 MUSIC |
 Traditional Music |
Andalusian Music
The al-Andalûs music is the musical heritage of Andalusia. Some events, such as the dicovery in 1956 of the kharja (short poetic verses in arabic, roman and hebrew) back up an integrated multicultural comunity from the XII th century. The recent discovery of the XIII century alTifashi manuscript clarify the history of his development; in fact, the irakian musician Ziryab is one of the main protagonist of its technical evolution, between the XI and XII centuries, introducing the concept of continuation.
Nowadays, the andalusian music is present in the whole algerian territory with 3 main schools; The Constanine's, the Oran's and the algiers' one and is integrant part of the traditional algerian music. Passed on by three centuries of spanish ocupation, it is caracterized by certain instruments, such as the lute, membrane's percussions and the hurdy gurdy. An Oranese tradition atribuate the invention of this latter to an al-andalûs prisoneer whom, in exchange of his contribution, received the king's admiration and pardon. It is in the late XIX century that the violins and violas enter the arabo-andalus orchester.
The Chaâbi
Chaâbi, which means "popular" is a music bequeathed by the first artists of Algiers beginning of the last century. Carried out by Cheikhs, it has been institutionalised in the beginnings of the 30's by several masters who inspirates themselves from texts of the moroccan qacidates (song). Chaâbi is rapidly supported by the nationalist movement but it is spread amongst the population only during the liberation war (1954-1962). It dispensate moral stories through metaphors taken from traditional tales and anecdotes. Nevertheless rare are women who master this music, excepted Fadila Dziria the diva, as they are usually more appealed by the Hawzi, an andalousian form of the Chaâbi from aristocratic origins. Despite the emergence of several new artists on the national scene, introducing changes in the texts and musics, Ckeikh Momahed El Anka, the prow figure of Chaâbi during the 70's who ended up the definition of rhythms, still remain the main reference of this ancestral art.
The Raï
Raï, the blues of the slums, expresses the concerns of this new generation in sake of perspectives, love and freedom; the post-independence youth. Originally from Oranie (Algerian west), it is a mix of Bedouin songs which are adapted during the 70's with the introduction of modern instruments (guitar, saxophone, keyboard). Forbidden in its beginning, as it was considered immoral and subversive, it will be banned from all the television screens and state radios. the raï sings blunt love, the life sickness, a heart scream which rapidly gets spread in all Algeria. During the 90's, the islamism and terrorism tented again to ban the raï from the custums and forbid all cassettes. Hasni, a young rai singer of 26 years old is murdered in 1994, many are death threatened and several artists are obliged to imigrate, such as Khaled who classified among the tenth firsts world top with his album "Didi", produced in France. At the end of the 90's, the progressive return of stability revival the raï and new stars emerged. Khaled and Mami, who use to organise, a long time ago, parties in Oran are nowadays its famous representant.
Gnawa
From black African origin, Gnawa is the complaint of the nomads' long desert crusades. Interpreted as an incantation, it reproduces the rhythm of the camel's walk with the "guembri", a guitar made of camel's case tended on the skin of a animal's livestock. The music goes with a hand claps rhythm while a singer calls their protector, singing about the community values, his claiming is then repeated by the followers. Gnawa has now gone beyond the algerian frontiers through a modern group led by Amazigh Kateb, the son of the writer Kateb Yacine, an unmatched national literary reference.
| Algerian artists |
Hakim Laroussi
This guitarist is one of the prow figures of the jazz spheres of influence in Algeria. Despite the loss of numerous adepts in the beginning of the 70's, because of the waves of raï and electronic sounds coming from abroad, nowadays jazz revival in the Algerian scene. His career has been, step by step, shaped abroad. Laroussi distinguished himself through his technical abilities (as a disciple of Chet Atkins with whom he made several concerts in United States) and his ambition to give jazz music a popular background. His repertoire mix jazz and other traditional algerian music sounds.
| Amine Kouider
Aged of only 34 years old, Amine Kouider is already mentionned amongst the twenty five philharmonic maestro's around the world. After his musical studies in Europe, mainly in Paris, he gets very quickly to produce himself with famous artists in the european temples of classical music. Since less than a year, Amine Kouider is devoted at the cultural enlightenment in an Algeria who just came out from a crisis. In the beginning of 2002, he started the opera succeeding in the adaptation of Rigoletto of Verdi, and is now preparing the montage of the Traviata in the national theatre of Algiers.
Khaled
Native of Algeria actually living in France known as the king of the rai. The Egyptian music, the Spanish and the French, melt with popular streams of the James Brown and Beatles period. With an explosive mixture of funk, ragamuffin, and Arabic music, Khaled opened the way for the adaptation of raï to the world rhythm music. Having millions of sold CD's in Maghrebi, Europe and Orient he is without any doubt the " king " of raï.
Cheb Mami
Mohamed Khelifati (alias Cheb Mami) was born in July 1966 at 200 km of the south of Oran, principal town of the Algerian west. Cheb Mami, "the kid" in spoken oranese, belongs to this generation of post-independence full of hope to build up a free and modern Algerian society. His fight is to open rai to the new sonorities, preserving its tradicitonal caracter, to grant it a woldwide recognition. So far he already made some concerts with very famous names, such as sting, which open a wide way to a new generation of rai.
The best titles of Cheb Mami and
Khaled are on the Net
Idir Interview French
If we wanted to "say" Hamid Cheriet, alias Idir ("he will live" in kabylian), we will certainly use the words: identity, liberty, tolerance, love, peace and exile. This words which related his career and his work are the essence of his message. This latter is present throughout all his songs since the success of his first lullaby "A Vava Inouva" (my little brother, Extract), presented in 1973 in Algiers and translated since then in more than 20 diferent languages. Despite his exile in France in 1975, he remained present besides his people; the Berberian spring, the revolt against the central authorities in 1980, the civil massacres in the 90's, he kept on calling for a national reconciliation. This willingness clearly appears during one of his concert at the parisian Olympia, gathering several artists such as Manu Chao, Dan Ar Braz passing by Maxime Le Forestier or the Scottish Karen Matheson, Gnawa Diffusion, Zebda, Gilles Servat, Geoffrey Oryema and Barbès National Orchestre (ONB) to advocate the cultural opening and berberian identity recognition
Amazigh Kateb Interview French
" We use humour as a weapon ", proud of belonging to this new generation which expresses their revolt throughout art, Gnawa diffusion is a representative of the contemporary Maghrebi music. Constituted in 1992, around the singer Amazigh Kateb, he mixes up traditional gnawa sounds to the Chaabi and modern rock rhythm; jazz, rap, reggae and raï. Mixing the Kabylie to the Sahara, they demand, throughout chosen and sharp words, the revolution and the democracy for their respective countries. |
