensemble or a full orchestra, her voice remains powerful and startling.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the entire album:



The mp3 album is available to purchase and download (or stream) at Amazon for a reasonable $3.99!: https://www.amazon.com/Souaret-Najat-Aatabou/dp/B00ERIW0MW/

Taqi Fia Allah (1995)

This is, I believe, the last album that Najat released on Edition Hassania. I used to have a copy of the cassette. Like the previous albums, this one is also driven by the viola. But the style is different here. Rather than a chanson moderne style of viola playing, hearkening to the smooth sounds of the modern Arab orchestra, here we have a straight-up dance-inducing chaâbi fiddle! The overall ensemble is more simple - bendirs, some oud and melodic keyboard here and there, and what sounds like a drum machine (hi-hat and some fills). Though a return to oud and bendir-s is nice, the chaâbi viola really dominates the mix and doesn't quite work for me. That being said, the tune "Baadou Lhih" is awesome and became part of her live repertoire.

The album's 6 tracks were remastered and released in the US as part of the Rounder compilation CD "Country Girls and City Women", which is out of print. It's worth finding a used copy of the CD - the booklet includes a nice essay, translations of all the song lyrics into English, and an interview with Najat. I can't find any streaming or download options for the album. Here's a YouTube playlist of the album's songs:

Sabara (1996)

I had a dub of this album, and I remember it being on label called something like "Safa Disque". (It wasn't the well-established Sonia Disque, with whom she would later record.) The leadoff track "Aatani Bedhar", also known as "Mali Ana Ma 3andi Zhar" was a smash hit - smooth chaâbi groups were covering it, and with its singalong chorus of "Wa-a-a-a-ayli", it was an instant classic, and one of Najat's biggest ever hits. I love it!

It was around this time that studio-produced chaabi in Morocco started to sound a bit too perfect and precise for my ears. Though rhythms were still driving and percussive, drum sets had given way to drum machines and programming, which could feel mechanical. Electric guitars for rhyhmic and chordal accompaniment were rarely found anymore, replaced by more versatile synthesizers, which could also add a variety of melodic textures. Even oud-s and violas began to sound more processed and perfect. I tend to like my chaâbi (and most music) a little on the sloppy side - I appreciate being able to hear the human interactions and imperfections.

That said, when all the elements come together in a studio production, it can be great, and that's the case throughout this album. The oud remains prominent in the mix, the real or synth strings (I can't always tell which) support without being overbearing, the rhythm section pops and crackles, the synth bass keeps things funky and in the pocket, and Najat and the backup choir sound great! A mega-post on the ARAB TUNES blog has this album, and many others by Najat!

Also, here'a YouTube playlist of the whole album:

Souvenir (1998)

According to this interview, Souvenir, like its predecessor Sabara, was produced by Najat's former husband Hassan Dikouk. It has a similar overall sound to Sabara, and Najat seems to have comfortably settled into a mainstream chaâbi setting. To my ears the sound is a little less punchy - a bit more emphasis on the viola and less on the oud, and the vocals seem more subdued. But when it works, like in "El Aati Houwa Allah" and "Daba Ytem El Nachat", it still kicks.

ARAB TUNES has this one as well, and here's the whole album on YouTube:

Et Oui Mon Ami, Parle Je T'écoute (1999)

My cassette copy of this (get it HERE) contains a track not available on streaming platforms - a spoken message from Najat to her public, presenting her new cassette, on which, she says, she has tried as always to move chaabi song forward, and that the most important measure of its success is "your entertainment, clapping, and pleasure".

I don't know what prompted the inclusion of this rather apologetic message. Perhaps her moves into mainstream chaabi were criticized by some sectors of the public. Or perhaps she was nervous about the leadoff track, which has a distinct Latin feel and a light programmed percussion track, straying further away from her roots than usual. (This was the era of Amr Diab's smash Egyptian hit "Habibi ya Nour el Ain". Unlike that track, though, Najat's does not include the soon-to-be-ubiquitous-in-Arabic-pop flamenco guitar.) On streaming versions of the album (like the YouTube playlist embedded below, or Amazon's version), there is a bonus track - a chill lounge remix of the title song, with light funk electric guitar and Middle Eastern strings replacing the punchy synth horns of the original.



Outside of the title track (which was not a big hit), the rest of the album features a pretty standard chaâbi texture, though a bit more sparse than the previous two albums. I couldn't quite put my ear on what was different at first. I heard a viola and a synth banjo, some restrained programmed rhythm with a live darbuka. There is a funky synth bass again, though it's very low in the mix as compared to the previous albums. The really key difference here, though is that there is NO BENDIR! Throughout all of her albums, whether based around the oud, the viola, or a full orchestra, the one constant is the presence of the buzzy bendir! On this one, though, the only buzzy timbre you can hear is the occasional taarija. The low percussive tones, are not buzzy booms, but clean synth bass drums. Which is a weird idea, but it sort of works for me.

The viola-centered sound of this album hearkens to 1995's Taqi Fia Allah, but with punchier rhythm and overall sound. Again, the chaabi viola isn't my favorite instrument to hear with Najat Aâtabou's voice, but this ain't bad.

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I saw Najat Aâtabou do a concert in Casablanca in 1999, and the only songs she did from any of these 5 albums were "Mali Ana Ma 3andi Zhar", from Sabara and "Baadou Lhih" from Taqi Fia Allah. But although these albums may not be packed with hits, there's worthwhile material on all of them. My ear for Moroccan lyrics isn't developed enough to critically assess Najat's 1990s songs in comparison to the earlier hits that brought her to fame. A lot of the same themes seem to pop up - complaints about romantic relationships, trying to keep things cool with mom, patience, acceptance, and calling out hypocrites. Her turn toward a mainstream chaâbi sound strikes me as a way for her songs of support and solidarity to resonate with a broader community of Moroccan sisters. At any rate that's my interpretation for now. Am happy to hear other opinions.

Wishing a blessed Ramadan to you all. Thank you for continuing to visit, even though I seem to only post about Najat Aâtabou these days! I promise I'll get some other stuff cued up soon...

 

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UPDATE: Here is another Najat album from the 90s that I didn't know about:

 

Ouejdi Atay (1997)